THE RIGHT WAY TO GET TO THE NORTH POLE.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 739, 13 March 1877, Page 3

THE RIGHT WAY TO GET TO THE NORTH POLE.

Mr Joseph Newton, MICE, writes to the following effect : — The 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 Nares Point and the North Pole. If wereally wish to complete the exploration which has so often been begun and left unfinished, other means than those hitherto used for conducting" it must be employed. Ought there not to be m any future expedition something beyond the merely nautical element m its composition ? During the Ciimean war the mechanical engineer was found to be a valuable auxiliary to the military office, and a hastily constructed railway did the duty of hundreds of men. The^fact is that a combination of the same kind is needed between the naval officer commanding the Arctic Expedition and the engineer. The duty of the former should, to a certain extent, cease and determine when his vessels are navigated as far as skill and seamanship could get them. Afterwards the engineer should be the commanding officer. What possible good can 100 or 200 men do, distributed among a mini ber of sledges, at which they are tagging, and pulling, and hauling until fatigue compels them to return to their ships, withont having got over a mile of fresh ground ? The discovery by Mr Hart, naturalist to the Nares Expedition, of a seam of coal m the Arctic regions is by for the most important incident m 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 m any future attempts to reach the Pole. The mechanical engineer, on his arrival at the newly-found coal-bed, would commence operations — not by causing the dragging of sledges hither and thither by the action of sentient bone and muscle, but by establishing a colliery. Thus Nature's own antidote to the. bane of Arctic exploration, cold, would be obtained, and the giant force of steam would presently be enlisted into the ranks of the exploring army. Once this '* coign of vantage * has been gained, the Government, guided by the advice and assistance of railway engineers at Home, might transport to it properly constructed locomotive engines, built, if need were, semiboat fashion, and having attached to them fast- running steel cutter drums, for disposing of ice and other impediments. The necessary kind of engines and appliances for such work will readily suggest itself to practical men, -but, generally speaking, broad-tired wheels, the avoidaace of cast- iron, a combination of lightness with strength, and a narrow gauge, should characterise ice-cutting or Pole-searching locomotives. Such engines should, of course, be of the requisite horsepower to do all the pickaxe work required for the cutting of projecting ice, filling up cavities with the debris, and to draw three or four carriages, constructed m a rough and strong " Pulman " 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 m its wake. Such an arrangement would keep the men always fresh and strong, whilst at the colliery workshops repairs of machinery, implements, and fitments generally could be effected. Experience would doubtless dictate many other expedients, tending to facilitate operations] but, by the aid of such means as have already been named, there is little doubt that all "engineering difficulties" m the way of the formation of an Arctic tramway would, m time, be overcome. Engineers when they cannot o'ertop a mountain, tunnel through it. Glaciers might also be pierced by the engine " needling " at its base m a similar manner ; and, m short, there appears to us to be

no substantial reason why the N orfch Pole should yery much longer remain either a " terra incognita " or a " mer inconnu," if its discovery be but entrusted to the united pluck of the British sailor and the skill of the British engineer. — " News of the World."