Clubs should read Peary's own book, "The North Pole," published by Stokes, and also the book written by his wife, "The Snow Baby," the story of the little daughter who was born in the Far North. Read also the account of the claims of Doctor Cook to have found the Pole.
The South Pole was discovered by Roald Amundsen, who was born in Norway in 1872. Like Peary, he became a naval lieutenant. In 1891 he made observations of the East Greenland currents, and two years later he gave nineteen months to observations connected with the magnetic pole. In 1904 he made the Northwest Passage.
In 1910 there was a race to discover the South Pole, between the British, led by Scott, who perished after reaching the goal, and the Danish, led by Amundsen. The latter sailed in the little ship Fram, landed on the Great Ice Barrier, marched rapidly on more than eight hundred miles and, December 16, 1911, reached the South Pole.
Read the discoverer's own account: "The South Pole," published by Keedick. Clubs may make a serious study of polar expeditions, which have been many, and of their stories of bravery and tragedy. Read the books of Sven Hedin.
X—GOETHALS—ENGINEER
The construction of the Panama Canal is one of the striking engineering feats of to-day, and its success is owing mainly to George W. Goethals. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1858, was graduated at West Point, and began his career as a second lieutenant of engineers. He taught at West Point for a time, and was chief of engineers during the Spanish-American War and also a member of the Board of Fortifications. After 1907 he was chief engineer of the Panama Canal, and it is his work here that has made him famous. To secure efficiency great power was placed in his hands. He was chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission, president of the Panama Railway, and governor of the Canal Zone. He had forty thousand men working under him in different departments.
The completed canal cost $375,000,000 and is one of the most colossal engineering achievements of history.
Read "Panama, Past and Present," by Farnham Bishop (The Century Company), "Panama and the Canal To-day," by Forbes Lindsay (The Page Company), and "Old Panama," by C. L. G. Anderson (The Page Company). Clubs should study also the history of the canal in past years and especially the story of De Lesseps.