POLAR EXPLORATION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 18 September 1909, Page 4

POLAR EXPLORATION.

Press Association.— Copyright. A NEGRO'S STATEMENT. . LONDON, Friday. j A negro named Hansen declares that h-Tp-'rsßn'-ny assistpd Comniand'er Peary in hoisting the stars and '. stripes at the North Polo. ( TRACES OF DR. COOK. ! WOULD THEY BE FOUND? Professor David, in an interview with • a "Sydney Morning Herald" reporter, J reviewed the possibilities of Lieutenant 1 Peary finding traces of Dr Cook. I He said it was not likely that the . sealed tube which Dr Cook claims lo I have left at the Pole would be found .by Peary; that, is, if Dr Cook's sUter j ment that the ice was drifting eaat- \ ward is correct. Even if the ice drifted }at the rate of only one mile a day, the J tube would have travelled over 300 miles, for there was a difference of 50 weeks in the dates at which the ex-. plorers claim to have been at the Pole. Besides, there was another reason why the tube would most likely be lost. If it was made of sohio metallic substance it would absorb so much of the sun's heat that it would mejt itself into the iioe. "We found in Antaritiea," went on . the Professor, "that in a singlo night j even the ropes that we left out would • sink out of sight into- the hard snow co- . vering' the ice. Even if the tube did • not disappear, U would be easily missed. ; "Then Dr. Cook's sledge tracks and foofrnarkes would be left, perhaps for a year. In the south our sledge marks used. to be left standing in relief,- The i supporting party that went down to I lay a food depot for Lieutenant Shackle■:ton*B party returned to the depot in • January, 1909, and'then saw distinctly on the surface of the snow the tracks of Shacklelon's party, which passed through 'in i 'November, 1908. That was in epite of the' blizzards and snowstorms ,that had occurred in the . Interval. The marks will stand out in relief for a much longer time than the three months we noticed, but they would not last indefinitely, . because snow, by thawing and solidifying constantly, would finally absolutely efface them, or the marks would be removed by ablation— that is, tfi'e sloW evaporation whereby several inches of that surface are removed annually. -'""It is quite possible that Commander Peary might have come across such artioles as' boxes or tins thrown away by Dr Cook from time to time. . Tins, being, made.of metal, would be more. likely to remain on the surf-ice. "On the whole, if Peary has followed , J anything like the same track as Dr j , Cook, it would be very likely he would 1 come across -graces of I>r Cook's "jour,Ooy..