The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-06-05
JOURNEYING TO THE POLE.

COUlGtNUl IINO LIZ I1lG V0d'
CAPTAIN HALL'S NEW ARCTIC
EXPEDITION.
| The Exploring ship "Polaris'-lnter-
esting Details of her Equipment
The Personnel of the. Expedition
Plan of Operations, &c, &c.
The Washington Patriot gives the following
particulars in relation to the vessel and MEM
bers of the arctic expedition under Captain
Hail. which, it is expected, will sail within a
fortnight, with the object of opening the way
into and examining tine great polar basin:
THE EXPLORING SHIP.
The Polaris, formerly the Periwinkle: Is a
vessel belonging to the government, but re-
built and fitted for this exhibition in such a
manner as almost to be q new and very supe-
! rior craft. She is about 400 tons measurement,
| considerably larger than. The Advance, IN
which DR.. Kane undertook his famous voyage,
and about the same size as the
which left Bremen two years ago on an eApe-
dition TO the Arctic seas. She has been plank
ed all over her sides with six inches OF solld
white oak timbers, and has throughout oeen
nearly doubled in strength; her bows being al
most q solid mass OF timber. sheatDeu Wllh
iron, and terminating in a sharp iron prev
CINE. which was built some time ago at
Messrs. Neafe & Levy's works, in Philadel'
phia. Is eyceedingl; powerful and compact,
taking up but comparatively little space;
and being peculiarly adapted for nara anu
severe work. with little danger OF oreaklhs
down OF getting out Of order; and the proper,
Ter is arranged in such a manner, that IL can
he unshippei and lifted up on deck, tl!rollgha
! shalt or propeller we'll" in the Stern, which IL
n great advantage when the. vessel IS under
sail or surrounded by floating ice. thai might
easily damage the blades. And, even III tte
worst case. a supply OF extra blades mas oeeu
provided, so that if one should, by accident, Dc
broken. il can always be replaced. There is
| also an extra rudder on board, and seTeral
| srits or soils and sets of spars Of oil dimeG-
I sions. Ofthe two boilers, one is supplied Win
| an apparatus to use whale oil Tor The genera
ton Of steam. as this will, in all prooaoliiIS,
nave 10 Oe relied upon when other inei gives
out; not only TO furnish the pfopellng pUmG hr
but also 10 heat up The vessel throughout oy
steam, which will, Of course. be necessary Us
soon as the cold and wintry regions have oeen
reached.
SINGULAR EQUIPMENT.
Steam will, however. merely be used as an
auxiliary. as the Polaris Is rugged as a i0reton-
sail schooner, and fully able 10 sail and steer
un1er canvas only. A novel and interesting
feature in her construction IS a new sorI vi
life preserving buoy, which Is placed ON 'he
outside of the vesseI, in the stern, anu can oe
| lowered into the water by touching q spring,
which Is placed near lhe pilot-house. BY toucii'
ing another spring, an electric light, when Is
| fixed upon the buoy about two feet ABOVE lhe
water, is iguited by completing the clrcnlt OIL
an electric current from q galvanic battery on
board: and no matter how dark The night, or
| la,, o,o,ra tlu A rn,ia winter The 1lOV can
| ALWAYS be distinctly seen, and the man VINO
has fallen overheard will know in what direc-
| ton 10 win for hope and help. That thlsl Is
| an important and valuable feature 10 Cne NJ
| iipgs and complement o! the vessel no one
can doubt. and 1t IS we'll calculated 10 INSPIRE
wholesome sense OF security, and to save NE
where other and less perfect apparatus woula
fill 10 meet the emergency.
cANvAs BOAT.
Another excellent anu peculiar part OF her
outfit is 4 canvas boat, the Invention oil Mr.
John Hegeuan, OF Saratoga Conn,y, n anT
York. by whom IT has been patented, anu
from which Captain Hall eXnelis great results.
As yel but one OF these boals has been receiV,
ed, but another and smaller one will be added
+ before the vessel leaves New 1urk. lne oouI
that we saw is 20 feet long, 4 feet wide and Z
feet deep, has a carrying capacity OF ons,
weighs Only, $50 pounds. and can carry. WIN
perfec, ease and safety 20 men. 1t consists OF
IN interior frame, built Of hickory and ash
woods, over which is stretched a canvas
cover thut has been previously soaked III
a preparation to render II perfectly wafer
moof, and the whole boat can be taken apart
and folded together in a space less than one
eighth OF its original size, in about three min
( utes, and By the assistance of a c. ipie ot men
ONLY. When folded up 1t is perfectly nat, anu
| can be transported on o sledge across the Ice
Without the least difficulty. When open wafer
is reached, the order OF things is eXactly re-
versed-the boat Is unpacked and spread Out,
and the sledge and Its contents taken on
| board. dog-team and all. As the usual num-
Der OF dogs 10 an Esquilnallx sledge is fifteen,
and tour men can be carried IN 1t with ease,
besides provisions,, &C., this BOAT will often
have quite q miscellaneous freight. 2 eroWl-
ing and s%narling, barking and biting, Will at
times no doubt furnish a unique, II not mei9uir
Gus accompaniment TO the measured souud Oh
dipping oars.
PERSONNEL OF H EXPEDITION.
But now as to those who are going to he the
! principals IN this adventurous ana dangerous
expedition. They are, all told, tWen.y-nlne
men, as good and true as can be found any
where. There Is not a man among them whose
Qualities and character have not been well
tested, from the gallant captain down to the
cook. As Mr.. Hall said: Every one Of them
is worth his weight in gold, and much more,
fOr they form u sOlu SET lIat l Sahie'J uPou,
| l know it,"
The leader OF the expedition an1 comnan-
der.in. chief is, Of course. Captain Hall; neXtin
command comes Captain 5. y. Buudlnglon. OF
New London. an old whaling master OF thirty
years experience, tweuiy-oae Of which were
spent in the Davis'4 Strait and Bathn'5 Bay.
and no less than ten winters has this gallant
old salt seen high up among the ieeoergs,
where the sun is below the horizon for more
thar four months in succession.
The second officer is Mr.. Fl. c. Chester, also
a whaling man, OF twelve years experience
among the ice;' and the third officer is Mr..
William Morton, who was Dr.. kane's trusted
friend and companion, and is the only living
mortal to whom it was ever permitted to look
upon the open Polar sea. Mr.. Emil Schuman
occupies the post of hrst engineer; and the
scientific corps will consist of three gentlemen,
Of one of whom, DR.. Emil Bissells, of Heidel-
berg, Germany, We have already spoken in q
former notice in this paper. He will attend
the expedition as a suEgeon-naturalist. A
student from the observatory at Ann Arbor.
Mich, will probably be the astronomer; and
an officer Of the signal service department will
be aboard In the capacity OF meteorologist.
Besides these, there will be a blacksmith,
carpenter, steward and fourteen sailors, be-
.taa. ,Ln C,o,too,c iptornratnr Joo opl hio