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IMAGES ON THE FACE OF THE PYRAMID SHOWN ABOVE. THE FIGURES
ARE CARVED FROM VOLCANIC ROCK AND REPRESENT MYTHOLOGICAL

CHARACTERS

From L. H. MacDaniels, Ithaca, N. Y

W

THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC1

HEN one reads of the five years

of lonely travel, hardship, and illness encountered by Stefansson in the expedition here recorded one feels inclined to question the aptness of his alluring title, "The Friendly Arctic." Yet he reasons convincingly for what he really means by that phrase that the old ideas about the polar regions were founded on false conclusions; that the way to live with the Eskimos is to live as the Eskimos do; that, in matter of fact, as he says, the Eskimos "secure their living with little labor as compared with the rest of us;" that they are happy and healthful; and that in reality they occupy a country desirable in many ways.

We used to hear from every adventurer into the "silent north" that it was lonely, barren, dismal, cold, desolate, and cruel. But Stefansson writes with enthusiasm of the hundreds of species of Arctic flowering plants, of the extraordinary abundance of forms of life in the sea, and of the tens of thousands of caribou in the Arctic grass lands. He admits that to the white man the life of the Eskimo would be wretched, but declares that "an Eskimo laughs as much in a month as the average white man does in a year," and that he has leisure for dancing, story-telling, and many primitive forms of enjoyment. Experienced Arctic explorers and travelers, such as Peary and 'Stefansson, find that they become accustomed readily to the long night of the Arctic, to the lack of many things that they had considered essential, and they come to know that much of the feeling about the Arctic regions is because people have come to believe in "a north that never was," to quote the title of a chapter on this general subject.

Sir Robert Borden, who was Prime Minister of Canada when the Stefansson expedition was first planned, sums up in his admirable Introduction to this volume what Stefansson really means:

There seems to be much truth in Stefansson's observation that the cold of the Arctic deprives no one of either health or comfort if he understands conditions, realizes necessary precautions, and, making good use of his common sense, governs himself accordingly. But against the heat of tropical regions it is practically impossible to find any reasonable safeguard consistent with ordinary activity. Those accustomed to temperate zones would probably find life within the Arctic Circle more endurable and good health more assured than in the average lowlands at or near the equator. In certain tropical or semi-tropical climates, northern European races last for no more than three generations. There is no reason to believe that a like result would obtain in the far North. Although

1 The Friendly Arctic. By Vilhjalmur Stefansson. Illustrated. The Macmillan Company, New York. $6.

summer heat is sometimes quite oppressive within the Arctic Circle, its duration is comparatively short.

The expedition carried on between the years 1913 and 1918 was under the official auspices of the Canadian Government, but our American National Geographic Society and the New York American Museum of Natural History had a share in its planning and outfitting. The publishers of the book point out that, despite Mr. Stefansson's title, the experiences make up a thrilling story "with a plot of human interest, wherein scientists, whalers, Eskimos, and explorers play their dramatic parts." In short, they add: "Although he refuses to call it so, this was an heroic expedition, which carried on from 1913 to 1918. It fought against tragic odds. It had lost ship, men, and equipment. Its remnants were split by insubordination. There were climatic conditions that even Arctic men considered severe." Despite all this, Stefansson explored and mapped over 100,000 square miles of hitherto unknown polar territory.

It would be impossible to follow the narrative in detail. The object was not in the least to penetrate to the North Pole. Not only has the North Pole ceased to be interesting from the mere fact that it has been discovered, but it is not the most important point in the Arctic. What Stefansson calls the Pole of Inaccessibility is four hundred miles away from the North Pole in the direction of Alaska. It is that point which is farthest away from where the explorers must leave ship to advance into unexplored region by sledge. And that Pole of Inaccessibility was practically the central point of all the Arctic area which remained unexplored when this expedition set out. The object of the expedition was to reduce this unknown area and to gather knowledge about it.

There is another pole which does not coincide at all with the North Pole, and that is what may be called the Cold Pole-that is, the point of lowest temperature. This is said to be in Asia north of Irkutsk, and there the mercury sometimes falls to 90 degrees below zero. Still another pole would be the Magnetic Pole, which again is far distant from the North Pole. Enough has been said, perhaps, to show that the popular idea that Arctic exploration ends when the North Pole is reached is absurd.

The problem of supporting life in such an expedition is now far different from what it used to be. Peary, we believe, was the first to advocate the idea of living with the Eskimos and eating as they do. This means that in traveling long distances, instead of carrying great supplies of food, the food must be obtained as the party progresses. This, again, means that the party must practically live on seal meat, and, still further, means that the party must not

go where seals do not go. Now Stefansson had long had the belief that seals went much farther under the northern ice than was supposed. He was willing to risk his life and the success of his expedition on that belief. He had before him scientific and natural history data which made him sure that his reasoning was right, that the animals upon which seals subsist would be found every where under the ice, and that where the food is there the seals will follow. As to being able to catch or kill seals, Stefansson and others of his men knew every trick in seal-hunting. The demonstration that this theory was correct was one of the greatest achievements of the expedition. Yet it was not always true at every point; the following passage is a good illustration of Stefansson's willingness to admit a mistake when he has made one:

We have outlined the two main views of ice navigation-the bold Atlantic policy of "keep away from the land, face the ice and take your chances;" the cautious Alaska one of "hug the coast, play safe, and if you don't get there this year you may have another chance next." There were divided opinions aboard, but I was in command, and the decision and responsibility had to be mine. I decided for what a friendly person would call the bolder course. But whoever prefers to be truthful rather than kind must say I chose the wrong alternative.

After lying at Cross Island for several hours, discussing theories and plans, we hove anchor and steamed deliberately north, away from land, threading our way between the ice cakes and occasionally ramming them to break a way. "It may be safe, but I don't think so," said Hadley. Every one else seemed delighted with our adoption of what they considered the bolder and more sportsmanlike policy.

Relentless events were to prove this decision my most serious error of the whole expedition.

The total results of the arduous five years of the expedition include an enormous amount of scientific records and reports. These are so diverse and extensive that Stefansson gave up the task of trying even to summarize them in this volume. How extensive they are may be seen from the fact that the official volumes now being published by the Canadian Department of Naval Service will be between twenty and thirty in number, and that, while about fifteen of those volumes are written, or partly written, it will take several years to get the whole ready for the press.

For the most part, therefore, the volume we have before us is devoted to a personal narrative of the progress of the expedition, and of further experiences among the Eskimos such as Stefansson had already so delightfully told in his book "My Life With the Eskimos." There is a fascination about following such a narrative of adventure that many

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readers find equal to the excitement of a stirring romance.

As to Stefansson's personality and methods of work, we cannot do better than quote at some length from the Foreword contributed to the book by Dr. Gilbert Grosvenor, the President of the National Geographic Society:

Stefansson is perhaps the last of the old school, the old régime of Arctic and Antarctic explorers, the worker with the dog and the sledge, among whom he easily holds a place in the first rank. Coming Polar explorers, both north and south, are quite likely to use mechanical means which have sprung into existence within the last few years. According to my own personal impressionsaerial flights; according to Stefansson, he would like to try his chances with a submarine; but whether it be aeroplane or submarine, it will mean the end of the old-time method, with the dog and the sledge and man trudging alongside or behind them.

What Stefansson stands for is this: he has grasped the meaning of polar work and has pursued his task in the

THE NEW

BOOKS FOR YOUNG FOLKS GRAY WOLF STORIES. Indian Mystery Tales of Coyote Animals and Men. By Bernard Sexton. Illustrated. The Macmillan Company, New York. $1.75.

Mr. Sexton as "Gray Wolf" has told many of these Indian myth and mystery stories to boys and girls. In this volume they admirably maintain their ability to interest and amuse. The adventures of Owl Man and Coyote (who lived with Ten Grizzlies) and of Wolf, Boy, Turtle, and the rest are surprising and exciting. They are based on actual Indian originals. Mr. Waugh's drawings and decorations are capital.

ESSAYS AND CRITICISM TRIUMPH OF THE EGG (THE). A Book of Impressions from American Life in Tales and Poems. IllusBy Sherwood Anderson. trated. B. W. Huebsch, Inc., New York. $2. Mr. Anderson has been the recipient of a special prize for American writers

BACON"

Arctic regions section by section. He has profited by experience piled upon experience until he knows how to face and overcome every problem of the North. His method of work is to take the white man's brains and intelligence and the white man's persistence and will power into the Arctic and supplement these forces with the woodcraft, or, I should say. polar-craft, of the Eskimo--the ability to live off the land itself, the ability to use every one of the few possibilities of those frozen regionsand concentrate on his work.

Stefansson has not only fought and overcome those ever-present contingencies of the Arctic region-cold and hunger, wet and starvation, and all that goes with them-but he has fought and overcome sickness-first, typhoid, then pneumonia, and then pleurisy-up in those forbidding regions, and then has been obliged to go by sled four hundred miles before finding the shelter of a hospital and the care of a physician.

"The Friendly Arctic" is certainly a valuable addition to the literature of Arctic exploration.

BOOKS

of fiction. This oddly named book is a collection of odds and ends in verse and prose. They may be classed as often agreeable and sometimes rather startling, but of no very large importance.

BIOGRAPHY

MOLTKE. By Lieut.-Colonel F. E. Whitton. Illustrated. Henry Holt & Co., New York. $3.50.

In the eighties American students at Berlin had the privilege of seeing Moltke at the Singakademie chamber concerts; the venerable Field Marshal was devoted to this highest class of music. So in the summers of those years American sojourners at Ragaz had the privilege of seeing and talking with him; he loved the Swiss scenery of the upper Rhine. Those Americans will be disappointed in reading Colonel Whitton's volume, now published in this country. not to find in it more of the

personal touch. But as a survey of history during the ninety-one years of Moltke's life it has merit. During those years German nationalism was recreated and the modern German state was made. Despite all that Germany has done in bringing on the World War, the study of the making of that nationalism and of that state is still interesting.

HISTORY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY GREAT DECEPTION (THE). By Samuel Colcord. Boni & Liveright, New York. $1.50. The author assumes that a very large number of Americans regard the recent Presidential election as a condemnation of any attempt to secure united action with other nations for the saving of civilization and the preservation of world peace. This is "the great deception." The author gives no evidence that there is or has been any such widespread interpretation of the election, and we think the welcome extended throughout the United States to the proceedings of the Washington Conference quite conclusively demonstrates that such misinterpretation does not exist. If any of our readers have so misinterpreted the election, we advise them to read this volume, which shows quite conclusively that a number of the most influential of Republican leaders would have gladly voted for the Versailles League if President Wilson could have been persuaded to accept the Senate reservations.

EDUCATIONAL

NEW WORLD (THE). Problems in Political Geography By Isaiah Bowman, Ph.D. Illustrated. The World Book Company. Yonkers, New York. $6. This is a book of facts, compactly and thoroughly arranged. It would serve admirably as a text-book. But it is also a work for the general reader, so graphically told are the problems confronting the old as well as the new nations of the world; indeed, the text-book becomes a collection of short stories dealing with the drama of existence and national struggles. Not a line seems to have been wasted in the description; not a line, for that matter, could have been spared if the vast field was to be covered within the limits of a single volume. The reader is conscious of a systematic analysis which strips from the story everything save fundamental considerations. Yet care has been taken to omit no factor-economic, historic, political, racial, religious. Each issue is presented with impartial statements of arguments pro and con. The author's occasional comment is peculiarly and searchingly illuminative.

MISCELLANEOUS

DEVELOPMENT OF EMBROIDERY IN AMERICA (THE). By Candace Wheeler. Illustrated. Harper & Brothers, New York. $5. Mrs. Wheeler is a recognized authority on decorative art. She tells here the history of needlecraft in America from the quill work of the Indians to the finest. designs of this day. The narrative is simple and enjoyable and is without excess of technical language. The illustration is full and will delight feminine eyes.

Bishop Francis J. McConnell, of the Methodist Church, says: "I regard The Christian Century as the greatest journalistic force working for social and international righteousness coming from any press of the Christian church. Personally I watch for its arrival with the utmost eagerness. I never lay down an issue without feeling a new stimulus for the wider application of the gospel."

Che

CHRISTIAN
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CHARLES CLAYTON MORRISON and HERBERT L. WILLETT, Editors
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NOW

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OW that political diplomacy has done its best at the Washington Conference, what our world most needs is an untrammelled discussion of its acute and sensitive problems from the Christian point of view. The ideals of democracy wait for realization upon the Christianizing of public opinion. It is dawning gradually upon our best minds that the discussion of religion must be extended beyond the present esoteric circles of specialists into the open forum of public opinion, where favors are neither asked nor given. The vital issues of the social order, of industry, of internationalism; the problems arising out of the modern view of the world, with its doctrine of evolution, its higher criticism, its pragmatic philosophy, its changed thought of God; the problems of the church institution: whether, for instance, our denominationalism is a providence or an impertinenceall these issues must be talked about in open court, where their discussion will directly mould and guide and vitalize public opinion.

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cussion of living issues in the light of the mind of Christ

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IN

'N FEBRUARY, one hundred years ago, the first trust company came into being.

Before that, when a man made his will, he would name a relative, or a friend, or a business associate, to carry out his wishes.

That method had serious defects. The individual may die before a will becomes effective, or in the most critical period of the settlement of an estate. The individual may become. incapacitated. He may prove untrue to his trust and lacking in financial responsibility.

The trust company came into being to fill the need for a system of trusteeship that would be above these limitations one that would have the qualifications that the individual lacked.

THE MANAGER TAKES COUNSEL

BY NORMAN F. COLEMAN

[graphic]

OPULAR opinion in relation to industry is strongly influenced by

of our industrial leaders as captains. We see the manager in popular magazines, a strong-jawed person of commanding appearance, sitting erect behind his flat-topped desk at headquarters. At his side is the telephone for transmission of orders and reports. Before him, cap in hand and with bowed head, at industrial attention, stands an employee, awaiting the captain's commands.

It is true that this picture is being falsified by the progress of the modern industrial movement, which gives the employees representation in the councils of management; but critics of the new movement still hark back to the military tradition, and ask if any army could be led by a committee. As if an industrial process like the making of steel or the weaving of cloth were a summer's campaign, and as if getting out a car-load of lumber were a charge across No Man's Land.

The popular picture of the captain of industry may have been true twenty-five years ago, but it is not true now. Instead of sitting erect and issuing confident orders by telephone or messenger, the manager frequently sits back in his chair with a look of worried perplexity in his face as he ponders questions difficult to answer. Shall he sell his product at prices away below cost or hold it in the hope that the market may soon recover? Shall he run his operation at a loss, or shut it down and let taxes, insurance, and salaries of permanent

The trust company had its birth in America, and here it has reached its employees eat up his resources? Shall greatest development. Today there are more than 2,300 trust companies in the United States, with banking resources exceeding twelve billion dollars, and administering estates aggregating in value many billions of dollars.

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he try to hold together his organization and maintain his trade connection by forcing a market, or shall he nail up doors and windows and confess himself,

for a time at least, beaten?

Faced with these difficult choices, most operators have run along from day to day doing the best they could to hold their losses within tolerable limits. Some, working in specially favorable situations, have made a profit. The best of them have worried by day and by night over the increasingly difficult industrial situation.

Frequently also the manager has taken counsel with others who are interested with him in the industry. Sometimes these have pushed into his office, and sometimes he has invited them in. They have occupied chairs before his desk while he has leaned forward to meet their challenge and to answer their questions.

First have come the stockholders. Their expected dividends have failed. Some of them are in real need. All of them desire regular and sizable returns from their investments. (I talked with one recently who had had only one small dividend in ten years.) When these returns fail, the investors are apt to be inquisitive, suspicious, and even vindictive. They are only partly in

formed concerning local conditions. They may, against the manager's best

policy.

To the manager in our Northwest lumber industry, with its eight-hour day and its relatively high wage standards, have come stockholders from the Middle West and the South saying: "With the selling price of your product cut in half and the demand for it greatly reduced, why do you not spread your overhead expenses over a ten-hour daily production? Why do you not hire men at the lowest market rate?" Some managers have, I know, been strongly advised by their directors to take this course, and a few have yielded. Others, more mindful of the future good of the industry and of the Nation, have said, "If that policy is to be followed, you must choose some other manager." Generally the stockholders, having asked their questions and expressed their opinions, have said to the manager: "You are on the job and know the men you have to work with. We leave the responsibility here, but we think you are following a mistaken policy."

Second have come the employees. These make up the manager's organization. Many of them have been with him for years. Most have been loyal and faithful workers. They have lately taken reductions in wages and suffered through periods of shutdown. The old confidence in the management and pride in the operation have largely gone from their faces, and, instead, the manager has seen fear, discontent, and suspicion. "Are we not to have enough wages," they have asked, "to maintain our families in decency? We have played square with you. How are you playing with us? Are you taking advantage of our necessity to strengthen your power and increase your profits?" These men must be answered. It will do no good to discharge them. Sooner or later their places must be filled with others like them, only less interested in the operation and harder to deal with; for in these days discontent and suspicion among workingmen are very widespread.

One manager I know has met his men in frequent conference, explaining to them the difficulties of the market and discussing with them ways of cutting down production costs. In his mill a committee of employees has been at work week by week studying the situation and preparing suggestions for the increased efficiency of the plant and of the working force.

Another manager faced a serious loss last spring in his operation and proposed to reduce wages. The men objected, on the ground that they were already living on a narrow margin. The manager called them together and opened his accounts to them, showing them that he could not keep the mill running unless he could reduce the cost of operation. He asked them to talk the question over among themselves and

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