| Show IN ARCTIC 8 SEAS EA k story of the peary arctic AMU told by dr elrd Yin vincent cent this great traveler is ia at present cond decked with the salt lake oty oay keeley institute and Lecta lectures reg here hera next nest monand tuesday in the tabor nac Is I 1 do not believe there is a single man in in our pirty who realized that lie was taking his is very life in his hands when he made application and became a member of the peary arctic expedition of 4 L subsequent developments however proved this fact to must of us to our thorough satisfaction I 1 remember so well a remark ladeby made by my father when I 1 returned in good humor from lV washington ashington a chosen member of the expedition and informed him with pride that I 1 had been selected lor for the position of surgeon from amoia 0 seventy two other applicants for that beena beem angly enviable berth he re marked quietly it is plain to be ba seen that all the fools are not dead yet 17 whether or not it is a foolhardy experience must be decided in the mind of each asan as an individual on july jaily 2 we steamed from the harbor of new york in the whaler our outburst of enthusiasm that was almot past believing belie balie vinz A full blood ed Aine american rican d delights lights in a aloud lend nobee anil and here was an opportunity to propitiate p this delightful bailin failing 1 deafening cheers filled the air and thou thousands bands of handkerchiefs fluttered flattered in a speechless but none the less touching and pathetic farewell following in aur wake and crowding in close to our side were crafts of every description from the businesslike and grimy tug to the tha dainty and saucy steam yacht at governors island the battery boomed forth a parting salute and approaching pro po aching hinZ darkness found us headed e d for boston unattended save by our own eliou thoughts ats it is needless to bore you von with a detailed account of our journey so I 1 shall plunge right into matters that I 1 trust will interest your readers let us however pause long enough 0 to tell you of a bostan most annoying not to say ny humiliating feat ure in our ur visit to various seaport towns the ship chip was placed on inmates and it was anything but pleasant I 1 assure you yon to be looked upon in the light of freaks at at boston the hecei receipts apts at ata 25 i cents per person were the curious thousands thronged thron ged the decks and the more intrepid even cli climbed albed the rigging into the crow s nest I 1 while countless were tle questions hurled at the freak who was so unfortunate ns as to be cornered st johns N newfoundland ew found land is ie a quaint and interesting city the tha code fisli erie as every one k know form the principal means of livelihood poverty runs riot and as a natural nat uril consequence the illiteracy of tile the people is ia deplorable the city was but just recovering from the depressing effects follow following hv the great firo fire and the sturdy inhabitants were rapidly rebuilding rebuilding shattered homes boines and fallen fortunes the Falcon was owned by the firm of bowrie bros of st johns she was cha ch to land our expedition with its stores store sand and supplies at bowdoin bay in in ingel inel el field celd gulf thence return to st johns with orders to call for us the following summer subsequent bents proved the fallacy of t the h e plan for bad an accident happened the falcon Ful con we would have been without supplies and in dire disi distress dietress I 1 however since it came about as aa planned there it is I 1 suppose no room for criticism but what might have happened was demonstrated ii chec her the good ship went down with all on bo board ard while whilo returning to her home after landing us on the return trip safely at philadelphia we ran along the cold and forbidding coast of labrador dropping anchor in many queer little v villages i I 1 ia we were in quest of draft dop doge but the natives hold held them at too great a value and we succeeded in collecting collection a mere handful of snarling curs that spent most or of their time iu in fighting at battle harbor we fell in with a brim little schooner that was conveying the deep sea missionaries mission alies to various parts of the coast this is a most commendable work arid and all the more worthy of note because of the fact that tire the young physicians and trained nurses are from the very best families of england they cun consecrate e a portion of their lives to this isolated and discouraging work yet are as happy and jolly a crowd as ag it has ever been my good fortune to meet ours was the first ship to touch at abah for thirty years and oui oto docks fairly swarmed with a motley array of dirty and grease stained natives when the whis tle ile blew to warn them ashore it was with difficulty that they were restrained from jum jumping ping c overboard over board in their fright and since none done of them ever learn to swim in the ice ice water this would have been attended with certain loss lobs of life but they would even brave the terrors of an ice bath rather than remain demain on the lock deck of this shrieking ad monster we now headed directly for south Oreen I land arid and then indeed we felt for the first time that we were gilfor off for the field of our proposed undertaking soon after leaving labrador aJor we encountered our first floe ice one of the sailors s termed formed it bothin No thin but a rotten field however that abay bo be to the uninitiated it was anything but pleasant to be almost knocked from one s feet or tossed about in ones bunk by the jarring of the ship as she be jammed her way miles of nf ice ice two or three feet in thickness often the way was seemingly completely blocked by an immense floe that stretched as far faras as the naked eye could reach but the falcon Fil con nothing bothin daunted would back off a hundred yards or so then rueh ahead at fall speed and bury her iron covered nose deep in the ice for a gain of twenty or thirty feet then suddenly a narrow crack would apt apgear lear directly in the angle thus formed which grew wider arid and wider until a passage way was made for the ship and this she steamed we soon grew accustomed cus tomed to this ram like pro cedore and slept soundly it il all before my departure I 1 was overwhelmed by requests from my friends to bring them something a as a memento of the arctic regions if indeed I 1 returned at all this be d simple enough when I 1 knew that the ice fields bably swarmed with nith seal and in my ignorance I 1 fancied them the fur seal I 1 therefore there foie promised all my friends of the seal skin dacque gender I 1 any quantity of furs from seals of my own killing killi tig we now m met et with seals in numbers and iny heart sank within me when capt bartlett one night told me of his bis kit springs aprin sprin as catch arid and incidentally dropped the remark that most of our calf skin shoes were mide made from these same skins but are arc the skins not more valuable in the fur said L I 1 A perfect por feet roar of laughter from the captain oh what a landlubber land lubber me boy bov there is not enough fur on a greenland seal to make you a good set of whiskers it was some time beb fore they ceased twitting mea me about out the bold hunter who was going goin 0 to send home seal beal skins to his numerous and admiring admi rint lady friends skins ekins from the seals of his own killing we now passed the arctic circle into tho the 1 land of tho iho midnight sun anid an and d on one le b bright abt clear in aning we made out the coast of greenland it was an impo imputing im Eing ight fight the beauty and iran grandeur deur of the ice covered country passing hiwing my fondest expectations ta tat ions tiong she seemed to rise abruptly from tle the ice spotted sea bea with her cliff like crest frowning down upon one as 19 might a gigantic impenetrable fortress and there was the beautiful icecap ice cat cap crowning all arid and stretching away with its domelike dome like curve into infinity EDWA EDWARD VIN VINCENT CENT |
