HOXORS TO A-MLXDSEX AXD TICARV 



125 



the Antarctic Continent, one not particu- 

 larly easy to explore. Acting with the 

 earnest desire to help toward a complete 

 survey of an unexplored section, he dis- 

 carded all idea of duplicating the work 

 of other explorers or of competing with 

 those who, duly prepared for the at- 

 tempt, were planning their dash to the 

 pole. As testified hy your award tonight, 

 by the praise which our chairman has 

 bestowed on him, and by the tokens of 

 appreciation conferred on him by his 

 peers in several countries, he succeeded 

 in what he had planned ; our knowledge 

 has been considerably increased, thanks 

 to his exertions, and the fatigues and 

 dangers he and his companions under- 

 went have not been wasted. 



DR. CH.\RCOT's achievements 



Owing to his two expeditions, with the 

 Prancais in 1904-1905 and the Ponrqitoi 

 Pas in 1908- 1910, presidential names 

 have been added to the royal and im- 

 l)erial ones, recalling almost all Europe 

 and the United States, too, at the south- 

 ern end of the world. Europe will be 

 more completely duplicated — a quiet, si- 

 lent, snowbound Europe — now that there 

 is a Loubet Land and a FaUih-es Land. 



N^o poles at present remain to be dis- 

 covered, and the line of coasts of the 

 Southern Continent has been in a great 

 measure explored. What will such men 

 as Shackleton, Charcot, Peary. Amund- 

 sen now do ? Wt do not know ; perhaps 

 they do not know. Of one thing we are 

 sure — that is, that whatever they attempt 

 will be worthy of their name ; whatever 

 it be we wish them success. 



THE TO.\STM.\STER, RORERT E. PE.\RY 



It has been my good fortune on sev- 

 eral occasions and on entirely different 

 sul)jects to listen to .Ambassador Jusse- 

 rand, and in every case it has been a dis- 

 tinct and emphatic pleasure. His clear- 

 cut diction lifts as the wings of the aero- 

 plane and carries us direct to the point 

 with the directness of the automobile. I 

 wish my friend Charcot could ha\e been 

 here tonight to hear of his magnificent 

 work in the .\ntarctic regions so ably 

 presented. 



We have with us tonight a man who 

 has had experience in both the tropical 



and the Arctic regions, and I am going to 

 ask him to give us a few remarks upon 

 his experience in those localities. 1 take 

 pleasure in presenting Air. Walter L. 

 Fisher, Secretary of the Interior. 



SECRETARY FISHER 



Mr. Toastmastcr, ladies and gentle- 

 men: It has been suggested to me that I 

 should say something to you about those 

 far outlying posts of the Department of 

 the Interior in this country, that after 

 all get into the realm of exploration. I 

 have made two very slight \oyages of 

 discovery, one to Hawaii and one to 

 Alaska, but on both occasions my object 

 was the investigation of industrial and 

 economic conditions and not of geog- 

 raphy. 



Of course, I realize that the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior has much to do with 

 the subject with which this Society is 

 concerned. A great deal of the geo- 

 graphical work of the United States gov- 

 ernment is carried on under its direc- 

 tion, the work of the Geological Survey 

 particularly, and in the opening remarks 

 of the President I noted with some in- 

 terest that this Society has spent some 

 money with some energy upon the recent 

 eruption of a volcano in Alaska. 



II.AW.MI .\XD .\L.\SK.\ 



The two countries which have been 

 suggested to me have a singular resem- 

 blance and singular dift'erences. I do 

 not know whether all of you have 

 thought of the points of resemblance so 

 much as you have of the points of differ- 

 ence ; but if for a moment we consider 

 the fact that .Alaska is largely volcanic : 

 that it contains some of the few active 

 volcanoes of the world ; that it has re- 

 cently had the most active eruption, we 

 may see one of the resemblances. The 

 volcano which can be best observed for 

 scientific purposes, the volcano which is 

 most accessible and most interesting to 

 the traveler, is that which exists upon the 

 island of Hawaii. 



The territories are very diff"erent in 

 most respects. I do not know whether 1 

 can in this brief notice succeed in re- 

 peating to you something that has been 

 written to describe these ditTerences in 

 verse, possibly not intentional in cither 



