city.
‘Sometimes it is too warm,’ said Olrik.
‘Do you get cold air from above?’ Hal asked.
‘No, from below.’
‘How could you do that?’
‘Holes have been bored forty feet down into the ice and fans bring up the cold air.’
They visited the quarters of the officers. They were large, lovely rooms with leather-covered armchairs, mahogany chests, decorated lamps, thick carpets and everything else that an officer could desire.
This modern town under the ice was designed for one hundred and fifty men, but Olrik said it would soon be enlarged to accommodate a thousand.
Some of the rooms that Hal and his companions visited were twenty-four feet wide and two hundred feet long. One of these was a laboratory in which experiments were being made to improve still further this unique city under the ice.
Chapter 21
Hal Rides an Iceberg
‘Would you like to go to the iceberg coast?’ Olrik said one morning.
Hal was surprised. ‘You mean Greenland’s east coast? That’s eight hundred miles away. By dog team it would take twenty-five days to get there.’
‘I see you have been reading up on it,’ said Olrik. ‘You’re a pretty thoroughgoing chap. You always look before you leap,’
‘Cut the compliments,’ Hal said. ‘All I know is that we have no chance of getting to the east coast. It must be wonderful. Most of the world’s icebergs are born there. But we can’t afford to spend twenty-five days to get there and twenty-five days back.’
‘Well then,’ said Olrik, ‘how about half a day to get there and half a day back?’
‘Dream on,’ laughed Hal. ‘You can only do that by plane. And we have no plane.’
‘Yes you have, if you want it. You know I work at the airport part time. A fellow I know is going to fly over to inspect a mining operation. I asked him if he could take you along. He would be glad to have your company. It’s lonesome flying alone. The young fellow is called Pete. He’ll be leaving at eight this morning. It’s nearly that now. Get on some very warm clothing because it’s mighty cold over there.’
They dressed warmly and accompanied Olrik to the airport, where they met Pete. He shook hands with them.
‘Glad to have you along,’ he said. ‘Hop in.’
They climbed aboard. Something above them began to whirr.
‘So you fly a helicopter,’ said Hal.
‘I fly almost anything,’ said Pete, ‘but a helicopter is best on this trip because landing on the cliffs of the east coast is sometimes pretty difficult.’
‘I understand,’ said Hal. ‘The helicopter lets you down easy. You don’t need a runway.’
‘That’s right,’ said Pete. ‘It’s pretty wild over there. Nothing but cliffs and glaciers. No runways. No trees, no grass, nothing but ice and snow and precipices. It’s a bad place to live, a good place to die.’
Now they were crossing the great Greenland ice cap. ‘They say’, Hal remarked, ‘that this ice cap is millions of years old. The oldest part of it, of course, is at the bottom. What would happen if the whole ice cap melted some day during a warm spell along with the one at the South Pole and became just a part of the sea?’
Pete answered, ‘If they melted, it would raise the level of the sea 245 feet.’
‘Think of that!’ said Hal. ‘All the cities along the coast from New York to Buenos Aires would be drowned.’
Roger said, ‘Has anybody ever bored down through the ice cap to the bottom?’
‘No, they bored a hole fifty feet deep and found that the snow there had been laid down in 1879.’
‘Why don’t they bore deeper?’
‘Because the ice cap is twisting like a snake. If you should bore a straight hole today it would be a crooked hole tomorrow. It would be so twisted that you couldn’t possibly get to the bottom of it. Nobody can imagine how this ice cap moves about. There are a few stations on the ice sheet but you don’t know where to find them. They wander here and there. The moving ice carried one station 550
‘Sometimes it is too warm,’ said Olrik.
‘Do you get cold air from above?’ Hal asked.
‘No, from below.’
‘How could you do that?’
‘Holes have been bored forty feet down into the ice and fans bring up the cold air.’
They visited the quarters of the officers. They were large, lovely rooms with leather-covered armchairs, mahogany chests, decorated lamps, thick carpets and everything else that an officer could desire.
This modern town under the ice was designed for one hundred and fifty men, but Olrik said it would soon be enlarged to accommodate a thousand.
Some of the rooms that Hal and his companions visited were twenty-four feet wide and two hundred feet long. One of these was a laboratory in which experiments were being made to improve still further this unique city under the ice.
Chapter 21
Hal Rides an Iceberg
‘Would you like to go to the iceberg coast?’ Olrik said one morning.
Hal was surprised. ‘You mean Greenland’s east coast? That’s eight hundred miles away. By dog team it would take twenty-five days to get there.’
‘I see you have been reading up on it,’ said Olrik. ‘You’re a pretty thoroughgoing chap. You always look before you leap,’
‘Cut the compliments,’ Hal said. ‘All I know is that we have no chance of getting to the east coast. It must be wonderful. Most of the world’s icebergs are born there. But we can’t afford to spend twenty-five days to get there and twenty-five days back.’
‘Well then,’ said Olrik, ‘how about half a day to get there and half a day back?’
‘Dream on,’ laughed Hal. ‘You can only do that by plane. And we have no plane.’
‘Yes you have, if you want it. You know I work at the airport part time. A fellow I know is going to fly over to inspect a mining operation. I asked him if he could take you along. He would be glad to have your company. It’s lonesome flying alone. The young fellow is called Pete. He’ll be leaving at eight this morning. It’s nearly that now. Get on some very warm clothing because it’s mighty cold over there.’
They dressed warmly and accompanied Olrik to the airport, where they met Pete. He shook hands with them.
‘Glad to have you along,’ he said. ‘Hop in.’
They climbed aboard. Something above them began to whirr.
‘So you fly a helicopter,’ said Hal.
‘I fly almost anything,’ said Pete, ‘but a helicopter is best on this trip because landing on the cliffs of the east coast is sometimes pretty difficult.’
‘I understand,’ said Hal. ‘The helicopter lets you down easy. You don’t need a runway.’
‘That’s right,’ said Pete. ‘It’s pretty wild over there. Nothing but cliffs and glaciers. No runways. No trees, no grass, nothing but ice and snow and precipices. It’s a bad place to live, a good place to die.’
Now they were crossing the great Greenland ice cap. ‘They say’, Hal remarked, ‘that this ice cap is millions of years old. The oldest part of it, of course, is at the bottom. What would happen if the whole ice cap melted some day during a warm spell along with the one at the South Pole and became just a part of the sea?’
Pete answered, ‘If they melted, it would raise the level of the sea 245 feet.’
‘Think of that!’ said Hal. ‘All the cities along the coast from New York to Buenos Aires would be drowned.’
Roger said, ‘Has anybody ever bored down through the ice cap to the bottom?’
‘No, they bored a hole fifty feet deep and found that the snow there had been laid down in 1879.’
‘Why don’t they bore deeper?’
‘Because the ice cap is twisting like a snake. If you should bore a straight hole today it would be a crooked hole tomorrow. It would be so twisted that you couldn’t possibly get to the bottom of it. Nobody can imagine how this ice cap moves about. There are a few stations on the ice sheet but you don’t know where to find them. They wander here and there. The moving ice carried one station 550
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