| Show LIFE AT THE HORTH POLE D C oct 27 1897 all 0 lington fouces of exploration are being 1 lifted d for the ic icy y north the proceeds in this country vis lectures Mansen JWan sens new expedition to reach I 1 go 0 o into a noi north th pole lieutenant peary has fund of made up and is arrangements to start start on wising 9 his bis ave years race from northern land wellman the newspaper an has one hundred dogs in training lorway and his expedition will be y to start in the spring in the time the man who has perhaps more than any other now living rease our knowledge of polar estera ins is working quietly away here washington attending to his official i atthe at the war department and des deg his leisure to writing books on lety ety of subjects I 1 refer to gen greely whose party made the point farthest north that has yet attained nansen drifted nearer pole but he was upon the water tor fyr practical results his observe B are of little value for three years e general greely lived al 1 under er the shadow of the pole if ad t the e pole can cast a shadow funded e by ice and snow he studied r conditions amid polar surround he had the finest scientific in ments ants his library contained the works of former explorers and pr knowledge daf of the arctic regions soaked into him as it were in today his authority t X way that polar matters is unsurpassed greely is now 53 years of h afe me Is tall straight and fine looks his black beard and hair just b be e laihr to show their first gray ads looking at him you would imagine that he had gone through ae of the most terrible experiences wn to man he was 27 when he started At arted for the pole to be gone two m he went with the understand t hat he was t to 0 be relieved at the of that time and he took with only stores for twenty seven hs s the two years ended and no the party then started cited to find a place for winter ers until the following summer SL faring ng a ship they drifted in waters of smiths sound for y days on an ice floe and when ent ht into cape sabine they had W sc weeks provisions to last them As time went on their t sot lower and lower they soon 80 00 small that only the hardiest handiest har diest there were twenty inthe the party when they sailed from Jo 49 liDi in 1881 only seven were left the ie were rescued by cartain captain in 1883 and these seven were so that had schley arrived two uter later all would have been dead veir last days the men lived be their sealskin boots and it they ate moss and and of were only to sustain life the diary of ng time has been given to the world and general gener al greely has told how his men died one after another and how one of them had to be shot by his order in order to save the lives of the rest I 1 met general greely in the library of the war department yesterday the subject of peares new scheme came up and I 1 asked gen greely as to whether a white man could stand five years of arctic exposure saying that I 1 supposed that he would be less able to resist the intense cold from year to year gen greely replied five years is a long time on the shores of the arctic ocean but I 1 think a man could stand it that long although I 1 believe he would be able to do less work as time went on we were not so strong the second year as we were the first still we had learned how to use our energies better by the experiences of the first year and through that knowledge were able to do quite as much the second and the third years of our stay as the beginning from the point of experience peares forth and fifth years might be worth quite as much as his first and second were you able to work all the time you were in the arctic regions general T yes as long as our food held out during the last few months we were so weak that no one could do much I 1 was very systematic in my work and I 1 tried to make my men so I 1 had to keep them busy in order to prevent them from getting sick I 1 had to study each man and to see that those who needed exercise got it some of the party were rather lazy I 1 could not tell them that I 1 wanted them to work merely for the sake of exercise for if I 1 had done so they would have thought that there was already something the matter with them I 1 simply gave directions ions to the officers to give them certain kinds of work out of doors and in this wa way IT kept them in good ph physical condition tell me general how you managed about sleeping during the arctic nights and days how could you arrange to take only so much sleep when it was dark for four months at a time and how when the sun shone for months without Vt setting ting we had regular times tor for sleeping replied gen greely our retiring hour was 11 and by that time eve every ry one was supposed to be in bed some of the men acted a good deal like children in such matters they wanted to stay up and when the time for rising came they wanted to remain in bed during the second year I 1 issued an order prohibiting the men from lying in bed between 8 9 a m and 3 p m we slept more during the second year than the first my officers sleeping then from fourteen to sixteen hours a day As for me I 1 slept only nine hours but I 1 found trouble in doing so how about food did the cold air make you crave castor oil and aid candles as aa the Esq ulmos imos are said to do no replied gen greely 1 I dont think any of us ever saw aaa the day when we wanted to eat candles the desire of people in cold countries for fat has been much overestimated the being can assimilate onty only a certain amount of fat and the stories ab pub fished of imos imog who drink oft oa alk wine are overdrawn you can staad more fat in cold regions than in aarik warn but the limitations are fixed 1 I suppose the arctic explorers of jot next year will have a great adv advantage 1 over you on account of the con condensed denso foods which has since been invented I 1 dont know about that gen greely you cant live long on olk bread pills and meat essences the stomach has to have something to te fill 1111 it in order that it may do its wort properly condensed foods are nery well for a spurt but they will not 10 do lo for a steady diet for any length ot dt time if I 1 were going north again I 1 should take a great deal of con condensed dented milk and butter we had plenty ot butter for the first part of our stay we carried it with us in tins tilts and found it very good it might not have been so appetizing at home but you can eat stuff in the arctic regions that you would not touch here tell me something as to what you yoli took with you our stock of provisions was made up to last for two years I 1 had studied the subject and I 1 took a good list of supplies for that time we had about a ton and a half each of condensed milk butter and oatmeal we had plenty of cheese and macaroni and condensed eggs we had canned fruits and dried apples peaches grapes and raisins I 1 think that tomatoes were our best vegetable and we found the apples and the peaches our best fruits we had plenty of flour and some som canned meats did you have any fresh meats yes some but if I 1 were going again I 1 should carry a great lot of fresh me with me it could be kept in retried acors we kept meat quite a long time I 1 remember that the birds which v HT killed in greenland in july fortuen good eating in june in con conger ger ohp aft next year you need meat to eff your dogs the dogs you have baere do not like biscuits or patent j aoda they will not eat them unless they ther we halt half starved and it is very in such explorations to keep up tho ehg strength of your dogs As to cured cura meats we found that bacon havi ham corned beef and pemmican were among the best how about game to Is there any chance of getting any in the regions about the pole yes in the lands where we were we found quite a lot of game gaine at certain times of the year we dialing r our stay more than an hundred musk oxen a number of seals and about fifty ducks suppose you were going again general what kind of clothing would you take 1 I should use woolen cloth for many of my suits I 1 believe that wool to is better t er that fur tor for many purposes it to te well to have an overcoat lined with dogskin the best kind of mittens are woolen ones with sealskin mittens drawn over them we found that our best sleeping bags were made of buffalo robes we liked the ones in which two men could sleep best as in these each helped to keep his fellow warm tl has hansens Nan sens work really added to our knowledge gathe of the polar regions not to any great extent replied general greely nansen floated along in the current that he thought existed but the current did not carry him over the pole as he supposed it would HOW about andree and his balloon do you think that the reports which state that he has been heard from are true e no I 1 do not replied gen greely the alleged message from andree supposed to have been sent from the balloon was dated sixty five days after he left prom from this you would suppose that the balloon was still in the air at that time now it is known that when andree started he had only enough gas to last twenty six days and you know he never expected the bi balloon LIloon to remain in the air for more than forty days it might have stayed up that long under the best of condl bohs but he lost a lot of gas at the start taking these things into consideration sidi ration it seems improbable that he bould still have be flying at the end of the sixty five days then you think he is lost dead 1 I dont see how one can think otherwise was the reply he m may a y be wandering around the wilds of siberia but it is hardly probable Is in the pole any nearer to us today general than it was fifteen years ago on account of our increased knowledge of arctic matters 1 I should say it is replied gen groely greely we are learning something wery every year by experience we now know almost surely that the smiths sound route is the best one for reach ing the pole what that do you suppose the north pole to Is like general do you think there is any land there 1 I have n no doubt sa said id gen greely that there is somewhere in the vicinity of the north pole a considerable tract of land there is reason to believe thatis is covered with ice at least a half mile gille thick at the edges and it way anay be several miles thick in the cen ter why do you think that I 1 asked it is evident thia that that is the case from the icebergs which float about in the arctic ocean there are different kinds of icebergs just as there are different kinds of coal you can tell the difference between a piece of bituminous coal and one of anthracite well it is just as easy to tell the difference between the different kinds of icebergs joe bergs the icebergs that come from the land about the pole are known as floe bergs they are made up as glaciers gla kiers axe are made and their surfaces are almost flat they are as a rule almost f r ec rectangular tangular in shape you can see from the strata from which they are madje lade that they have been built up by the snow falling year after year on an almost level surface and then freezing the ordinary icebergs are different in shape they are not so flat the floe bergs as a rule axe are fresh water ice made by the melting and freezing of the snow some of floe bergs are very thick I 1 have seen some which were more than nine hundred feet in thickness there are some of them which according to the scientific rule for estimating belr size must have been from two to three thousand years in forming these icebergs have broaten br olten off the edges of the polar ice cap they have fallen down into the sea and the water there being very cold they remain a long time without melting abo do you think any one could live at i the worth north pole tor for any length of time general 1 14 I dont see why he could not it if he had the provisions and means of keep ng warm where do you think the pole actually is on the lee ice cap it is probably on the southeastern edge of it was the reply it is at any rate nearest the north american continent I 1 should say that the north pole was the american side of the earth what would be the advantage to I 1 the world of finding the pole 1 I do not think there is any particular advantage to be gained replied gen greely we really know just about where it is the chief thing is to get to the point and to actually know what is there suppose you were at the north pole general there is no special mark there how could you known you were actually on the point you could tell by the sun replied gen greely at the north pole the sun rises steadily from day to day tor for a part of the year it then sets steadily and goes on setting for another part of the year it keeps rising on until noon and after noon goes on rising without the least cessation anywhere else in the polar regions but at the pole itself the sun rises until noon and then drops slightly before it goes on rising you look at the sun at noon through your instruments and keep on looking now it there is the slightest fall you know you are not at the pole but if the rise is steady and unceasing you are sure you axe are just there suppose you were twenty five years old general nad bad your present knowledge of what arctic experiences is would you feel inclined to try it again 1 I dont know whether I 1 should or not replied gen greely yes if I 1 were that young and had the chance I 1 suppose I 1 might again make the attempt how did you come to go no north rth 1 I went because it was in the line of my duty replied gen greely 1 I try to do what mes lies before me this was offered and I 1 took it I 1 am you know in the service of the government it is my business to obey orders I 1 do not have to look out for new fields of work it is my business only to do to the best of my ability that which I 1 am asked to do the strain of those days must have been terrible general I 1 suppose you still feel the effects of your privations 1 I have no doubt but that the experience peri ence lessened my vital powers replied gen greely it could not be but a great shock to the system I 1 think I 1 have less reserve force than I 1 used to have how about the stories which have leen been recently published as to the finding recently published as to the find cannibalism peary has denied that statement I 1 have already told toy iny story and I 1 dont see how I 1 can put the statement much stronger I 1 think I 1 am aware of everything that was done by my men I 1 was in command and I 1 felt myself responsible for every act committed there by them or by me and I 1 have said again and again that I 1 do not know of a single law either luman human or divine which was broken by them I 1 think this disposes of that statement the conversation here turned to the I 1 shooting of private henry when gen greely said 1 I made out the order for his execution in writing and it was carried out in looking back over my action I 1 have no reason to regret it for I 1 aid did the only thing that could be done under the circumstances we were you know slowly starving ving to deat faWe had to apportion out the food and to eat very little henry was stealing from the stock he fie was detected again and again but he still continued stealing taking the little food that dand hiding biding it away the only chance of life for the party was that he be killed and that soon tor for he was already stronger than any two of our party and could have overpowered us had he wished one of our chief articles of diet at this time was seal skin a tittle little strip of which we had each day after henry was shot we found twelve pounds of seal skin hidden away among his things he had a pair of my sealskin boots boats and other things belonging to other members of the party these were articles of food you know and not clothing have you ever regretted that you went on the arctic expedition gen greely no was the reply 1 I am not one who thinks much about things after |
