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[[handwritten]] X [[/handwritten]]
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FRONT DOOR OF HALL OPENED SHOWING PROW OF "AMERICA" JUST BEFORE HER VOYAGE.
motoring in her fuel-supply, may navigate from our headquarters direct to the Pole and thence to some segment of the circle of land surrounding the Arctic Ocean, moving always under her own power and the control of her officers. X The distance from our head-quarters to the Pole is 715 statute miles. Once at the Pole, we should be able to go with the most favorable wind, toward any part of the land which surrounds the Arctic Sea. The greatest distance from the Pole to land is 1,600 miles, the shortest distance 535 miles, and the average distance about 700 miles. At the start we count upon assistance from a favorable wind for some hours at least, and even if the wind should prove generally unfavorable thereafter the project is realizable. In the ordinary chances, by use of the retarder in periods of 
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