The Daily News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1. THE NORTH POLE-DISCOVERED!

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 180, 3 September 1909, Page 2

The Daily News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1. THE NORTH POLE-DISCOVERED!

The news that we publish this morning of the North Pole having at last been discovered will be read with much interest and not a little surprise—interes-,, because the task had for centuries baffled the genius, resource artd intrepidity of Hie polar explorers of all nations; and surprise because little or nothing was known of the existence or work of the expedition that has achieved such great distinctiln. One gleans from the meagre accounts cabled that Dr. Cook, an- American explorer, about whom little is known, was i u the po.ar regions in 1008. His companion, on? Randolph Franckc, finding the clima-.,-. too severe, returned to Newfoundland, from whence the party evidently started, but the Doctor proceeded with a pair of Eskimos and eight dog teams, laden with supplies. He was then 500 or 800 miles from the Pole, for which he made a dash ajid reached on Aptil 21slt. Nothing as known of what he found 'there, or of his subsequent ex--1 periences in that terra incognita, except the statement that land was discovered in the extreme north. Arctic and Ant-

arctic exploration seems to have a ] strange fascination for the adveni.u- ' rous. As far back as tlie fifteenth cey- ! we find men like Cabot, Davis an! ' FrobHicr penetrating the then unknown region*, and later of Hudson, By lot mil Ball'- l.dlcny'ng up tlieir discoveries. Tin' ! • 'M-riod of polar exploration endi'd''.;L!: .lie exploits of these navigators, 'th;' i:-si period dii\ not commence till the .<!■■■■ r 1818, when John Eoss and Parry made voyages to the Arctic regions. The chief result of their ..work, which extended over many years, wa» the finding of the true position of th" •northern magnetic neb. Then mine the ! ill-Wed expeditks "lirected by Sir John Franklin, who was commissioned bv JiBritisli Government to make an attempt Ito frnd a passage i n the north-west; the numerous search-parties subsequently despiuticlied hy both the Americans and British, one of whom, McCliure, in the course Of ,liis expedition ascertaining the existence of the long-songht-for passai-c Other expeditions followed, "lmt it «V. not till 1853 that tidings were receive! of the 'destruction of Franklin's shins m and the tragic death of the nartv. Shco ■ then -party has practirallv followed party, the most successful of which were those of lient. Peary anil Dr. Nansci, the latter reaching a point never befo.'e b reached 'by exnlorers. Great as Dr. Na.l. ♦ sen's record is. however, it pales into X insignificance compared with Dr. Cook's. i Fun her particulars concerning the. ex- ♦ ploits of- this modest and strenuous es. I nlorer will be awaited with considerable ♦ interest.