Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1871-06-16
The New Arctic Expedition.

CAPTAIN HALL and his party are now
on the eve of leaving us for long and
perilous voyage, that will probably cover
period of three years, or perhaps more
We yesterday visited Captain Hall on
board of his ship, the Polaris, at the Navy
Yard, for the purpose of bidding him
good bye, and wishing him prosperous
| and successful voyage. The Polaris, for
merly the Periwinkle, is vessel belong
Ing to the government, but rebuilt and
fitted for this expedition in such man
ner as almost to be a new and very su-
perior craft. She is of about four hundred
tons measurement, considerably larger
than the Advance, in which DR.. Kane un-
dertook his famous voyage, and about the
same size as the Germania, which left
Bremen two years ago on an expedition to
the Arctic seas. She has been planked all
over her sides with six inches of solid
white oak timbers, and has throughout
been nearly doubled in strength; her
bows being almost solid mass of timber,
sheathed with iron, and terminating in a
sharp iron PROV with which TO cut through
the ice. Her engine, is exceedingly pow
erful and compact, taking up but COM
paratively little space, and being pecu-
liarly adapted for hard and severe work,
and the propeller is arranged in such
manner that it can be unshipped and lifted
upon deck, through a shaft or " propeller
well in the stern, which is a great ad-
vantage when the vessel is u1oer sail or
surrounded by floating ice that might
easily damage the blades. And, even in
the worst case, supply of extra blades
has been provided, so that if one should
by accident be broken, it can always be
replaced. There is also an extra Tudder
II 30 s1u i
sets of spars of all dimensions. OF the
two boilers, one is supplied with an ap-
paratus to use whale oil for the generation
of steam, as this will, in all probability,
have to be relied upon when other fuel
gives out, not only to furnish the propel-
ing power, but also to heat up the vessel
throughout by steam, which will, of
course, be necessary as soon as the cold
and wintry regions have been reached.
Steam will merely be used as an auxil-
iary, as the Polaris is rigged as a foretop-
sail schooner, and fully able to sail and
steer under canvass only. A novel and
interesting feature in her construction is
new sort of life preserving buoy, which is
placed on the outside of the vessel, in the
Bern, and can be lowered into the water
by touching q spring which is placed near
the pilothouse. By touching another
spring, an electric light, which is fixed
upon the buoy about two feet above the
water, is ignited by completing the circuit
of an electric current from galvanic bat
terry on board and no matter how dark
the night, or how obscure the Arctic win
ter, the buoy can always be distinctly
seen, and tie man who has fallen over
hoard will know in what direction to
swim for hope and help. Another excel
lent and peculiar part of her outfit is
canvas boat, the invention of Mr.. John
Hegeman, of Saratoga County, N. Y, by
whom it has been patented, and from
which Captain Hall expects great results.
AS yet but one of these boats has been re-
ceived, but another and smaller one will
be added before the vessel leaves New
York. The b oat that we saw Is twenty
feet long, four feet wide and two deep, has
carrying capacity of four tons, weighs
only $50 pounds, and can carry with per
feet ease and safety twenty men. 1t con-
sists of an interior frame, built of hickory
and ash woods, over which is stretched
canvas cover, that has been previously
soaked in preparation TO render it per
fectly waterproof, 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 minutes, and by the as
sistance of a couple of men only. When
folded up it is perfectly fiat, and can be
transported on sledge across the ice
without the least difficulty. When open
water is reached, the order of things is
exactly reversed-the boat is unpacked and
spread out, and the sledge and its contents
taken on board, dog team and all.
AS to those who aIe going to be the
principals in this adventurous and danger
Gus expedition, they are, all told, twenty
nine men. There is not a man among
! them whose qualities and character have
not been we'll tested, from the captain
down to the cook. The leader and com.
mander-in-chief is, of course, Captain Hall /;
next in the command comes Captain S. o.
Buddington, of New London, an old
whaling master of thirty years expert
ence, twentv-one of which were spent in
the Davis Strait and Baff1n's Bay. He is
an old and trusted friend of Captain Hall,
who has implicit faith in his long expert.
ence and acknowledged ability. The
second officer is Mr.. II. Q. 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. He had the sad privilege to accom-.
pany DR.. Kane to Havana, and to bring
his remains from there to Philadelphia for
interment. Mr.. Emil Schuman occupies
the post of First Engineer, and the scien-
tific corps will consist of three gentle
men, one of whom, DR.. Emil
Bissells, of Heidelberg, Germany, will
attend the expedition as surgeon
naturalist. A student from the Observa-
tory at Ann Arbor, Michigan, will prob
ably be the astronomer; and an officer in
the Signal Service Department will be
aboard in the capacity of meteorologist.
Besides these, there will be blacksmith,
carpenter, steward and fourteen sailors,
besides the Esquimaux interpreter, Joe,
and his wife, Hannah. This latter inter
esting couple, with their little daughter,
are genuine specimens of the Esquimaux,
but having been in constant company with
Captain Hall for eight years past, they
speak very good English, and have acquir-
ed civilized manners. Joe is a famous hun
ter and "sealer," and his wife is quite an
an accomplished woman in small
way, with considerable talent for Ian
guages and for music Their little daugh-
ter, who will accompany them, is five years
old, and has been for some time at school
in Connecticut, where her parents have
been lately residing, the guests Of Captain
Buddington. They will join the ship at
the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and a nice and
cozy little cabin has been fitted up for the
exclusive use of them and their child.
They are glad to visit once more their ma
tive fields of snow and ice; and it is not
at all certain that they will again return
with the expedition.
Although Captain Hall expects to &C.
complish his purpose of penetrating into
the great Polar basin, if such one really
exists, and visiting the North Pole, in less
than three years, the Polaris has been
pIovisioned for four years, which can be
extended to six with little economy and
judicious distribution of rations The
great staple of provisions is the so.calleG
pemmican," which is composed of thret
parts of selected dried meat to one par
of the best suet, mixed with some othel
ingredients. The food is both nourish
| sv... rkl1n .a.l. IA.