St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-08-18
THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.
The General Nature and Probable
Value of the Observations
Made by Greedy.
lin Bay, and the Departure of
the Proteus.

the Proteus.
The Retreat Homeward With all its Suf-
| ferings and the Final Rescue.
| PORTSMOUTH, N. H., Aug. 17.-For the pur-
| pose of obtaining some idea of the general ma
ture and probable value of the scientific obseya-
| tons made by Greedy at Lady Franklin bay, an
associated press agent visited him Saturday
Greedy first stated the object of the Lady Frank
| lin bay expedition was to establish polar sta
| ton, one of the thirteen suggested by Lieut..
Weipreeht, of Austria who discovered Franz Josef
! land. Simultaneous observations of all physical
| phenomena were to be taken. complete pro-
| gramme which was to be followed, was
arranged by an International polar congress in
| which representatives of thirteen nations took
part. The observations in which the greatest
| possible accuracy was to be had were those of
declination and deviation of the magnetic needle,
temperature of the air and sea, height of barom-
eter and mean and maximum rise and fall of the
tide. All the explorations were incidental to the
main objects of the expedition, which was fitted
out under authority OF congress, and composed
of three officers of the army, acting assistant
|
army.
THE OUTFIT.
| Stores for twenty seven months were placed on
board the Proteus, which left st. Johns July
9th, 1881, with the party. She touched at Disco
island and Upper Navik to procure sledges dogs,
skins and dog food. Two Esquimaux were adj
ded TO the party at Proven. Landing made at
| Car island in the north water and the provisions
| cached by Mares i'll 1876 in the Alert were found
| in good condition. At Littleton island Greedy
| personally recovered the English arctic mail left
| by Sir Allan Young in 1876. At Carl Ritter bay
in Kennedy channel, cache of provisions for
| use on the retreat made. 1t the orig
inal intention to establish the polar station at
| Watercourse Bay but heavy masses of ice rem
| dered Watercourse bay exceedingly dangerous
anchorage. Moving to the discovery of Il harbor
the station was then established on the site &C.
cupied by the English expedition of 1875.
THE ERECTION OF FORT coNGER.
| The erection of house was at once commenced
and stores and equipments landed. On the 28th
of August came the parting between the Greedy
| party and the men of the Proteus. The little
| band gathered on the frozen shore, and watched
| the Proteus as she steamed slowly down Lady
Franklin bay. On the evening of the same day
| the temperature sank below the freez-
| ing point, and the icy Arctic winter was on them
in earnest Their house was finished
about a week after the Proteus left.
| 1t was named, in honor of Senator Conger, Fort
! Conger. During the first month the cold affected
| the men more than at any subsequent time at
| Fort Conger. Later on in December the tenn
perature sank from so to IS degrees below zero,
and SO remained for days at time, but even in
that weather the cooks favorte amusement was
dancing bareheaded, barearmed and with slip
pered feet on top of snow drift.
| HOW THE MEN WERE EMPLOYED.
| During the day the men dressed in ordinary
| outside clothing, but their hannels were very
! heavy. Five men were generally, for a part of
the day. engaged in scientific work under Greedy s
! directions, and in the duties of the camp. The
remainder were employed generally about one
| hour day, aud devoted the rest of the time to
| amusement. All slept in bunk quarters which
! were heated by large coal stove, the average
heat maintained being so degrees above
zero. Checkers, cards, chess and reading
| were the amusements of the evening. The
| life, Greedy said, was far from a lonely one
| Many of the men said they had never spent two
| happier years than those spent at Fort Conger.
On the 18th of October the sun left them for 35
| days, and twilight varying from half an hour to
| twenty -four hours succeeded. For two months
| it SO dim that the dial of watch
| could not be read by it. On April
| II sun came above the horizon and
remained their 135 days giving the party great
| sufhciency of midnight sun. During three
months the stars were visible constantly The
consultations of Orions belt and the Great Bear
| being the brightest. The North star looked
| down from almost over head Standing alone
| outside the fort one of these nights the scene
| was wildly grand. To the north famed with
| aurora borealis and the bright consultations
were set like jewels around the glowing moon.
| Over everything was dead silence SO horribly
| oppressive that a man alone is almost tempted
| to kill himself, so lonely does he feel. The as
| tronomer of the party said that with the naked
| eye star of one degree smaller magnitude than
| can be seen here in the same way might be dis
| cerned. The moon would remain in sight for
/ eleven to twelve days at time. The thermometer
registered on June 30 the highest temperature at
| Lady Franklin bay which we knew during our
| stay. 1t was52 degrees below zero. The lowest
was in February, 1883, 66 degrees below zero.
In this February our mercury froze and re-
manned solid for fifteen days. The mercury in
| the thermometer invariably rose during storms
| or high winds.
| The highest barometer slightly above thirty
! one inches, the lowest slightly below twenty
! nine inches. The greatest variations were in
| winter. The eleetrometcr, an instrument used
to ascertain the presence of electricity, was set
| up but not the slightest results were obtained
| The display of the aurora were very good but
! not compared with those seen at
| Disco Island or Uper Navik. As far
| as Greedy could observe, cracking sound
| accompanied the displays, and the general shape
| was that of a ribbon. The southwesterly hori-
| zon was the quarter in which the brightest dis
| plays we're seen. Mares reported IN 1876 that
| no shadow was cast by the aurora. but Greeley
says he distinctly observed his shadow cast by it,
There were no electrical disturbances save those
manifested by rumbing distant thunder, heard
| twice far away to the north.
In the course of tidal observations q very in
| tcresting fact discovered, that the tides at
! Lady Franklin bay came from the north, while
| those at Melville bay and Cape Sabine came from
| the south The temperature of this north tide
| is two degrees warmer than that of the south
tide at Cape Sabine. Why this was Greedy
| would not venture to state. He used in measur-
| ing the ebb and fow OF tides a fixed gauge Of
iron rod planted in the mud. The average rise OF
| the spring tides at Lady Franklin bay was found
| to be eight feet. Al Cape Sabine the highest
tides rise was twelve. Surf was only observed
| twice during two years at Lady franklin bay
! The average temperature Of water was twenty
nine degrees above zero. Wolves weighing ninety
pounds were killed around Fort Conger. There
are foxes and other animals there Fish is won
derfnllY scarce. Perhaps the greatest surprise Of
| the expedition was taken from Lake Alexander
| a fresh water lake $50 feet above the sea
level, four pound salmon. From the bay
or sea only two very small fish were
taken during the entire two years, and few are
| found north OF Cape Sabine. The vegetation at
Lady Franklin bay is about the same az at Cape
| csbfna and cornnrises rnuSsea Nncheug xyiiIotpa