Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 238, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 October 1914 — RESCUE SHIP of the ARCTIC [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

RESCUE SHIP of the ARCTIC

»ISTORY again repeats Itself. Seventeen years ago, In November, 1897, the United States revenue cutter Bear was dispatched northward to rescue the crews of eight whaling vessels icebound in the Arctic ocean somewhere in the neighborhood of Point Barrow, Alaska. Now the same ship is off « once more for that frigid region, but

this time to effect the relief of that part of the crew of the ill-fated Karluk now marooned upon Wrangel Island, to the northwest of Bering strait. As will be recalled, the Karluk set out to explore the Arctic region north of Beaufort sea- and if possible to examine more closely Crocker land, which waki sighted by Peary on the 24th of June, 1906, from a distant point. The discovery of Crocker land gave tangible support to the old contention that the polar region was not a great Ice-covered sea, but Instead that a vast continent existed there beneath its eternal cloak of snow and ice. Stefansson was one of those who believed in the existence of an Arctic continent in that wide untraversed realm, and his aim was to trace a part at least of its boundaries. To the casual observer the untimely ending of his expedition might seem to have thwarted his purpose and to have rendered useless the venturing of the Karluk, but the loss of that craft in Itself has, paradoxically, added cumulative evidence of the existence of the shores that Stefansson and his followers did not see. To make this clear it is necessary to explain how .the searching mind of the scientist has already determined the probable existence ot an uncharted Arctic continent or a vast archipelago of darge islands covering a total area of quite 500,000 square miles—an area more than ten times as big as the state of New York or as large as Alaska itself.

Have you ever spilled a cupful of water on a level bit of ground? If so, you have probably noticed how far the liquid spread. Again, you havq no doubt poured a bucketful of water into a barrel and been disgusted at the modest degree it went toward filling It In a popular way this illustrates the manner In which the waters of a rising tide advance upon low-lying lands and, again, how the same Influx to relatively but little noticed 'when the basin Is deep and broad.

Without entering into the details of Arctic tides, it is a fact that they are normally of modest range, and yet in some parts the rise and tell is considerably less than it should be if the water were free to circulate from shore to shore or from side to side of the Arctic basin. Indeed, so we are told by R. A. Harris of the United States coast and geodetic survey, “at Bennett island at Teplitz bay, Franz Josef land, the range of the diurnal wave has about one-half of the magnitude which the-tidal forces acting over an uninterrupted Arctic basin would produce.” In other words, the normal or theoretical flow is somehow impeded, and the question is, What tr the nature and the extent of this obstruction or series of tidal checks? “The semt-dally tides found in the Arctic ocean - are derived almost entirely from those of the North Atlantic, because the semt-dally forces vanish at the pole and are very small hr the higher latitudes," Mr. Harris continues. “It is a case of getting near the hub of a wheel. These tides enter the Arctic ocean proper by way of the strait lying between Spitsbergen and the eastern coast of northern Greenland. They are propagated- through the Arctic to the New Siberian islands, the average rise and fall at Bennett island being 2.5 feet. “Now upon the assumption of an uninterrupted Arctic basin the tides at Point Barrow and at Flaxman island could not differ greatly in size from the tides which would, upon the same assumption, Ue found at Bennett Island. But as a matter of fact the rise and fall of the semi-daily tide is 0.4 foot at Point Barrow and 0.5 at Flaxman island.** But the presence of an obstruction, assuming the water for the tidal movement to come, as Mr. Harris says, from the Atlantic ocean via the passage between the northeastern coast of Greenland and Spitsbergen, is further evidenced by the directions in which the ebb and the flood tides flow. If no barrier existed to the free movement •of the flood from east to west then the ebb would ran east to the outlet between the two points mentioned. In short, it would leave by the shortest route to the original point of entry into the Arctic basin. Other records are available that help to bear out Mr. Harris’ argument in favor of,a vast uncharted continent or -extended group of big islands of which Crocker land is but a part In September, 1879, the craft Jeannette was caught by the ice and frozen in near Wrangel Island, where the Karluk’s men are now marooned. She was carried by the ebb tide along with the ice to the westward until she sank on June 12, 1881, to the northeast of Bennett Island. Again, Nansen’S Fram was frozen In to the eastward of Bennett Island on September 22, 1898, and after drifting generally westward got clear on July 19,1898, ata point nearly due north of Spitsbergen. Now let us see what happened to the Karluk. , ' rOn October 8, last year, Stefansson’s ship was swept from her anchorage by a gale and carried off shore at a point northeast of Barter island near Manning point There she was caught by the Arctic pack, from which It was impossible to break her loose, and thence she, too, drifted to the westward—always westward—until crushed and sent to the bottom north of Wrangel island

at a position close to that in which the Jeannette was first gripped by the ice in September, 1879. Why should all these vessels have been moved continually to the west by the Arctic drift? Simply because, as, Mr. Harris and others have explained, the incoming tide from the Atlantic has to sweep to the eastward and around some great obstruction that reaches down from close to the pole to a point fairly near Alaska and the "uppermost shores of -the Dominion of Canada. The ebb tide in passing out in turn has to follow the same circuitous route, but its movement is to the westward, and probably stronger in its general effect than the incoming or flood tide. Why should this be? Look at the little map that goes with this article. The curving lines with time marked in Roman numerals show how the advancing high tide moves from the Atlantic and the other figures and decimals Indicate the measure of the rise. Plainly, the further the water sweeps into the pocket- ending at Beaufort sea the smaller the-tidal flux and the slower the water moves in the interval of tide change; the water, so to speak, is being crowded. Accordingly on the ebb the sweep is freer, as it is trending toward the great open Atlantic, and this probably accounts for the aggregate net gain in the westward drift. In this fashion, with the tidal data .available, the hydrographer has been able not only to compute the general area of the unknown continent or archipelago, but to approximate its broad contours. True, the Karluk never reached her objective, and Stefansson did not even see Grocker land, but his ship, in her unchecked wanderings in the grip of the Arctic pack, confirmed the existence of the vast barrier In the Arctic basin and will Inspire further efforts In the direction of its exploration. After the Karluk sank Captain Bartlett and his men made their toilsome way southward over the pack ice to Wrangel island, where they encamped with such of the ship's stores as they were able to carry off with them. From Wrangel island Captain Bartlett and one Eskimo a sledge * trip' to the Siberian coast and Providence bay, thence crossing In the American* whaler Herman north of the St. Lawrence* Island to St. Michael on the Alaskan shores. From St. Michael news of the predicament of his men on Wrangel island was dispatched to the United States, and steps were at once started looking to the early relief of the shipwrecked crew. At this time the United States revenue cutter Bear Is on her way into the Arctic ocean and would undoubtedly have gone sooner had It not been learned that the Arctic pack was still as tar south as Point Hope, Alaska. The work cut out for the doughty little steamer Is perilous, for she will probably have to nose her way north and westward against a good deal of opposition as it is. We can best gather an Idea of the task by reference to the kindred duty performed by the ship In the early summer of 1898 when she got the crews Of the eight whalefls out of their hazardous positions on the northern Alaskan coast. Capt F. Tuttle, then in command of the Bear, started from St. Michael on July 7 and on the 17th of that month stood northward through Bering strait Arriving off Point Barrow about July 30, the Bear was made test to the solid pack, it

was Impossible to anchor. One of the whalers, the Je&nnette, was also secured to the Ice to the south of the revenue cutter. Here is what Captain Tuttle reported of the situation at the time: “In the afternoon of the 30th there were large pieces of Ice drifts

Ing along with the current. Fearing they might strike the vessel and part the mooring lines, got under way and steamed Into an indentation in the ground lee, where the steamer Jeannette was made fast. A suitable mooring place was found and the vessel made fast to the ground ice. “On August 1 and 2 loose Ice would drift in and pack around the vessel where she lay In the indentation in the ice. As there was only a trifling pressure no danger was anticipated. At 2 p. m. August 3 came a sudden pressure of the Ice, the four forward fasts carried away and the vessel forced astern about five feet. The pressure then coming against the starboard side forced the port side against the ground ice. “A point of Ice under water abreast the engine room, the weakest place In the vessel, as there are no athwartship timbers there, forced the port side In sufficiently to buckle the engine room floor plates. Men were Immediately sent with Ice chisels and the ice was cut away. As soon as the ice was removed the pressure at that point ceased and the floor plates dropped back in place. “The after section of the rudder was sprung about an eighth of an Inch. The ice was cut from around the rudder and the pressure on that was removed. So far as can be seen no material damage was done by the nip. A vessel less strongly, constructed would have been crushed at once.” On more than one occasion that year the little Bear was hard put to-it and her mission of mercy was fraught with hazards. .On several occasions during that Arctic summer she had to blast a channel open to clear water, and this exploit was not always Immediately successful/whlle the odds against escape piled up In a threatening manner. However, the ship kept steadily at her task, and In the end the Ice-bound whalemen were succored and carried back to civilization, or after restoration to health set upon other whalers In that treacherous region. Ice was not the only peril, for with the milder months there was fog, and occasionally very strong winds or gales that meant danger upon that barren coast As a part of the relief expedition a sled party was dispatched overland long before the Bear could nose her way into the Arctic ocean, and of the gallant work of those men Americans and the personnel of the revenue cutter service may well be proud. In closing his report to the treasury department Captain Tuttle "The officers and crew bore the monotonous isolation with the greatest patience, complaints being almost unheard of. The courage, fortitude and perseverance shown by the members of the overland expedition are deserving of the highest commendation. "Starting over a route seldom traveled before by dog sleds, with a herd of over 400 reindeer to drive and care for, they pushed their way through what at times seemed impassable obstacles, across frozen seas and over snow-clad mountains with tireless energy until Point Barrow was reached and the object of the expedition success-fully-accomplished.” * Such is the type of the men now aboard the little cutter, and there is every reason to expect the same splendid performance of their present mission as was witnessed under somewhat kindred conditions 17 years ago.