Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1884-05-03
TO THE RESCUE
PROSPECTS FOR ITS SUCCESS.
HOW THE ARTIO COLONY WAS ES-
TABLIsHED IN THE ICY NORTH.
SCIENCE NEAR THE POLE.
Oircumpolar Stations and the Valuable
L Work They Have Done.
Two Former Failures.
Fruitless Efforts to succor Greely-
Loss of the Proteus.


Fruitless Efforts to Succor Greedy
Loss of the Proteus.
Observations at Point Barrow.
From the New York Herald. :.
There has started from this point au ex-
pedition to the icy north which will carry
with it the good wishes of both America ard
Europe. Itgoes on an errand of rescue, and
that it may be successful in Its merciful mis-
sion will be the heartfelt hope and prayer Of
thousands. The expedition has been fitted
out with every appliance that science and
seamanship, backed by years Of experience,
can suggest, and every precaution that hu
man ingenuity can take has been made use of
able perils of the Polar seas. Three stout
ships-the Bear, the Thetis and the Alert
have been chosen for the voyage. They are
ships that ere this have battled with the ice
and have behaved admirably in tempestu0us
seas. The Bear, as Dundee steam whaler,
has seen some arduous services in the Arctic
whaling grounds, has been nipped more than
once in the Ice pack and has weathered many
gale. The Thetis is equally well fitted for
the expedition, and the Alert as the flagship
of Captain Mares in the Polar search of 1896,
proved most effectually her enormous strength
and stability. The Alert has been very gen.
erously presented to the United States by ,h,.
British government, and, staunch in hull and
sound in spars and rigging, will no doubt
render as good an account of herself under
the stars and stripes Of America as she did
when flying the English flag.
The party that these ships are to sail in
search of Ii one of two expeditions sent ont
by the United States to form an international
polar station. 1t consisted of twenty four
officers and men chosen from different
o<,rt t1,a T,,it
commanded by Lieutenant Adolphus w.
Greedy. On August II, 1881, the party was
landed safely at Lady Franklin Bay. The
orders of the United States government to
the commander of the expedition were that
he should not only make series of scientific
large an area of the Polar region as
he should find practicable. He was to re-
main until last fall, when it was arranged
| that relief ship should be sent for him. Two
vessels, the PrOteus and the Yantic, accord
| ingly, we're dispatched to bring Lieutenant
Greely and his comrades home, but, as our
| readers will remember, the Proteus, which
was the advance ship, was nipped and crush
ed in the ice and all hands on board had q
narrow escape from death. Such, in few
| words, is the story t the events which have
led to the fitting out Of the present relief eX-
petition.
! POLAR EXPLORATION.
/
seems always to have had weird fascination
for explorers. Many have been the expedi
tions led by gallant men, which have LEFT por
with light hearts to unravel the secret encOm
passed by q zone of ice which has Away
proved to be impenetrable. Many heroi
men have perished miserably in their ardu
Gus attempts to push the citadel of the ic'
king, and zee for themselves, the wonders O
! nature that surround him. All efforts have
however, been In vain, and rebuff after rebut
has been |. met u u%,th, and Essglas dsastEeq @
stained with blood the annals of Arctic dis
covery. These results have never dishear
tened brave men of all nations, nor have the
deferred eager explorers from again facin
the dangers in which their predecessors per
lshed.' Gradually the Pole Is being approach
ed. Step by step regions heretofore deeme
impossible have been explored, and there
will succeed in surmOunting obstacles ths
for years have appeared too difficult to over
come.
CIRCUMPOLAR sTATIONs-THEIR INCEPTION
AND DESIGN AND VALUE FOR THE PUR-
POSES OF SCIENCE.
! Lieutenant Karl Wevprecht, commander
the Austrian Arctic expedition ON board th
Tegelthoff was the first European to sugge.
, the idea OF establishing number Of circum
polar stations for the purpose of scientific OF
servation and practical explorations. 3
be gradually advanced to the northward, an
, that In some favorable season q dash migl
be made even to the Pole itself. Weyprect
rs an Arctic explorer, did excellent worl
n He discovered Franz Josef Land, and h
y scientific attainments were undoubtedly of
high order. The views of such q man matt
rally had great weight, and he advanced sue
n a number of sound arguments in support
his idea that he soon had number of entht
siastic followers. 1t is and has been for son
time admitted that the laws which govern IL
winds and the great currents of the sea wi
never be thoroughly understood until Il
physical conditions of the Polar basin and II
t movements of the great ice masses are know
g therefore the Importance of scientific explO
q alton in the Polar regions. There are to
o many problems of magnetism and electrici
o | which might have most interesting sOlutit
= II experiments to that end were conducted
g the far north. 1t Is not denied that the r,
b cent expeditions, such as those of Mares al
: De Long, were furnished not only vii
IS scientific men, but also with the most apprO
e ed Instruments. But it is u fact that each e,
= peditiOn has had no fixed plans laid down +
the observation OF phenomena, and the r
It suits have been unsatisfactory to the scie
e titic world. Valuable additions to our ge
e graphical and physical knowledge have be-
: attained, 1t is true; but at the same lin
h there has been much energy wasted. We
precht's plan was that the money eXpcnd
d by the nations of the world In fitting out e
N peditions to the North Pole could be mu
j. more usefully applied TO the establishment
= Polar stations. whicl, on the basis of rul
~ laid down, should be made the centers
= scientific search, whence the lands alrea
t. disco ,ered might be effectually survey ed Al
n explored.
f, AMERICA TO THE FRONT.
II While Weyprecht was busy In Europe ur
y ing the Importance Of his plans with rega
" to circumpolar stations, Captain II. w. HO,
70 gate, of the United States Navy, was urgi
N the government to equip one or more exp
al ditions toward the North Pole, and to ests
'e ploration ut some point north Of the eight
er first degree OF north latitude, at or near I
ID shore OF Lady Franklin Bay. Captain Ho'
gate suggested that the party sent out shOr
~ consist of At least fifty men, and should
he provided with provisions and other necesss
'r supplies for three years, at the end OF whi
period they should be visited and II still U
~ successful in accomplishing the object. revi,
re ualied and again LEFT to their work. He q
OF vised that the party should take out with il
strong, substantial building, and had
er doubt that the members of the expediti
Id could be made as comfortable and safe fr,
ne atmospheric dangers as are the men of
signal service stationed on the submits
Id Pixies Peak and Mount Washington, OF I
IN employees of the Hudson Bay Company 81
III toned at Fort York, where a temperature
o. minus sixty degrees il not uncommon. Ca
II, HOwgate advised that the principal depot
to post should be located upon Lady Frank
Bay between latInde 81 degrees and s2
n grees. He insisted that ny Captain Hall w
IL a. high as Cape Union tbetw-cn latitude
n; degrees and SO degrees) with the Polars, Il
he Captain Mares still higher in the Aler
vo steamship would have no difficulty IN rea
1g ing the spot. He was particular in point
de out that the only use of the vessel would
to transport the men and the supplies to
IN location Of the colony, and, that being do
he to return at once To the United States.
on This proposition received considerable 81
p port from scientific men and members
'e- congress, and eventually the Gulnare '
fitted out. The vessel. however, was unfit
for the expedition, and it turned out Il n
G.. cradle failure. The incident is only refer
to here to show that the project Of reach
~, the Pole by means Of gradual eXplOrat
'.I was entertained in this country and ayoca
~. -, by our scientific men at the same time t
ais it was receiving the attention of Euro
e,e er Among the many eminent gentlemen '
enS, were impressed with the utility of simu
1V npous rir,unanO1ar aSnlOration nv y.ri