Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-10-22
SAW THE NORTH POLE
PETER SMITH TELLS THE ANANlAS
CLUB WHAT IT is LIKE.

A Remarkable Voyage MAIDS In a Still
More Remarkable Manner--Ho Says the
Long Sought For Pole Is n Mile High.
A Graphic Account OF the Cruise.
One OF the greatest explorers and most
fearless navigatorS on the globe is a men,
Der OF the Ananias club He IL writing an
interesting narrative OF his wanderings, to
be printed In book form. At the clubmeet-
| ing Patroman Peter Smith entertained his
| friends with an account OF his trials and
hurdships in 1922. when he discovered the
North Pole.
u sailed from indianapolis in May Of
1922, on the sidewheeler Dictator. She
had been fitted up especially for an arctic
voyage and was the fastest boat on any
waters. She had double engines, and her
hull was pierced with axles. to which could
be attached wheels, so that she could run
over land in case OF low water. From
indianapolis we went to Toledo over the
strip Of country now traversed by the
l., II. and ID. and other railroads, and
must say the Dictator attracted great
deal of attention from the natives as she
rolled along through the meadows and
over the hills They had never witnessed
siIch a sight before. We launched the
steamboat ut Toledo and sailed down the
lake to Detroit, crossed to Windsor, and
then overland again to New York via Mon.
treal We took the roundabout way in Or
der to gather up our crew, it being much
cheaper to 20 after item than for them to
come to us.
TiIE START FOR THE POLE.
when the steamboat passed down Long
Island sound she carried 800 men, provi
siona for II ten years cruise, battery Of
fifty guns and 10000 rifles, pistols, swords
and shotguus, seventy tons of powder, and
the boat was ballasted with cannon balls
and bomb shells.
"In three weeks we had reached Iceland
and month later crossed the arctic circle
While crossing the arctic line we were al
most shipwrccked. A heavy wind had
brought the line near the surface of the
water, md IL caught one of the steamboats,
wheels Luckily we were not running over
twenty knots an hour, and the engineer
was able to stop before the line had been
pulled tight enough to tear off the wheel.
We sailed eastward to the Nigen islands,
which are on the west coast of Norway,
and laid by for week. Then we ventured
out again and crossed the circle in safety.
In August we reached SpitZbergen, and
five months Inter we're In the polar regions
proper. ! saw there the first rolly howl
yus"---
aurora Borealis you mean, don't youY
asked Patrolnan Slate.
Were you there, Mr.. Slater" asked
Smith sternly. IF you were perhaps you
will tell this story"
well, no. but then I've read"--
II don't care what you have read. |
wish you would not interrupt me talking
of things you know nothing about. It's a
very strange phenomenon. a belt seemed
to rise across the sky from northeast to
northwest, and in the belt appeared golden
whirlpools, silver eddies, and diamond
sparks seemed to be flying by millions.
APPEARANCE OF TIE POLE.
"ln the center of the arch appeared the
American flag, aud beneath it's folds, on
snow white background. were the portraits
OF Indianapolis mayor and city officials
They looked rs II they had been painted
there with pencil of fire. Thunder rolled
and the wind howled all the time the rolly
was in sight, which was, If remember
right, about eight weeks. With Yankee
word as fail, and one pleasant July day,
when the mercury was l20 deEs below
freezing, we pushed forward for the North
Polel For months we made our way
across seas filled with noating icebergs
some of them two miles thick and reach
ing into the clouds out Of sight Three
years later we came to IN open sea- and in
this we cruised for seven months. The
tx,utnP hnrnp,n R,nuJIv uub binds H,.i,ty
about told us that we were near land, and
in Il weeks time we steamed into IL hnrbor
I'VE had found the North Pole Many
people who have never seen it imagine
that the North Pole is made of wood This
is n mistaken idea. 1t is n solid iron col
nmn about mile high and reaches en-.
trely through the earth-the other end of
it being called the South Pole. should
judge it to be about seventy-five miles in
diameter and Of course Of great strength,
In order to hold up the immense weight of
the earth. 1t glstened like silver, and
thought 1t was some precious metal until
tested 1t with acids, and found it to be
Just as stated-plain, every day iron.
You can imagine the kind Of n jubilee we
had on board the old steaTnboat Dictator.
Our cannons were fired and our band
played.
CLIMBING THE PoLE.
I'VE rested in the shadow of the pole for
n week, aud then determined to reach the
summit, This was no easy thing to do,
for, as | stated the column is of iron and
as smooth as glass ! ordered the steam
drills on shore and we commenced drill
ing. The iron WAS unusually hard, aud II
number Of drills were broken before holes
could be made, but we succeeded ut lust.
In each hole was placed wooden bar that
projected about fifteen feet, and thus
ladder was made In two months time
we had the ladder completed, md it re.
sembled large telegraph pole driven full
of spikes. To ascend then was mere childs
play, and myself with 200 OF the men were
soon at the top. think it took -,'E-.s.,out
three hours to climb up.
"The apex Of the North Pole IL broad,
level plateau. or course nothing grows
there, and the rotary motion made us
slightly dizzy until we got used to it. The
pole itself does not whirl as fast rs the
earth does II it had we would have fallen
MI. released three carrier pigeons for
v Nianapolis with messages to the city of.
fc, y but as they never reached their dos.
tina. ION they were probably killed by the
Esquimaux. We were Mt the top for four
days. The view was magnificent, and
there is no scenery in this part of the coun.
try like it. The city OF indianapolis looked |
like lot OF pin heads in cork, and the
steamboat plying White river resembled
chips floating on tiny brook. New Or
leans was simply "A white patch, and a
small one at that.
with glad, free hearts, proud that we
had accomplished what no other living |
man had done, we sailed away for our
southern homes 1t was five years before |