San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-10-24

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duration and So
verify Of exposure and hardship. Kane
pushed his vessel farther north than any
sailer before or since, and in fact went so
far and staid so long that an expedition
was sent into arctic waters for his relief
When Kane set out in May, 1853, the only
positive knowledge of the lost expedition
in arctic waters was that in July, 1916, a
whaler had spoken the vessels in the center
of Baffin's bay moored to an iceberg and
awaiting an opening into Lancaster sound,
1t being the dream of Franklin's life to
discover a northwest passage. Kane had
followed Franklin's supposed route west
ward from Lancaster sound with the De
Haven expedition in 1851, and believed
that the lost party had penetrated to an
open polar sea and persisted, or, having
found abundant nourishment in the ami
mails of sea and land, was still intact. He
decided to make for that polar sea.
The Kane expedition was fitted out-as
others of the Franklin search series had
been-by private funds. Their vessel was
the Advance, a brig of IA tons that had
been on the De Haven trip, and was a good
sailer as we'll as stanch and easily man
aged. The commander, Kane, and ten of
his comrades were detailed from the United
States navy. DR.. |. |. Hayes went as sur
geon of the expedition. The party num-
bered eighteen and all were volunteers.
BY bold navigation, rejecting the canons OF
former voyagers and finding methods and
channels for himself, Kane reached Smith
sound in August. He was in latitude IS,
off the northeastern shore of Greenland.
After q series of most wonderful adven-
lures and escapes in trying to bore through
the fields and mountains of ice the dar-
ing men at last found their vessel dry
docked by the action of the ice in latitude
70 degs. 81 Minis, longitude 20 dogs 40 minis.
From this position the brig never moved,
and the explorers made it their home for
two years while prosecuting their searches
on foot and in sledges going as far north as
latitude So dogs % Minis.
Before being driven into their icebound
dock the daring voyagerS had marvellous
escape from wrecksin a terrible hurricane
that swept before it vast foes of ice, with
bergs mountains high, and the vessel in
the midst in danger of being crushed be-
tween colliding monsters or by them dashed
upon the precipitous coasts. The storm
struck them on Aug. 20, while the Advance
was picking her way through the sound
close to the Greenland shore, where the ice
had separated from the land by tidal action.
The best hawsers snapped like Irvine when
an attempt was made to make fast to a
small island for shelter from the gale. 1t
was blowing in shore and the narrow chan
mel was fast closing ahead, while the vessel
bumped and scraped along ledge of ice.
The anchors would not hold; the one bare
resource was the helm, which enabled the
skillful mariners to shift course and dodge
the ponderous ice rams bearing down upon
their gallant brig.
At last a group of bergs that had &C.
quired powerful momentum of their own
were sighted bearing down on the ledge
where the Advance was gliding helplessly
and threatening to crush her at blow
Fortunately low berg, making its way
swiftly through the drift, came alongside
the vessel, and by skillful movement an
anchor was made fast to it. With this
rapidly driving monster serving at once for
tow horse and an iceplow the Advance
dashed through the fast closing channel,
actually scrapng the ice walls of the bergs
when they were within forty feet of the
jagged ledge upon which they were rush
the ship to atoms as though it were a she'll
After this miraculous deliverance from an
awful death the voyagers carried their YES
sci into pool of open water and anchored
between huge berg and the driving gale.
So great was the force Of the storm that
the berg swayed until its pinnacle over
hung the vessels deck. Finally the shore
ice was reached and then nipping began.
The shoreward face of the berg was low,
even sloping to the waters edge, and up
this inclined plane the Advance was slowly
and steadily hoisted to dry dock, being
showed up by loose masses of ice which the
same motion carried up after it.
The gale passed, leaving the vessel help,
less in the ice. Kane lost no time, how
ever, in the prosecution of his purpose On
the Both of August, with seven volun
teers, he left the brig in a whaleboat and
pushed northward through fields of float