Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-06-15
The New Arctic Expedition.


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 Poiaris, for
merly the Periwinkle, is vessel belong
ing to the government, but rebuilt and
fitted for this expedition in such a 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 DIR. 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 a solid mass of timber,
sheathed with iron, and terminating in
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 shaft or propeller
well" in the stern, which is a great ad-
vantage when the vessel is under sail or
surrounded by floating ice that might
easily damage the blades. And, even in
| the worst case, a 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 rudder
on board, and several suits of sails and
sets of spars of all dimensions. OF the
two boilers, one is supplied with an ap-
paratus to use whale oil for the generation
| nf cto will in oil ha
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 aforetop-
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
stern, and can be lowered into the water
by touching a spring which is placed near
the pilot-house. 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 a
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
a carrying capacity of four tons, weighs
only $50 pounds and can carry with per
feet ease and safety twenty men. It 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 couple of men only. When
folded up it is perfectly flat, 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 are gong 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 4;
next in the command comes Captain s. o.
Buddington, of New London, an old
whaling-master of thirty years expert
ence, twenty-one of which were spent in
the Davis Strait and Raffin'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. G. Chester, also a
whaling man, of twelve years experience
among the ice; and the third officer is Mr..
William Morton, who was DIR. 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 DIR. Kane to Havana, and to bring
, his remains from there to Philadelphia fol
interment. Mr.. Emil Schuman occupies
the post of First Engineer, and the scien
titic corps will consist of three gentle
men, one of whom, DIR. 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
r Besides these, there will be blacksmith
t carpenter, steward and fourteen sailors
l besides the Esquimaux interpreter, Joe
and his wife, Hannah. This latter inter.
a esting couple, with their little daughter
are genuine specimens of the Esquimaux
!, but having been in constant company with
e Captain Hall for eight years past, they
D speak very good English, and have acquir'
e ed civilized manners. Joe is famous hun
: ter and "seGer," and his wife is quite ar
7 an accomplished woman in "small
: way, with considerable talent for Ian
d guages and for music. Their little daugh
e ter, who will accompany them, is five year:
|, old, and has been for some time at schoo
o in Come octicut, where her parents have
d been lately residing, the guests of Captain
q Buddington. They will join the ship a
|, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and nice anc
" COW little cabin has been fitted up for the
n exclusive use of them and their child
s They are glad to visit once more their ma
tive fields of snow and ice; and it is no
d at all certain that they will again return
L with the expedition.
S Although Captain Hall expects to &C
e complish his purpose of penetrating int
s the great Polar basin, if such one reall.
IT exists, and visiting the North Pole, in les
n than three years, the Polaris has beel
" provisioned for four years, which can b
e extended to six with little economy ant
e iudicious distribution of rations. Tn
e great staple of provisions is the so-calle'
I, pemmican," which is composed of thre
q parts of selected dried meat to one par
K of the best suet, mixed with some othe
s ingredients. The food is both nourish
IS ing and wholesome, and, through tn
q absence of salt, there is no danger {
y scurvy-that pestilence of Arctic trave
lie ers-to be feared from its use. Itispacke
S, in 45-pound tin cans, hermetically sealet
le and of this there is no less than 100
lie slowed agay in the hold, the manufactur
nt q =: .la.,c.d % Qn