Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 January 1919 — Explorer Says North Pole Weather Not as Pictured [ARTICLE]

Explorer Says North Pole Weather Not as Pictured

Another cherished illusion is dispelled and relegated to the junk heap of vivid misconceptions that have suddenly faded. Explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who has just returned from a five years’-cruise in the regions around the North pole, tells us that the weather up there is by no means the frigid terror we have pictured in our minds. It is much cooler in central Siberia than at Herschel island. Even near the geographical pole the climate never gets realty bad, although the mercury occasionally runs down to 60 below z,ero. Indeed, it was so mild and compatible with physical comfort that he usually disrobed on the porch Of hIS Igloo and passed the evening in his underwear, -resting at night in his sleeping bag. His upderwear, by the way, was of reindeer’s skin with the fur inside. He has explored about 250,000 square miles amid all kinds of weather, and claims to have suffered no hardships, until his return to civilization. —Christian Herald.