Evening star., 1943-11-14
A Last Frontier
In Far North
By James Waldo Faucet.


already have sent numbers Of persons to
study their Biographies. A modern
Horace Greeley might say, In effect:
60 north, young man, 60 north"
When Herbert Hoover was In Berlin
just prior to the outbreak of the. second
World War, Hermann Goering INQUIRED
Of him: What are the natural re-
sources Of Siberia?" The answer al
legedly was: THE same, generally
speaking, Is those of North America"
Such reply was justified by the map
OF all that vast territory which lies on
the upper side of the globe It is there
that the mysterious Asiatic hinterland
OF the Soviet Union may be found. Also
It Is there that Canada and Alaska
await exploitation. The one tremendous
expanse is Elropes last frontier: the
other that Of the friendly democracies
Of the American continent. A single
mutual interest, obviously, draws them
into close relation. They wish to sur
vive and prosper. 1t follows that they
must develop the wealth Of the land
areas they control.
A key to such expansion is evident In
the trend Of the great rivers of Siberia,
Alaska and Canada. The Oh, Yenisei,
Khatanya, Lena, Yana, Kolyma, Anak.
tuvuk, Peel. Mackenzie Anderson, Cop
permine, Back, Leaf, George, Hamilton
and many other important yet little.
known streams feed the Arctic Ocean,
If regarded merely as a sequence of
waterways stretching across the map
from left to right, they may seem iso-
lated from each other. Actually, when
viewed in connection with the North
Polar Sea, they appear as a network of
natural approaches to the Pole. A diff
ferent way Of saying the same thing is
that: These mighty rivers are links in
chain Of air routes between the coun-
tries which are to play major parts in
the rebuilding Of civilization.
DR.. Trevor Lloyd Of Dartmouth COL
lege. in a pamphlet recently issued by
the Canadian Institute of International
Affairs and the Canadian Association
for Adult Education, discusses the whole
inclusive problem of travel and COM
munications through the skies. Can.
ada" he explains, "is badly mis-
represented on most world maps. The
sailing chart designed by Mercator in
1869 distorts areas in high alti-
tudes and gives totally wrong impres.
slons Of the relative positions of the con-
tinents. 1t is not easy to realize that
Canada and the Soviet Union are neieh-
bors across the North Pole, 50 that the
Trans-Siberian Railway and the Cana.
dian National Railway are roughly par.
allel, although 4,5oo miles apart. On q
globe-which Is the most accurate map
OF the world-a line drawn from Ottawa
through the North Pole eventually passes
near Chungking, capital of China. Lines
connecting the larger centers of popu-
lation In North America to important
cities In Europe or Asia pass in most
cases across Northern Canada. -. A
straight-line Night Generally known as
Great Circle course) from New York
TO Toxic passes over Churchill and the
mouth Of the Mackenzie River. The
course from Chicago to vladivostok
passes near Great Bear Lake and that
from Los Angeles to Chungkine crosses
the Yukon Territory. In practice direct
links between North America and Asia
cross Northwestern Canada and Alaska.
'' The shortest routes from Western
Europe to the Far East lie in hish lati-
tudes north of America"
Air transport Of commodities sooner
or later, 1t Is indicated, will make DOS
sible the harvesting" Of the neglected"
natural endowment Of the Northern
hemisphere much as steam railroads
and steamboat lines rendered feasible
tnat OF the zone between 20 and 40 de.
erees Heavier-than-sir flying machines
can be provided with pontoons for
landing upon and taking OIL from
rivers like the Lena and the Mackenzie
The pioneer experiments were finished
long before Hitler came to power In the
German Reich. It has been demon
strated that the wealth Of the north
can be reached and brought back by
plane.
DR.. Lloyd suggests that fur. fish game
lumber, gold. silver, radium, uranium,
lead, copper. tungsten, cobalt and other
products Of Alaska and Canada NAV
oe shipped in air transports adapted
70 such use. Perhaps the most tmpor-
tant feature Of the Mackenzie Valley, 1"
ne says, rs that it is a lowland and
oners an almost ideal setting for long
distance flying. A line of large air.
bases along this route would have some
advantages over q similar line through
the Yukon and Alaska for communica.
ton with Asia. Cold weather Is not
nowadays serious difnculty to flyers
and 1t Is preferable to an alienation of
warm and cold weather and consequent
fogs and heavy precipitation. Snow.
fal in the Mackenzie region is low and
visibility In winter and summer In the
absence of fires, is excellent"
What can happen is illustrated by the
story of gold mining on the north shore
OF Great Slave Lake. DR.. Lloyd writes:
THE work begun in 1888 has caused the
growth of a town of more than 1000
persons, we'll equipped with hotels
stores, hospitals, churches, a post ofice
and school Up to the end of 1s4l
about $4,000 OF gold had been re,
fined" The town referred to is Yellow
knife, directly north OF Edmonton and
Calgary If line be drawn connecting
those communities and continuing
around the planet, it will hit Boise,
Idaho, and Yuma, Ariz., at one extreme
and Samarkand the ancient ca rifal ~