IN SPITSBERGEN The Romance of an Arctic Coal-Mine WITH AN INTRODUCTION RELATING THE MR. LONGYEAR was looking forward with keen inter est to the publication of "America in Spitsbergen." His plan to send the two volumes, illustrated with reproductions of his own photographs, as gifts to his many friends and especially to those that were associated with him in the romantic and unusual enterprise established by him in the far islands of the Arctic, will be carried out by his wife. He had twice read the typoscript of the work, had made many modifications and suggestions and had carefully gone over all the page proofs, except about two hundred pages of the second volume. Then, early Sunday morning, the twenty-eighth of May, the sudden call came and he passed on into the unexplored Beyond, taking that wonderful and mysterious journey which we all must take, quietly, without fear or pain, alone. These volumes are a memorial to him, and it is appropriate that a few words should be added to the record of his dominating connection with it. It is not merely the story of a mine, however romantic and unusual that story may be. His deeds and his words are throughout recorded with the intention of making it a human document, even though some of the episodes are only indirectly associated with the narrative of the development of the Arctic Coal Company. It is now suitable to say definitely, what must be apparent to any one who reads the story, that John Munro Longyear was a man of remarkable ability and character. He had accumulated a large forturne but was entirely unspoiled by his success. He was free from conceit and from arrogance. He was friendly, generous, full of humor, sincere, gracious, and a good story-teller; he had traveled widely, seen many men and many countries, gathered much information and had learned to view with a kindly eye the faults and follies of his fellow V men. An indefatigable worker for others as well as for his family, he was imbued with the spirit of good will. He was simple-hearted and benevolent, always approachable and genial. The news of his departure from our midst came with a shock to those of us who had learned to love him and admire him. His life offers an admirable lesson of faithfulness to high ideals, of worthy character and of well-deserved success. NATHAN HASKELL DOLE THE FOREWORD HE ENTERPRISE of developing a new and practically unknown coal-field within eight hundred miles of the North Pole, yet so accessible during the summer months and so readily worked during the long Arctic winter as to supply at least part of the demand of the Scandinavian countries and of northwestern Russia, was an interesting and satisfactory experiment. Considered from a commercial standpoint, it was disappointing, but pioneers frequently meet with such eventualities. Our satisfaction was derived from the assurance that we had developed an important source of fuel-supply for the benefit of mankind. This will be the only matter of consequence in the future; the loss or gain to the original explorers is of small moment. Mr. Dole has gone over all the files of papers accumulated during the fourteen years of the American operations on Spitsbergen and has also read many books, pamphlets and documents, skilfully condensing the mass of material into the compass of the present book. He has given due credit to the loyal and indefatigable assistants who were obliged to meet many difficult and unusual problems in the establishment of so large a plant in a land lacking every necessity and so far from all sources of supplies, and in the management of hundreds of laboring men speaking a foreign language and not always amenable to discipline. How successful the American engineers and foremen were in developing this enterprise is reflected in the remarkable freedom. from serious accidents and from loss of life, even when, vii |