THE EIGHT WAY TO GET TO THE NORTH POLE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 46, 22 February 1877, Page 4

THE EIGHT WAY TO GET TO THE NORTH POLE.

(From the News of the World.) _ Mr Joseph Newton, A.1.C.E., writes 10 ihe following effect: — Tbe result of the (last Polar) expedition is .that a slightly higher latitude was reached than had ever been approached: by mortal man before, and that, at the last, 400 miles of unexplored territory remained between Captain Nareß and rthe North Pole. If we really wish to "complete the exploration which has so -'often been begun and left unfinished, ''otber means than those hitherto used ,-fpr conducting it must be employed. Ought there not to be in any future expedition something beyond tbe mere nautical element in its composition ? .-./ Paring the Crimean war the mechanical engineer was found to be a valuable auxiliary to the military officer, and a . hastily constructed railway did the c-^uty offauodrads of men. The fact is 'thkt a combination of the same kind is needed between the naval officer commanding the Arctic Expedition and the engineer. The duty of the former o should, to a certain extent,* cease and "deieroiine when his vessels have been ' navigated as far as skill and seamanship .jCouldget them. Afterwards the en-. j, gmeer should be the commanding <*officer. What possible good can 100 or 200 men do, distributed among a •number of sledges, at which tbey are i^-t-aggitig, and pulliog, and hauling, until *~ fatigue compels them to return to their ships, withont having got over a mile of fresh ground? The discovery by _ Mr Hurt, naturalist to the Nares expedition, of a seam of coal in the Arctic regions is by far tba most important .incident in connection with the last 'visit to that inhospitable place. The existence of coal suggests, unmistakably enough, the mode of procedure which ought to be employed in any future attempts to reach the Pole. The meohanical engineer, ti pon his arrival at the newly found coal bed, would commence operations — not by causing the dragging of sledges hither and thither by tbe action of sentient bone and muscle, but by establishing a colliery. Thus nature's own. antidote to the bane of Arcttic ~ exploration, cold, would be obtained, and the giant force of steam would presently be enlisted into the ranks of 7the exploring army. Once this "coign of vantage " had been gained tbe Government, guided -by the advice and assistance of railway engineers at Home, *. might transport to it properly constructed locomotive engines, built, if need were, semi-boat fashion, and bav--7 ing attaohed to them fast-running steel cutter drums, for disposing of ice and .-other impediments. The neoessary kind of engines and appliances for such work witl readily suggest itself to practical mea, i but, generally speaking,

broad tired wheels, ths avoidance of oast-iron, a combination of lightness •with strength, aud a narrow gauge, should characterise the ice-outting or Pole-searching locomotive. Such engines should, . of course, be of the requisite horse-power to do all the pick-axe work required for the cutting off the projecting ice, filling up cavities with the debris, and to draw three or four carriages, constructed in a rough and strong ''Puiman" style for the conveyance of navvies, provisions, stoves, tools &c. Thus equipped and provided, the pioneer engine would clear the road, whilst reserve trains would follow in the wake. Such an arrangement would keep the men always fresh and strong, whilst at the colliery workshops repairs of machinery, implements, and fitments generally oould be effected. Experience would doubtless dictate many other expedients tending to facilitate operations.; but, by aid of such meaus as have already been named, there is little doubt that all "engineering difficulties " in the way of the formation of an Arctic tramway would, in time, be overcome. Engineers when they, oannot o'ertop a mountain tunnel through it. Glaciers might also be pierced by the engine, "needling" at its base in a similar manner; and, in short,- there appears to us to be no substantial reason why the North Pole should very much longer remain either a terra incognita or a mer. inconnu, if its discovery only be entrusted to the united pluck of the British sailor and the skill of the British engineer.