Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1877-02-17
Horrors Near the Pole.
WHY TIE BRITISH ARCTIC EXPEDITION
PROVED A FAILURE.

| FROM Inc New i Ofk Mercury
| Great disappointment has natur
ally been eyinced at the dismal fail
ure of the two perfectly equipped
English screw steamers-Alert anC
Discovery-to reach the North Pole
II seems as if the secret of tha'
mysterious region defed all the
knight-crrantry of navigators. Fol
reasons to be subsequently advanced
it is improbable that the Pole will bt
reached if the efforts are to depend
on ordinary seamen. For it may
IA well be understood, once for all
that the failure to accomplish the
mission of the late British expedition
arose not so much from the obsticles
presented by nature as from the
weak -hcartedness of the crew. II
was not the stupendous floebergs Of
Palno-crystic that baffied Capt
Mares. it was an ineradicable super
stition and demoralizing fear that
paralyzed his seamen. This view
of the subject obtains no recognition
in the elaborate report of the COM
mander, but it is we'll understood
among intelligent seafaring men.
The crew of the Alert and Discov-
ery haG been selected with great
care by Capt. Mares subordinate
officers, long before the expedition
sailed in 1874. The experiences of
Bailin, Ross, Parry, Collinson and
others pointed to this imperative
prccaut,on. The long months of un-
relieved darkness which make up the
Arctic winter, trying to the nerves
OF educated men. are terrible Or
deal TO the naturally superstitious
seamen. Even when the dense dark
ness is relieved by the gorgeous
pyro,echnics of the aurora borealis,
the ordinary seaman only sees an
other evidence of scme terrible and
occult cause which has it's existence
at the Pole, whittier he is tending.
To him the fierce, weird 1ashings
which intermittinsly ightens up the
sky before him, are fre-gleams hav-
ing their origin in some horrible
hell presided over by fire-demon.
When, therefore, Jack reaches a
latitude beyond the eighties, he in
variably exhibits evidences of de-
moralization.
AS far as practicable. therefore,
none but vigorous, intelligent men
were shipped on the last expedition,
and extraordinary means were en-
ployed, in the form of school-masters
and examiners, to test the mental
qualifications of the men and when,
amid the plaudits of thousands, the
two ships steamed gracefully up the
channel past Beachy Head the san
guinc commander no doubt con-
graduated himself Oh possessing the
most trustworthy and completely
equipped ships and the most intel
ligent and perfectly disciplined crew
that ever essayed to penetrate the
mystery of the pole. Ere the two
steamers had passed out of the North
Seq, however, or crossed the Arctic
circle. in latitude IS deg, it became
known to the petty officers that
most of the forecastle talk at nights
turned upon
cnrLDREN's CAULs
as an infaIlable preventive against
death by drowning. There were
more than a score of cauls in the
two ships, and those tars who had
these membranous substances Sc
cured around their necks, beneath
their nnderclothes, felt tolerably
secure, while those who were with
out the birth-amulet began to feel
correspondingly depressed. By i'm
perccptibly gradations this supersti-
tious fear deepened, and possessors
Of these cauls were offered redicu.
lous large sums amounting in
some instances to half q years pay
TO part with them. But what was
money or the promise of it unde,
such circumstances? What is $1O,-
900 compared to a chunk of bread
where starvation is imminent? What
was 80 many pounds sterling com
pared to q caul and safety? The
men stuck to the mystic fibre and
luck, and the others tried to joke
but felt uneasy. The uneasiness
was not lessened when on the 3Otl
of July the ice pack was sighted of
Cape Sabine, and when exactly {
week later the ships were caugh
and encompassed by the drifting
pack, the caulless lnen were ready
TO curse their luck and give them
selves up for lost. Whistling OF
board was now considered in tn
forecastle q criminal offense-i
might raise the wind, and the ship
would be dashed to pieces. Th'
struggle with the ice was incessantl,
maintained for three weeks; and tn
most obtuse seamen saw that ono
involved among those changing wa
ter-channels it was as hazardous t.
proceed as to return. On the 25tl
Of August Capt. Mares decided t
leave the Discovery to winter, o.
the west side of Halls Basin, il
| or L.. A ,,,:~ xvh;1o ho ,,,,chod ~,