The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1884-07-26
HISTORI(AL.
weiprecht's Circum-Polar Scheme and
the EYpeditions.


weipreohts Circum-Polar Scheme and
the Expeditions.
For the solution OF certain meteoro-
logical problems, Lieut.. Weyprecht, the
Austrian explorer, now dead, proposed
a scheme of simultaneous observation
to be undertaken jointly in Arctic re-
gions by the leading nations of the
world. At the three international Polar
Conferences, held at Hamburg in 1879,
at Berne in 1880, and at st. Petersburg
in 1881, the programme and details
were settled. At the last meeting II
was decided to delay the beginning of
the enterprise from 1881, at first pro-
posed, until 1882. Preparations had
been made in this country, however, for
carrying ont our part of the original
programme; and ia the summer of 1881
two expeditions set out, one for the
Dorthernmost point of Alaska, under
Lieut.. P. Ii. Ray, the other under
Lieut.. A. W. Greely for Dis
covery Harbor, Lady Franklin Bay,
81 degrees 80 minutes north latitude
| and 65 degrees west longitude, 800 miles
from the pole. The other ten stations
selected were: Fort Rae, north of Man
itoba, by the British; Cumberland
Island, north of Hudson Bay, by the
Germans; Goodhaab, Greenland, by
the Danes Jan Mayen Island, by Aus
tria; Spitzenberg, by the Swedes; Boss
kopp, near North Cape, by Norway; a
point near the White Sea, by Finland !;
I Nova Zembla, by the Russians, who had
90 Of Nf
Lena River, in Siberia; and Dickson
Haven, near the mouth of the Yenisei
River, by the Dutch. The Dutch ex-
| pedition failed to reach its destination,
having been caught in the ice in the
Kara Sea. Observations were made
| during the winter, however, and the
| party made good their escape when
their vessel sank, on the breaking up of
| the ice the following summer. All the
other expeditions were successful.
THE GREELY PARTY.
The Greely party, numbering twenty
| five in all, sailed from st. Johns in
| August, 1881, and reached their desti-
nation easily; the Proteus, which con-
veyed them, had no trouble from the
| ice either going or returning. The
/ colony was provided with house, with
| boats, and with provisions and stores
! for two years. Near them was bed of
/ good coal, so that they were sure of a
plentiful supply OF fuel. 1t was agreed
| that d relief party should be sent them
| the following summer, to replenish their
| stores and bring away any that might be
| SICK. If that should fail to reach them,
| an effort sbonld be made to bring them
all away the next summer, 1888. In the
event that the second expedition should
fail to appear, the colony were to aban-
| don tue station not later than the first
| of September, 1883, and make their way
to Littleton Island, where supplies
would be left them, in case they were
not previously picked up.
VIRST RELIEF EXPEDITION.
The first relief expedition under
Lieut.. Darlington was stopped by ice
| long before it reached the neighbor-
hood of the colonists. 1t made de-
posit of provisions and stores at Cape
Sabine, near the south extremity of
Smiths Sound, $50 miles south of Dis
covery Harbor, and returned home. The
attempt made last summer, In two YES
sells, to reach and succor the colonists
failed disastrously; one of the vessels,
the Proteus, was lost, and no stores
were left for the retreating colonists
when they should reach Littleton Is
land.
-Y,xv v]Nr,- AVN