Evening star., 1937-06-20
~ F0D0"n Prof. Otto Schmidt commando" and M ySe0

venience from ice drift. Perhaps that
fact has something to do with the
! announced intention of abandoning
the idea OF permanent station at the
Pole. Perhaps the Danes will permit
the station later to be moved to
Greenland, as they now permit Nor
way to operate two meteorological
stations on their highly protected
arctic island. In Greenland the
station would probably serve better
than at the Pole the needs of the
proposed airline, though it may not
serve as well the general needs of
science.
Must Not Be Blinded.
The fact that the Russians well
know the need for and the value of
what We call publicity" when We do
it and propaganda" when they do
1t should not blind us to the great
general value, even to us. of their
present exploit. If the venture is
even moderately successful, If a party
succeeds in staying near the Pole even
few months without dramatic
tragedy, all Of us stand to gain a new
point Of view on the North, a revalu-
alton OF our old ideas on the terrors
OF the Arctic. The potential benefit
OF that revaluation, in terms of the
utilization of Alaska's vast arctic re-
sources, in terms Of our own utilization
Of the Polar Mediterranean" for
intercontinental aviation routes, can
not be calculated at the present time.
But directly and Immediately, too,
we stand to gain from the Russian
venture.
Drs. Gregg and Kimball. OF the
United States Weather Bureau, have
both expressed their joy over the
prospect of receiving daily weather
reports from the weather kitchen" !"
as 1zvestia calls the region around
the Pole. Scientific men have long
talked Of the tremendously important
possibility of predicting weather trends
In the inhabited world, months or
even years ahead, through systematic
observations in the polar regions. The
Argentinians, with an observatory in
the Weddell Sea, have given impetus
to that idea through being pretty we'll
able to predict droughts or unusually
wet seasons in Argentina two and a
half years ahead Of time. Fridtjof
Nansen. talking Of his polar plans
with the Graf Zeppelin, said: Here
IN the extreme North, where the
weather of Europe and North America
Is born, we will gather sufficient data
to transform meteorology from an art
into science"
ofbtodlo
Prof. Schmidt and his compan-
ions will not solve the problems of
weather observations in the north.
But II they are even moderately sue
cessful, they will have set two mile
stones in sciences constant march
toward the observation Of weather at
its source, and so, perhaps, toward
long-range prediction Of our weather.
They will have thrown new light on
the desirability as well as on the
technique Of such observation. That
IS enough for any one expedition.
Was Stefansson's Idea.
In trying to 1T the present exploit
into the history Of polar exploration
I ind myself beset by difficulties.
There are many kinds Of history and
at least three historical streams that
converge upon the men who at this
writing are camped on . drifting noe
some II miles from the top of
the world"
As mentioned, their place in the
history Of adventurous sport Is already
secure through the establishment of a
record in the form Of 4 FIRST" In the
history Of ideas, however, they derive
directly from Vilhjamur Stefansson.
In 1922 that great exponent Of the
friendly Arctic" to whom Prof.
Schmidt does not hesitate to give
credit, published his "Northward
Course Of Empire" In which hs pre-.
dcted everything the Russians are
now doing at the Pole. He not only