Evening star., 1937-03-15
SOVIET DISCOVERS
RICHES IN ARCTIC
Valuable Mineral Deposits
Found in Developing Sea
Route to East.
BY PIERRE VITOUX.

from lie WIllS oCd w Vic oSAAiS
by Soviet Russia has revealed unsus-
pected riches, hidden under the
frozen blanket of ice and snow that
covers the limitless Siberian plains.
An undertaking of mainly military
value has thus potentially paid for
itself many times over.
The bleak Siberian coasts were for
merly believed to produce nothing but
timber, furs and fish. Now, II the
charts published by the Soviet Arctic
Institute in 1884 are to be believed,
22s places have been found where
coal, oil, graphite, lead, zinc, copper,
tin and nickel lie within workable
depths.
Coal mines are already being worked
In SpitZbergen by the Soviet trust,
Arktikugol, and were supposed to pro-
duce nearly 100000 tons in 1886. Local
mines supply coal to New zembla,
Arctic island, which also contains
oil. PhoSphateS are extracted from
mines in the Kola Peninsula, Accord
ing to Soviet estimates, some 10000
tons of copper and nickel lie at the
mouth of the Khatanga River. Gold
fields are being worked along the
within River, a tributary of the great
Lena Three hundred people lived
there in 1923-5000 now.
Human Labor Needed.
Developing these riches is hard
problem. The first need is for human
labor. and the question is whether
Siberia can harbor colonizerS who
could get their food from the land.
The Soviets have published much sem
sational news about the results
achieved in their Arctic agricultural
experiments They claim to have
developed, for instance, type OF
wheat and other grains which ac-
tuauy resist the frigid temperatures
of that territory. However, these
have been only experiments on small
scale.
In any event, the Soviet Govern
ment is trying to populate these
regions, and besides sending there
numberless political prisoners, 1t
encourages, through high salaries,
the emigration there of Red Army
volunteers.
The most important colonies have
been grouped around ports located
at the mouths of Siberian rivers, such
as the Kolyma, the Indigarka, the
Lena and the Yenisei. The most I'M
portant colony is that Of Igarka,
which had only 43 inhabitants In
1928, but boasts now of 10000 IN
Summer time. Last Summer some
38 merchant ships came from dn-
ferent parts of Europe to load tim
Der and allied products at this port.
Exports from Igarka, which amounted
TO 5000 tons in 1880, have reached
a total of 10000 in 1886. The close
cooperation of weather stations, air
planes and icebreakers has been so
successful that now sea trip from
London, Rotterdam or Hamburg to
the Yenisei does not take more than
l8 or 20 days,
Modern Methods Used.
In developing this frozen waste, the
Soviets have applied the most mod
ern methods on a large scale. Over
TO radio stations have been equipped
and distributed along the coasts and
islands Of the Arctic Ocean. Thirty
of them make possible continuous,
year around service. The northern
most station is placed on the Both
parallel. at Tikhaya Bay, on the Island
of Hook, which is part Of the Franz
Josef Archipelago.
Observation work at these stations
Is carried out in close cooperation
with pilots specialized in polar air
navigation, who are also in charge
of maritime plotting. The flyers re-
port to ship captains all ice dis
placements and guide them along |
practicable channels where the ice
Is thin enough for the vessels to
break.
Air activity in the Arctic has been |
intense for some time and the avia- |
ton department of the Glavsever- |
putt plans to establish regular lines |
over some 5000 miles of territory. TIE |
main line joins Moscow with Vladi- |
vostok and is fed by a number Of per- |
pendicular secondary lines, connect |
ing TobolSk with Nowy Port, Kras- |
noyarsk with Dudinka, Irkutsk with |
Yakutsk and Tiski. The line joining |
the Pacific port of Okhotsk with its |
AlSISlIOOl EcGIOpdNlOfoh, III tllS hdill" |
chatka Peninsula, near Japan, is
scheduled to be completed shortly |
and will be supplemented by another
line calling at Cape Wellen. near
the Bering Strait.
Nowy Port, at the mouth of the Obi |
River, was only open to steamers 16 |
days in 1927. In 1929, as result of |
the new development work, the num- |
Der of days mounted to 40, in 1884 to |
&6 and in 1885 to 54
Arctic Grows Warmer.
One scientific factor the Soviets |
are taking advantage of is the recent |
discovery that the Arctic Ocean is |
gradually becoming warmer. Dur |
ing his famous polar expedition on |
the Fran in 1895, the explorer, |
NanSen, found warm current at q |
depth of a little over so feet. This |
discovery was confirmed in 1885 |
by Soviet expedition on the ice
breaker Sadko. After crossing the |
S2d degree of latitude, northernmost |
ever reached by an icebreaker, the |
Sadko expedition found a warm cur
rent at a depth of 800 feet. This led |
the observers to believe that 1t was
a continuation of the gulf stream |
toward the Pacific, over the "roof Of |
the world
1t seems that the Arctic ice Is
slowly receding. Since 1892 the coast