The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-08-28
ARCTIC LIFE.

er Cidted press representative visited nln
{, Saturday.
n Greedy first stated the object of tn
d Lady Franklin bay expedition, viz: t.
establish a polar station, one of tn
K thirteen suggested by Lieutena
); Weiprect, of Austria, who discovers
1t franz Josef Land. Simultaneous oh
It SCI vations of all physical phenomen;
/, were to be taken, but the complet,
programme which was to be followed
e was arranged by an International Pc
/, lar congress, in which thirteen nation!
!, took part. The observations in which
i, the greatest possible accuracy were tt
De had were those of declinatlon and
r deviation of the magnetic needle, tenn
l perature of air and sea, height of the
/; barometer, and mean and maximum
: rise and fall of tides. All explorations
were incidental to the main objects of
{ the expedition.
) The expedition was fitted out Under
authority of Congress, and was COM
, posed of three officers of the army,
, one acting surgeon, and nineteen en-
listed men from the army. Rations
for twenty-seven months were prt on
the ship, which left st. Johns on july
q, 1881, with the party. She touched
at Disco island and Upernavik to pro-
cure sledges, dogs, skins and dog food.
Two Esquimaux were added to the
party at Proken. 4 landing was made
at Carey island, in the north water,
and the provisions cached by Mares in
1915, in the Alert, were found in good
condition.
AT Littleton island Greedy person
ally recovered the English Arctic mail
left by Sir Allen Young in Pandora,
1876. At Carl Ritter bay, in Kennedy
channel, a cache Of provisions for use
on retreat was made. 1t was the
original intention to establish the
polar station at Water Course bay, but
the heavy masses of ice rendered
Water Course bay an exceedingly
dangerous anchorage Moving to the
discovery of a harOOr, the station was
there Established on the site occupied
by the English exploring party in
1873. The erection of house was at
once commenced, and stores and
equipments were landed August 20,
when 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 through
Lady Franklin bay. On the evening
of the same day the temperature sank
below freezing point, and the icy
Arctic winter was on them in earn
est.
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 Con-
ger. Later on, in December, the tenn
perature sank to from so to 60 degrees
below zero, and so remained for days
at time, but even il that weather
the cooks favorite amusement was
dancing bare-headed, bare-armed and
with slippered feet on top OF the snow |
drift. During the day the men dress
cd in ordinary outside clothing, but |
their tiannels were very heavy. Five |
men were generally for part Of the |
day engaged in scientific work, under |
Greely's direction, and in duties of the |
camp the remainder were employed |
generally about one hour day and |
devoted the rest of the time to amuse-
ment. All slept in hunks, and the |
quarters were heated by large coal |
stove, the average heat maintained |
being 30 degrees above zero. Check |
ers, cards and reading were the |
amusements of the evening. The
life, Greedy said, was far from lonely
one, and many of the men said they
never passed two happier years than
those spent at Fort CUnger.
On the 10Th of October the sun left
them for 1875 days and twilight va
rying from half an hour to twenty
four hours succeeded. For two
months it was SO dim that the dial of
a watch could not be read by it. On
April II the sun came above the hori
zon and remained there 1876 day s., CIV
ing the party great sufficiency Of mid
night sun.
During three months stars were
visible constantly, the consultations
of Orion's belt and the Great Bear be-
ing the brightest. The north star
looked down from almost overhead.
Standing alone outside of the fort on
one of these nights, the scene was
grand. To the north famed the auro-
IA borealis, and bright consultations |
were set like jewels around the glow |
ing moon. Over every thing there !
was dead silence so horribly oppreS- |
sive that man alone is almost tempt |
ed to kill himself, so lonely does he |
feel. The astronomer 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 discerned. The moon would |
remain in sight from eleven to twelve
days at time.
The thermometer registered on June |
30 the highest temperature at l. idy |
Franklin bay which we knew during |
our stay. 1t was 52a above zero. The !
lowest was in February, 1888, &c be-
low zero In this February our mer-
curry froZe aud remained solid for fif- |
teen days. The mercury in the Their
mometer invariably rose during
storms or high winds. The highest
barometer was slightly above 81
inches, the lowest slightly below 20
inches. The greatest variations were
instrument used to ascertain the
not the slightest results were obtained.
The displays of aurora were very good,
but not compared with those seen at
Disco Island or Upernavick.
AS far as Greedy could observe no
cracking sound accompanied the dis
plays, and the general shape was that
of a ribbon. The south westerly hori-
Zon was the quarter on which the
brightest displays were seen. Mares
reported in 1876 that no shadow was
cast by the aurora, but Greedy says
that he distinctly observed the shadow
cast by il. There was no electrical
disturbances save those manifested by
rumbling noise, heard twice far away
to the north.
In the course of tidal observations
made, the very interesting fact WIS
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 Sa- inc, but why this was
Greedy would not venture to state. He
used in measuring the ebb and flow of
tides fixed gauge iron rod planted in
the mud. The average rise of the
| spring tides at Lady Franklin bay was
found to be eight feet, and at Cape
Sabine the highest tides rose twelve
feet, and surf was only observed
twice. During the two years at Lady
Franklin bay the average temperature
of the water was twenty-nine degrees
above zero. Wolves weighing ninety
pounds were killed around Fort Con-
ger. There are also foxes and other
| ON pao 10 hr1f Ash xuondnr-