ee 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
11 
surely time somebody awoke to the 
fact it is time to act. 
Surely some recognition should be 
given to this matter, and not, as in 
times past, let the petition be pigeon- 
holed. 
Beverly Farms’ streets are in dire 
need of being repaired and improved, 
and the sooner a change comes the 
better for all. 
A Communication. 
Editors North Shore Breeze: 
I read with considerable interest the com- 
munication in your issue of August 13, upon 
“The Road-hog.” I consider the article 
very fair to all parties inits treatment of the 
subject. 
The ‘*‘ Road-hog” has been more or less 
in evidence at all times, but, though an 
ardent automobilist myself, I must admit 
that the species has multiplied rapidly since 
the advent of the automobile. There are 
drivers of automobiles who seem to think 
the North Shore driveways were made ex- 
pressly for their use, and that no one else 
has any rights thereon. But in defense of 
the sport I feel that I must say that these 
are as little in favor with the majority of 
automobilists as with pedestrians. 
I again agree with the author of last 
week’s communication, that we do not want 
electric cars in Manchester. We donot want 
to see our beautiful Singing beach, the 
delight of the local residents, as well as of 
those who come to the North Shore for the 
summer months only, frequented by the 
noisy Sunday throngs that the trolley inva- 
riably brings to our shore resorts. Nor do I 
believe that the introduction of another evil 
will be a cure for the evil that already exists. 
I confess that I am unable to see the logic 
in the author’s reasoning. 
Let us, by all means, do all in our power 
to bring the ‘“‘Road-hog” to his desserts. 
But do not let us introduce another evil, 
which will do no good, but only make a bad 
matter worse. 
I am glad to see that the BREEZE is inter- 
ested in all questions of interest to the 
North Shore, and I trust you will find room 
in your columns for this letter at an early 
date. A MANCHESTER TAXPAYER. 
State street, Boston, Aug. 18, 04. 
Facts and Fancies. 
Great Jupiter, I pray thee, hear; 
A trembling mortal craves thy ear, 
And with all reverence would inquire 
Of thee the suitable attire 
To meet the changing elements 
That thou, in season, should dispense. 
In other words, Great Jove, I pray, 
What clothing shall I wear today? 
Shall furs and ulster take the lead, 
Or serge and gauze things be my need? 
Must it be combination suits? 
Say, straw hat, mits and rubber boots — 
Oh, that I knew, for goodness knows, 
The perspiration, as it flows, 
Is just as apt. in days like these, 
On face and hands be found to freeze. 
And I have been compelled of late 
To purchase wear of every weight; 
Balbriggan for the morning sun, 
Half wool before the day is done, 
And if I sally forth at night 
I find a Jaegar all too light. 
Today, oh Jove, what shall I fear, 
A sunstroke or a frozen ear? 
—A.C.N, 
EARLY DUTCH WHALERS, 
BY SW. ‘S. €. RUSSELL. 
(Copyrighted, 1904.] 
The high latitude obtained by 
Nansen, 86°, 13’, 36” N.; Peary, 84°, 
1i* N.; and Abruzzi, 86°, 34° N., 
prompts the inquiry, are these the 
only men who have made so near an 
approach to the Pole? The answer 
is tound in the imperfect logs of the 
old Dutch whalers, sailing more than 
300 years since from the Y. 
The logs are incomplete and their 
truthfulness is often in question. In 
spite of this doubt they may be 
accurate, for we remember that the 
claims of Baffin andthe great Barents 
were disputed till subsequent expe- 
ditions established their truthfulness. 
The whalers were not sczeztzfic explor- 
ers, nor did they seek fame in arctic 
annals, hence the brevity of their 
records. They were a simple folk, 
toiling fora pittance for themselves 
and wresting from the frigid waters 
of the north a comfortable compe- 
tence for the owners of the diminutive 
boats they sailed. 
It is not our present purpose to 
argue the claims they made, but to 
record sufficient data to show what 
bold, intrepid seamen were the Dutch 
of this period. They sailed in large 
numbers to Spitzbergen seas. From 
1620 to 1635 over 300 Dutch ships 
and more than 15,000 men visited 
those waters yearly. In 1689 there 
were 188 vessels at one anchorage at 
the same time. Many of these ships 
pushed far to the north ; how far will 
always remain in doubt ; that some of 
them attained latitudes that are the 
envy of modern explorers is indis- 
putable, that they reached the Pole 
we may safely doubt in spite of their 
claims. 
Undoubtedly they discovered many 
lands in those wastes of ice that today 
stand to the credit of more recent 
explorers, for instance, Wyches Land 
and Franz Joseph Land. 
As early as 1596 Cornelius Roule, 
in the longitude of Nova Zembla, 
sailed to lat. 85° N., very close to 
Nansen’s ‘‘farthest.”’ In 1624 Will- 
iam Williamszoon entered the Spitz- 
bergen waters to the north of that 
land in lat. 84° N. Maxon -records 
that prior to 1676 many a Dutch skip- 
per told him in sober earnestness that 
he had sailed to the 89th parallel, 
and one of them was loud in his claim 
that he had sailed 2° beyond the Pole. 
This statement by one critic is attrib- 
uted to “dreamy Amsterdam and 
strong Dutch beer.”’ In spite of his 
jest, Osborne proceeds to show that 
the whalers reached exceptionally high 
latitudes, and many an Englishman 
used the Dutch logs as an argument 
before the Admiralty for procuring 
appropriations for extended voyages 
of discovery in these waters. 
Dr. Petermann, the eminent geog- 
rapher, gave very full credence to the 
Dutch logs. He shows that they 
were the true discoverers of Franz 
Joseph Land, and that they navigated 
its floe-drifted sounds more than 
three centuries ago. Parry’s work in 
this quarter confirms the claims of 
the Dutch and English whalers. 
During their supremacy in Spitz- 
bergen waters the Dutch sent men-of- 
war to convoy the freighted whalers 
home. The captain of this man-of- 
war states that in his idleness, waiting 
for the fleet to sail, he, “ finding open 
water, ran as far north as the 89th 
parallel.” 
It is true that they reached high 
latitudes, probably exceeding modern 
records ; the ervact degree is not essen- 
tial. That they accomplished so much 
in their frail vessels is wonderful, and 
speaks volumes for their skill, their 
knowledge and their courage. 
We do not recount the deeds, in 
this connection, of such navigators as 
Vlaming, Barents, Baffin and Hudson. 
Their sole object was discovery, zot 
fishing. The whalers rifted the rotten 
floes and sailed the northern water 
lanes intent upon commercial gain. 
The pursuit of the leviathan of the 
deep was their passion, and it led 
them oftentimes whither they would 
not go of personal choice —the in- 
stinct of the hunter was keen and 
courage never failed. 
Since there is such a mass of testi- 
mony supporting their claims to high 
latitudes, we may safely conclude their 
tales were not a@//inspired ‘‘in dreamy 
Amsterdam over strong Dutch beer.” 
Their work indicates more open 
water north of Spitzbergen than is 
generally supposed, and this is what 
we would expect if the Gulf Stream 
is not dissipated at the Loffoden 
Islands. Who shall say that a vessel 
of modern construction, steam driven 
and guided by the experience of three 
centuries of ice navigation, may not 
some day equal the latitude of the 
simple fisher folk of Holland? 
The late Russian vice admiral, 
Markaroff, in his ice-breaker, the 
Yermak, in 1901 easily steamed across 
the 80th parallel, crushing ice of a 
year’s accumulation, Had Japan not 
interfered with his plans he would 
have made a determined effort this 
summer in the same direction. 
The Dutch skippers, restiug from 
their toil and in the enjoyment of pot 
and pipe, told wondrous tales of those 
northern waters. In the words of 
Witsen, it remains for some one to 
“Go and see if this be true 
And may God protect the explorer.” 
