Increasing Interest in Polar Explorations Due to Air Trips, Says Stefansson--Considers Submarine is Ideal Conveyance

"I think it is an interesting fact that now when polar exploration is over for the present, the public has become interested in the subject," said Vilhjalmur Stefansson '06 in an interview recently. Mr. Stefansson, who is one of the best-known of the explorers of the Arctic region, is at present collaborating with Dr. A. H. Rice '01, professor of Geographical Exploration, and donor of the new Geography School, in giving the course in Geographical Exploration at the School.

"Air exploration may be the cause of the new interest shown by the public," Mr. Stefansson continued, but in my opinion the submarine is the ideal conveyance for arctic exploration. The main points in favor of the submarine over other modes of transportation are its large radius for exploration, its unlimited leisure, and the fact that if can carry a large staff of scientists and a complete scientific laboratory." Mr. Stefansson stressed the fact that the submarine is no more dangerous as a means of arctic exploration than the airplane although entirely different problems must be dealt with. "The difficulties," Mr. Stefansson continued "are first of all the cost, which is about 10 times as much as for an airplane, and, less important, the tremendous enthusiasm of the public for air exploration. The average man thinks of the submarine only as an instrument of war, and does not realize its importance in scientific work. Practically every branch of science is interested in finding out more about the Polar sea; for example, the geologists and anxious to ascertain its depth, a necessity in computing the average density of the Earth.

"One of the most significant changes in modern arctic exploration is the time element," continued Mr. Stefansson "Byrd was gone only about six months on his trip to the arctic, whereas the elder explorers used to stay away for five years or more." The reference to Byrd led to the interesting fact that the use of the radio in polar exploration increases homesickness, rather than diminishes it, as is commonly taken for granted by the public. If is a matter of actual record that Byrd had more trouble with his men being homesick in the one year that he was in Antarctica that Peary did in five years in the North.

Returning to the topic of polar exploration by air, Mr. Stefansson declared that the airplane is only a means of scouting or reconnoitering in the polar regions, not a means of real exploration. "Exploring a region by air is just like describing the botany of a country by flying over if," Mr. Stefansson said in conclusion