Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1871-07-13
THE ARCTIC VOYAGERS,
From the New York Times, 27th.

plorer - trestutatlon OF nm Historic
Flag.
From the New York Times, 27th
The rooms of the New York Geo
graphical and Statistical Society, in the
Cooper Institute building was compact
ly crowded by ladies and gentlemen,
last evening, assembled to bid farewell
to Capt Charles f. Hall and his Off
! GERS and companions, previous to their
! departure N the steamer Polaris on
I their voyage of discovery to the North
Pole Among the distinguished per-
sons present were Judge Charles
?. DAILY, President of the Society; Hon.
Henry a. Grinnell, the Vice Pres
ident Hon. Samuel B. &. Ruggles,
Miss Winnie Ream, the sculptress; Ad,
miral Godon, Gen. Cullum, Mr.. Henry
J. Tuckerman, Gen. James Grant Viii
4 son, Mr.. George Fl. Moore, of the His
toricl Society; Prof, Dwight, of CO.
lumbia College; DR.. Thomas Ward,
! Baron Ostensacken, the Russian Con
sui; Col. T. Bailey Myers, and others,
! The members Of the expedition who
were in attendance included Captain
Hall, H. G. Chester, the first officer
William Morton, the second officer
DR.. Emil, Surgeon; Emil Schuman,
Chief Engineer; DR.. Bessell, Natural
! list, and DIR. Bryan, Astronomer.
Captain Hall was then introduced,
and spoke of the difficulties which he
! had encountered during his twelve
years experience as an Arctic explorer.
! He announced his belief in the exist
ence of passage to the open Polar Sea,
and said that he felt hopeful Of finding
! it. He mentioned some of his efforts
in fitting up the present expedition, and
! the hard work which it required TO put
it in proper shape. He said that he
| had received the most warm encourages
ment from the Administration and Con-
gress, irrespective of party, and that
he had been unusually fortunate in OBJ
tanning an excellent corps of assistants,
and good crew for his vessel. He said
that he intended going from here direct
to st. Johns, n. f., and would sail
from there through Davis Straits as
high as latitude 700 to Cap York, and
if possible to latitude IS oor 50 -
After wintering there, he expected to
start in April 1872, in search of the
North Pole.
The distance from his place of rem
devious to the North Pole would be
about 600 nautical miles, or 700 statute
miles. He said that he designed travel
ing over this space III sleds, drawn by
Exquimaur dogs. He had made pro-
visions for five or six sleds with fifteen
dogs to each one. Each sled would be
filed with provisions, and as fast as
each load was exhausted the empty sled
would be sent back to the starting
point. He said that his orders pro-
vided for his departure from this port
to-day, but that, in consequence of GER
tain delays, it was not likely that he
would get off before Thursday. The
Polaris would stop Mt st. Johns for four
days, and would then proceed on the
Journey northward. The ship Supply
will also leave st. Johns with 800 tons
of coal and 100 tons of provisions on
board, which would be taken to the
place of rendezvous of the expedition.
After arriving at Uppernavlk the ex-
petition would bid farewell to the civ
ilized globe. Capt. Hall said that his
instructions from the Secretary of the
Navy enabled him to sail which way he
pleased after reaching Cape Dix. His
first winter in the Arctic Circle would
be of 100 days duration, and his sec
ond winter would last SIX months.
Capt. Hall said that he felt satisfied
that he would find people at the North
Pole from what he had heard from the
Esquimaux At the close of Capt.
Halls remarks, Hon. Henry H. Grin
nell presented him with small Amerl-
can flag to take with him. Mr.. Grin
nell announced that the flag was a noted
one, and had passed through perils
by sea, by ice, and on land. 1t was
first used by Wilkes in Arctic explora-
tions in 1888, and in 1850 Lieutenant
Walker carried it with him on his
trip to the Antarctic Pole. 1t was
also used by Lieut.. De Haven, and by
DR.. Kane in their searches for Sir John
Franklin, and afterwards by DIR. Hayes.
In accepting it, Capt. Hall said he
hoped to bring it back to it's owner in
1872. after it had floated over a world
in which the north star is the crown
Jewell Remarks were subsequently,
made by Prof. Bessels and Mr. Morton.
Col Myers also returned thanks to the
Society for the reception on the part of
Mr.. Pavie, who is about to start on a
voyage to the North Pole, from San
Francisco. Before dispensing the Com
pany partook Of a collation.. One OF
the features of the meeting was the
presence of an Esquimaux named Wa
kahalinz, with his wife and two chill
dren, who are to accompany Capt.
Hall.
ORIGIN OF AN INVENTION. 1t is a
curious fact that the invention Of that