Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-06
EXPLORER CITES
NAUTILUS PER|LS
Commander of 1901 Polar
Trip Discusses Submarine
Sea Hazards.

Evlyn Briggs Baldwin, commander OF
tie famous Baldwin Gieslc- Polar Expe-
dition of 1912, and veteran Arctic eX-
plorer, who is now in the historical Sec
ton of the Navy Department, thinks
that unless the submarine OF the Will
kins Expedition has been properly con-
structed to Withstand the Ice, Jules
Verne's dream may turn out to be
nightmare"
Mr.. Baldwin made 1t plain that ne
has not had opportunity to see the
Nautilus, the undersea craft Oh
wilkins. and to examine her, to deter
mine if proper steps have been taken 10
protect her from the ice pack. ii certain
vital parts of the vessel have peen rem
forced properly, the veteran explorer Oh
the Arctic wastes believes that the "Trip
under the ice is feasible. A submarine
should really be specially constructed
for this work, he says, but he THINKS or
Hubert wilkins has a fighting chance
to get through on his mission.
The trip is entirely feasible. he con-
tends. with q submarine that has peen
properly prepared to travel under tne
ice. but as most Of his own polar eA
ploration work has been accomplished
with surface ships. Mr.. Baldwin Is m
clined to lean toward that type Oh
craft.
Science Study Valuable.
wilkins chief accomplishment II he
achieves his desire of going over tne
North Pole in submarine, would pc
oceanoeraphic collections. with certain
meteorological observations, but noI
much considered from a geographic
viewpoint. in Mr. Baldwin's opinion.
Sir Hubert will not likely encounter
icebergs, some five-Sixths OF Whlch arr
below the surface of the sea, says tne
Washingtonian, who mace Stuuy y.
Ace conditions in the Arctic more than
a quarter of a century ago The Aus
tralian explorer is operating lar Nortn
of the region of icebergS, which must
not be confused with the pack Ice, Mr..
Baldwin explains.
wilkins will not only be bucElng the
ice drift. but will have very. strong
ocean current against him, In Mi,
Baldwin's opinion. Many years ago,
Mr.. Baldwin took issue with the scien-
fists. who claimed that Greenland eX-
tended all across the North polar region
and that Wrangel Island was Its tip.
nearest Alaska. In the face OF the
fact that noted geographers and the
Coast and Geodetic Survey, which pub
lished a cotidal map on the subject.
contended that there was land around
the North Pole, Mr.. Baldwin says that
he held to the belief that there was
clear area of unobstructed drift ice,
from Boring Strait to near Spitzbergen.
He says he laughed at the idea that
there was polar land holding back the
drift of ice.
The absence of land near the Pole
has been proven, Mr.. Baldwin asserts,
by the Ellsworth Amundsen expedition
in the Norge, which flow from Spltz-
bergen to Alaska, without sighting any
territory and by Sir Hubert wilkins
himself, who few over the area from
Alaska to Spitzbergen in an alrplane.
Doubts Pole NearneSs.
II as Vilhialnur Stefan, son is quoted
as saying. the Nautilus has gone 100
miles farther North than any other
polar ship, she must have reached at
least between 81 degrees. 80 minutes
and 88 degrees, north latitude. for the
Fran of the Norwegian expedition
reached latitude &c degrees in october,
1895. The new record for the Nautilus
would place that craft very near the
pole and seems quite unlikely. he says.
Mr. BALDWIN reCalleQ LTlaC CHe hIleI :
lean naval officer De Long in the
jeanette. backed by James Gordon Ben
nett, drifted for couple of years in
the ice pack, bearing out the theory
that there is a field of unobstructed
drift from the region near Alaska to
the vicinity of Spitzbergen. The Wash
ington explorer was two days too late
to join the Inflated Andree expedition,
which proposed to explore the pole in
q balloon. Later with a German
scientist. he chartered a small steamer
and examined the pack ice. north of
Danes Island. on the northwest coast
of Spitzbergen, about latitude 80 de-
grees. In this section wilkins is SUD-
posed to be operating at present. He
might possibly be somewhat farther
west and south.
This. says Mr.. Baldwin, would place
him at the point where the Fran. under
Capt Otto Sverdyup. emerged from her
three-year drift in the pack ice. 1896.
Nansen. the organizer of the Fran
expedition, sought to pick up the drift
where the jeanette had left off and
demonstrate the general current Of ice
toward Spitzbergen. across the pole. In
that area. near SpitZbergen, the polar
ice begins to disintegrate.