POLAR EXPLORATION 



4726 



POLAR EXPLORATION 



During the winter of 1908 supplies were trans- 

 ported to Cape Columbia, from which the final 

 dash to the Pole was to be made. Commander 

 Peary's long experience in Arctic region:* proved 

 invaluable. The Eskimos he had employed 

 were picked men, who knew and trusted him; 

 the dogs with which he was provided were the 

 best to be obtained in Greenland. 



The party left Cape Columbia in six divisions 

 at intervals of a The total consisted of 



seven white men, nineteen Eskimos, 140 dogs 

 and twenty-thn Peary saved himself 



to * 



THE "ROOSEVELT" 



Peary's vessel, used in his final and successful 

 effort to reach the North Pole. 



as much as possible for the final dash and sent 

 back, one after another, five of the six divisions, 

 himself pushing on with four Eskimos. On 

 April 6, the Pole was reached; careful observa- 

 tions were taken to place the attainment be- 

 yond all doubt, and the return journey com- 

 menced. From Indian Harbor, which was 

 reached on September 5, 1909, Peary tele- 

 graphed, "Stars and Stripes nailed to the North 

 Pole." 



Captain Cook's Expedition. Five days pre- 

 vious to the receipt of Peary's telegram an- 

 nouncing his success, Dr. Frederick A. Cook of 

 Brooklyn announced in cable dispatches from 

 Arctic lands that he had reached the North 

 Pole a year before Peary, on April 21, 1908. 

 This news came as a complete surprise; at first 

 his claim was accepted as authentic, but soon, 

 under fire of Peary and his friends, Cook's ex- 

 ploit was publicly questioned. Dr. Cook sub- 

 mitted evidence of his achievement, which was 

 not found satisfactory. A controversy was 

 waged for some time, Cook maintaining his 

 right to be acknowledged as the discoverer. 

 The University of Copenhagen, after investiga- 

 tion, decided that his claim was invalid. Dr. 



Cook did not dispute the decision, which was 

 promptly accepted by the scientific world, 

 leaving Peary in possession of the high honor. 



Scientific Results. While the discovery of 

 the North Pole has not achieved the result 

 long sought for (the opening up of a Northwest 

 Passage, since this passage was discovered in 

 1905 by Roald Amundsen), it has accomplished 

 much that is of value to the scientific world. 

 The geological formation of the lands nearest 

 to the Pole has proved the correctness of the 

 theory long held by many that at some time 

 in the earth's history the Arctic regions en- 

 joyed a genial, if not almost tropical, climate. 

 Almost every geological formation is repre- 

 sented, and the remains of plants and animals 

 that could not have existed in any but a tem- 

 perate climate have been discovered. No great 

 mountain range runs through the Arctic region, 

 which contains only one active volcano, on the 

 small island of Jan Mayen. Around the Pole 

 itself there is no continent such as exists at the 

 South Pole. Soundings taken through the ice 

 by Peary's party revealed a depth of 1,500 

 fathoms (9,000 feet), without touching bottom. 



It was discovered that the temperature in 

 the immediate vicinity of the North Pole is 

 not as low as in surrounding territory nearer 

 the continents. The lowest temperature ever 

 recorded on the earth's surface is that expe- 

 rienced at Verkhoyansk in Siberia, where the 

 thermometer registers 70 F. every winter, 

 and sometimes shows a temperature of 93. 

 It has been calculated that the temperature at 

 the North Pole seldom, if ever, goes below 

 42 F., which is not the degree of cold ex- 

 perienced in many parts of Canada every win- 

 ter. Peary reported that in the far North the 

 ice becomes more even, and less difficult to 

 travel on, than near the land. This would sug- 

 gest that nearer the Pole the atmosphere is 

 calmer and not subject to the disturbing storms 

 that render the sea ice farther south so irregu- 

 lar and difficult to cross. 



History of Arctic Exploration. About 325 

 B. c. an adventurous Greek named Pythras 

 sailed from Marseilles, then called Massalia, on 

 a voyage of discovery. He reached the land 

 of the midnight sun and the Arctic Circle. 

 Early in the ninth century Iceland was discov- 

 ered, and in the same century Eric the Red 

 found Greenland, where a settlement was es- 

 tablished. These were, however, merely voy- 

 ages of discovery, and had no direct connection 

 with the North Pole, although they naturally 

 turned attention to regions farther north. 



