Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1909. THE DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH POLE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 13 September 1909, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1909. THE DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH POLE.

TRAGEDY AND ROMANCE OF THE PAST. THE strangest of many strange feature* of polar exploration is the suddenness 0 with which that arch-mystery should- be 0 solvtd and the northern apex of the earth X reached after nearly a century of endeavour that has cost many lives and ir much treasure. It is strange too that l " for the moment at least the stupendous h natgre pf the achievement should be beir iittled by a relatively sordid contest bo m tween two iy'ei'l-a^ere'dited. explorers whe >" claim the right of discoveryrr-two mer declaring thnt they have at'tainei sfmuj T t,-mectisly that which party aftjer pari} in the past have striven after and failed to secure. In the past, distant and im- '• mediate, the utmost that it has been pos ' fliblf to achieve has been for one fc » reach a northern latitude a little highei i than ano'thei lyho -was previously in ths t" region.' With ;tfie record of "furthest north" aspured, explorers h,B-ve returned to civilisation to reap a rich harvest oi honour and gold, perhaps to return fo'l a further effort, but generally to be •) satisfied and let others do tho rest-. • ■•*•• It has been left to one.-or two members of the youngest of the great nations to be the first of the human race to stand in unimaginable solitude on the northern extremity of tho earth's axis, Yet, i, c if- pppld not be a Briton, all Australasians Jfiljl rejoice that it has been an American who iias attained the supreme gaol of all explorers. If, jg of interest to note tJwit there is a Icnrionjs link between the Australasian, colonies and Arctic exploration of the past. One of the earliest and most tragical of the Arctic exploration had as its leader Sir John Franklin, once Lieut. -Governor of Tasmania. In Hobart many memorials still remain, including the Ro. yal Socfeiy pf Tasmania which he founded. When i^ith' Franklin was fitting out the expedition uvkjJwr -Captain Mc> Clintock, in the LittieFoi, *o traces of Franklin, Australasian "money £.elpei' to swell the fund that was contributed in response to her pathetic app3.il. It was McClintock's expedition that finality oleal-ed up tlie- great mystery of Ffanklin's disappearance, and discovered jhf. 'ytripten record of Sir John Frank, lin's death, .obtaining clear proof of the tragic fate of tiie .\*ii,o!e expedition that sailed in the Erebus and the Terror — 130 souls who pevtehed miserably jjj {he. lonely waste of the great Fish Biy.e),. The world is awaiting with breathlens interest details of the narrative Dr Coot (.nd Commander PeaTy will have to tell of "tlie *W!PU that hitherto has been a sealed booVto tlfes JBOst pertinacious and indomitable of inyesfjg^tflrs. Commander Peary, in the account of "hne ot Li; earlier journeys, relates that after passing *, cwtain point on the frozen Arctic Sea the wjjather suddenly improved, the icy blizzard's u«i*ed to blow, and the sun shone out- warm a«d bright. [Similarly also, Dr Nansen hint* oi <tli^ Indications of a warm basin surrounding the ¥obs The writer of a recent enthralling tut jjii>p)y imaginative work of fiction placed at tne pal« a fertile volcanic crust kept warm by '/subterranean fires, whereon had dwelt excluded from the worj.d a nation of Norman emigrants who reiflinid all the customs of chivalry and feudalism, Wil) Commander Peary and Dr Cook bear out lbs hflpeful anticiptlrtus of othei- explorers of a. wwm polar belt, to which Cook's excursion tour* may be conduatsd in the near future, or will their data sho-w tftat the site of the Geographical Pole is as leppjjant and as inhospitable as the region immediately surrounding it? Or Cook says he has discovered land in the ex^erne north, and the statement is calculated tojjuzzle the scientific world, swing that the observations of previous exploreM were aji against euch an hypothesis. It is pathetic to realise that at least one of the chief motives that have impelled men to stake their lives en being the first to reach the Pole— the desire for immortal fame — no longer exists. Cook or Peary, when their claims are e"ttled, will occupy a niche in the temple not less lofty ijhan that of Columbus or Vasco de Gama, and no one following will be on the earn* Jpvel. No doubt practical and valuable scientific results are to be derived from observations taken at the North Poe, partisularly ia the determination of magnetic anj ni'„---teorolog&al problems. With the path made relatively easy, others may go where Peary or Cook has gone. Bnt the romance of being the first betoi|s now to tho past^— it Is gatturei -nto th« archives of Arctic exploration, aud the volume of the Northern story at Jpait is closed. Thero remains, nowevwr, the attainment of the South Pole. Referring to the future exploration of the South Pole, a contemporary says : — The icy waste that leads to it is not strewn with human bones like the white desert of the North. No dreadful legends of famine, murder, -and cannibalism, such as blot the history of Arctic exploration, have gathered round the records of Antarctic travel. But the journey to the South Pole is not less arduous- ; the courage that is demanded for the successful accomplishment of that journey is not ;->ss devoted, and the fame that awaits the successful explorer is . not lesß. sure. It. can Jia^dly. to© .d*?,ral>t«*l .that within -.a brief period the kouthefn polar fortress 'will-fall as the northern •fortress, if -report! speaks true, has already fallen. And men will then be able to clai.n with pride that ihe has indfieg subjugated the planet that gave him birth. Ski-... ■--.^e^kk-y^-.V^. '-- ■■-.' •- '-- ? '.' ' -. -'-_ .r ■:-,.--- J,.-.