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Veil or Mystery from
the Great Antarctic ,
Ice Continent?
- AWAITING the coming, of some
w latter-day Columbus ts a great con-
tinent, the exact extent Ot Which
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, ... . . .M, f . jL - . craaie oi au ine waes in ute.wona., .
no man knows., It ts the last on the globe From tho South.Pole start the cold' cur
awaiting exploration that silent, grim, ice- ' rents that go to weaken the warmth of the Gulf
covered world that holds the South' Pole Stream in the Atlantic; and in the Pacific, to
clutched to its frozen bosom. tho8e nn currenta snoots of
Strange it is that, while so many valiant
'dashes have been made toward the North
Pole, comparatively few explorers have set
their faces resolutely toward the Southern .
MCross. ' . r
kind of romantic rivalry has inspired
those who have sought the North Pole; the
mere glory of winning the prize has spurred
them on. Jet science . may be much more '
'greatly benefited and human knowledge
more vastly enriched when the secrets , of
the mysterious Antarctic are revealed,
i :l VThis year will see, probably, at least
two determined efforts to penetrate those
unknown wastes. ' An English tarty, under
"Lieutenant Shackelton, is already encamped
"at the foot of Mount Erebus, although dis-'
sensions in 'the ranks have seriously inter
fered with -the plans.' It is expected that "
another Charcot expedition will leave
France for the Antarctic about the middle
of the summer. The scientific world is
arousing to the importance of revelations it
expects from1 the daring of a new Lolum
bus.
Thar ta An 1mmene field for Antarctic Tnlor
'tlon and I bellev tha South Pole can b reached
without any very great difficulty. Bt
tho pole itaelf 1 ot the rooat intcrestlnir item. I
attach far greater ImporUnce to the further ln
veftlxatlon ot the huge Antarctlo continent, About
whir h we know comparatively little at present.
We can only discern the -very outlines so far
of the fievr world, the last to be discovered on this
tint. nrAOKTanhic&lly soeakinar at least . nn-
.Bbini? the same right to be called and considered
nn independent part of .our globe as America or
JOurope. albeit it is only world of snow and ice. -Vr.
Otto Nordenskjold.! , '
"Tfl IS not the mere glory, of discovering the.
South role, therefore, - hat spurs inveg-:
(i tigators of Antarctic mysteries mysteries-!'
clutched' in an ice-bound . continent - esti'
riintrd to be as large cs Europe and, Australia '
comi'iiica.
.v " . ; v.i , :
For instance, t Professor -uaudry,. of ; the
'j.m. li Acaderaie, holds that. the discovery of Jf
f.A4 in ratagonia overthrows a .number of
. , i il 7 : .. .1
lU. a; jormcriy utiu rtnuru'S
evolution. vv ; " '". -
"lhij development," ho 6ays, "docs not ap- .
THE ! OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL. ' PORTLAND, SUNDAY
A V
J
V
pear toJbave had the same continuity, in the two
hemispheres, and it is to further discoveries in
the Antarctic that we must look for solu
tion of that great problem, the origin of life.".
- From discoveries of Dr. Nordenskjold, the
.Swede, who found fossil imprints of tropical'
plants in the Antarctic, it has been concluded
that rich and abundant vegetation once existed
in the vicinity of the , South Polev Perhaps
more thorough search may reveal evidences of
an unknown race once flourishing in the clime
now inhabited only by seals. and penguins.
There are mysterious currents and forces .
of nature that seem to have their-origin in the
Antarctic. In the general maritime circulation
the southern polar seas play a considerable role. -So
great, indeed, are these influences that one '
i . 1 . ... rl it .i il ..... l M J iL-
emisi ah.iuq rai un? may oe,zouna vne
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i y
MvA'''i-'--'" -'""4, -Bfe iiSMnJ -vvi-A yxt . .x-- w f .
whinV in. the ' frozfili, riirfIfi fif thA A rnt.5 T.iit.innt. RiOflro1tnTi,
sea. ;, Here these 'warm messengers from the . sailed from Cowes last August,'- and proceeded
lower latitudes eat away the edges of the eter- 'tor the southern ice barrier. There, not long
nal . ice, crumble the ' glacial mountains ' into . ago, a dispute arose between Lieutenant Shack
"bergs,w which drift away ; to threaten the v.- elton and. the sailing master of the vessel, xe;
; mariner in less inhospitable seas.' , - suiting in a physical encounter. ' - - " '
; t Apart from their danger to shipping,' these; rr; 'The' lieutenant; and a party, well provi-
icebergs have a great influence on climatic vari-.i sioned for; a long wait, t landed j and went into
ations. "They, are the seed from which grows - camp at the,foot "of Mount. Erebus, .while the ;
the' cyclone," . says p Engineer Pleneau. "The v irate sailing master took the barkentine Nim-
. South Pole climatically governs the North Pole rod back. to New Zealand.' , . 1
and all the space between. In no part of the ,
great mass of water which m.'".3 up two-thirds ' ;:
of the earth's surface are the waves so high as '
4n the "Antarctic ocean." , - ' s-.
. "The terrihe gales . which exist : w various
parts of the AntarcUc show itito be a'sort'of v
'Throne of the Winds,' ;' said another authority, r-
"and until the action of such an extremely dis-.v;
i- . i . .i . j" n '
lurDing area is anown, wcamer zorecasiers win
not have at their command all the .necessary
facts for foretelling the weather." , v
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,
English expedition
During the summer Lieutenant Shackelton '
will make whatever exploration- is possible, and
may even attempt a dash toward the South.
Pole, while awaiting the return of the Nimrod
".next falL The scientinc researches he expected-!
to make with the aid of the vessel must await ?
a more propitious opportunity.. . .
. Dr. Jean Charcot hopes for better luck with
.1, j : i . . . i i
ine jrrencn expeuanuu. ' :-jx - ne aas aireaay
passed two years in the Antarctic, he expects to'x
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cencnt. oy expexieuvw. cxpecis ja epenu-a -.
VV-i-
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HORNING, . APRIL : 26. -I9C3
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, ( least 'two years on the coming expedition.
Great fortitude is required-for Antarctlo
; exploration.' ' .wIn the Arctic regions there .is at
least some relief v from i-monotony," -"said . a
French 'writer recently, 'JThe changing form
yof the icebergs provides the landscape with con
v' siderable diversity.' The ice niountainsisimulate
cities, architectural edifices whimsical and va-.
' Tied, H sometimes depressed, ; at others sharp---
pointed, often pierced, with holes like Moorish
. minarets or the steeples of our churches. ' .;
,"On .these uncertain angles the .light, falls ;
it is reflected, refracted and decomposes itself
into all the colors of ; the prism.' : Here are to be
seen rainbows in a perpetual tremble of shaky
fcont.,;': - ' ; - ' .
EVERYTHING MONOTONOUS
'At! the South Pole, nothing like it. The
' icf shines - with a color oust., as .vivid,', but .there
r rainbows are fixed, and the icebergs affect all the
. same" form large cubes, all 1 alikei Such', mo- u
notonous surroundings make the tedium,- the in-
activity; of the long polar, night. most depress-
ing." '
' - Dr. ' Charcot did not permit inactivity, how-.
ever." ; He always found, something 'to do him-..
self and plenty to 6ccupy the time of tho others.
He arranged for forced .tasks, where such, obh-
gations did ; not : already exist,' and j he did not
permit any discussion' as. to tneir uuutj-
lilt ,uuy uii;uooiuu -bo. v , ..
t.4.W .t!t1i eflr.P.iAl Ar the diet .of ;
' the men that it might ward off scurvy.. He hadv
taken along large quantities of-preserved vege- j
tables, and he insisted on their " being eaten. :
'This was always accompanied, with much' grum-
' bliiiff'on'the "bart of the '.men. as under the et- t
feet of the climate the only call of the stomach j
is -fdr' flesh. ' ; 1 ' - 1 :
Another-severe trial in: this line is -the ne-
cessitv of eating the oily flesh of the seaL ; It is
the only form of 'fresh -meat possible, so that,
a. ' i t ii .., V- r,A ... ..
unpieubuub a it. iujr vc,.ai .iuuoi. ub.iuu.('( -
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."As to the tedium," said Trenchman who
' described the experiences of the7 party, "it
! was real,' and weighed heavUy on the shoulders
I of the saUoirs. Yet as. th natural gaiety, of e
- French character must have its fiejd for action,
even , a temperature 'of S5: degrees below aero
vdid rtot prevent enjoyment of "its iirid. . ,
. Thus great fun Vm had out of Dr. Char
cot delivering an address to a circlo of pen-
guins that allowed the strangers Cnot only to
; visit their domicile but paid great attention to
' "the" speaker.; .', ;r - . . !
"Penguins are confiding,' pacifio and, it may
' be said, humanitarian birds.'. They., showed
" marked 'deirree ' of . joy when ''.he mariner dis
embarked, and ' took part, as ' it were, in many I
of their rude festivities. ueu-comainea nu,
earnest, they' listened to' the musio of a gramo-,
hone placed on the ice, with a. mute attention'
not even accorded to our ' greatest virtuosi
. REWARDED BYV BEING EATEN
J And how, were these birds . rewarded for ,
their; many i social "merits! ' By proper ;utiliza-'
. tion of heir greatest merit.' They are eatable." ',
v 'The penguin; is the true owner, and symbol.
' of tho lAntarctio Circle. It thrives there, and ,
is found in great numbers.' ' One of the most in-1
' teresting discoveries of a former expedition was .
a huge fossil penguin indicating that life of a ;
much larger type existed there in bygone ages.
5 Both, the Swedes and the Germans . have
made scientifio investigations in' the Antarotie ;
regions. .The' Swedish expedition was comil
manded by Dr. Otto Nordenskjold; whose opin-'"
ion regarding 'future success-is given above. It
sailed for the south in-October, -1901. ' " J
T -' The' German. "expedition went '. out in , the
Gauss, .which 'was well equipped '. for ' scientifio
research. : This vessel reached the edge of Ant-1
, arctic ice in' February, 1902, and was promptly I ;
frozen in. ; , ' I
Sudden and' unexpected. snowstorms proved
the severest obstacle with which the Gauss peo-.
' je . naj ,to. contend.
ri'l - ' j l J i '
xneso inaue Bieuge inps
exceedingly dangerous;. they were often so thick1
that . all : landmarks vanished,, optical illusions '
appeared, small, hillocks quite close 1 seemed to
'grow into ice ..mountains, and all ideas of dis-
At one time v a sailor started for. the shin
from 'an ice hut only about forty feet distant.
V He lost his ,' way, and was not found for two i
hours All the members of the crew '.were
obliged to join themselves with ropes and search
the neighborhood i in , a wide semicircle. ( ';: ; -i
v .When such a storm descended upon an ex
ploring expedition there was nothing to do but
pitch, a tent, make it as comfortable as possible,'
Blip into a sleeping sack and let the fury of the -elements
rage . -' a ... 1 " . .-
. ; British expeditions have concentrated tljeir .
efforts as; a rule", upon C the route south from
New Zealand. Here the largest glacier , that is ,'
known works'out from the '-overland sea of ice;
, . .
iiat 'gathers ; about . the South Pole. - It is sev-
cral hundred miles wide, and has been followed
for 300 miles. : . , , '''I'
: : Between the open sea and the pole lie some-
thing 'like. X50 miles of land , ice. .Polar trav
elers nave esumaieu to a smau pariy, lanaing
near , the volcano of Erebus, 'with about , a hun-
dred good .dogs and sustenance for two years,;
would have a good chance of reaching tho South .
Pole. ' ' . ' ' ' " ' ; ; '
V But who .will be -the Columbus of. the. icy
continent under . the Southern Crossl ,- i .;