Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-04-18

He IL Presented With . Flag to Garry to
Greenland's Northern Point.

HIS TALK TO A WASHINGTON AUDIENCE LAST
NIaHT-soME INTERESTING POINTS ABOUT
GREESLAND-A SMOOTH ROAD OF SNOW THAT
LEADS 70 THE yARTHEsr NoRrH.
Lieut.. Robert Peary, civil engineer Of the
navy, who is soon to traverse the ice fields of
Greenland in effort to reach the northern
limit of that vague land, delivered q most in
teresting lecture last night at the Academy of
Music before a large audience under the
auspices of the geographical society.
His theme was Greenland" and, Of course.
bore directly upon his forthcoming journey on
the inland ice and his chances of success, al
though it was illustrated with lantern slides
sufficiently to make it Of a very general inter-
est. The lecturer was introduced to- the au-
dience by Commodore Melville the engineer-in-
chief of the navy, whose experiences in the
frozen zone have made his name familiar to
thousands. Mr.. Melville spoke Of the three
In an attempt on the part of man to
reach the pole, and all has been for
the benefit of mankind, that all might have
knowledge. He spoke of the difference be-
tween the arctic explorer who, when he comes
home exhibits himself and his sufferings for
gain and the one who, inspired by his labors,
shuns the gaze Of the world until he has some
thing to tell of success wrought out amid the
snow and ice. He touched upon the heroism
of men in these terrible ATTITUDES of the
utter abandonment of self and of noble at
tempts at rescue OF fallen comrades, and, in
response to the question that had been asked
him SO often. as to what was the use of all this
striving, he asked in turn: SIS there a better
school for the heroic endeavors of youth than
the Arctic ocean?''
THE DISCOVERY OF GREENLAND.
Lieut.. Peary is a well-bnilt, tall man Of about
thirty or thirty-fiye, a blonde with a good.
strong voice and the calm manner of a man i'm
bued with the persistence of conviction. He
began by speaking of the innumerable details
for such an expedition as he has projected into
q land where little can be found and nothing
bought. and then he went on to
tell how Greenland has history, hav-
ing been discovered 800 years ago by an Ice
landic traveller named Eric. who named the
| country Greenland" because in his judgment.
this title would induce the people Of his coun-
try to emigrate there more rapidly than if it
had more truthful. maybe. but less attractive
designation. In the fifteenth century, after
the place had been populated by a thriving
race. it seemed to drop out Of the sight of the
rest of the world, and for over a century was not
heard of. When it was redscovered a century
later the entire population had disappeared,
whether killed by natives or wiped out by
plague or what not, no one has ever been able
to learn. There are signs about the island
for island it must be-that lead one naturally
former ages. migrate from Siberia to this hem
isphere by way of the pole, across the frozen
fields of Greenland?
TYPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.
The lecturer gave some interesting figures
concerning the dimensions and features Of
Greenland, showing it to be rather larger than
is ordinarily supposed. 1t is longer than the
extreme width of the United States, from north
to south. Its 100000 square miles of surface
make it to be about the size of Mexico or four
times as large as the New England and
middle states. 1t has a population of
about 10000, including some 800 Euro
peans, mostly Danish. There are some
six or eight vessels with native registers
engaged in trading along the shores of the
dented by fjords. which are bound by high
cliffs and ragged projections, making the
whole . most uninvlting shore for mariners.
Various expeditions have shown conclusively
that the interior of the country is covered with
ice, the ground being completely submerged
by sea Of frozen material varying in
depth from nothing to fully mile in places.
Every Typographical feature is entirely sub
merged. Greenland is great mountain dam,
holding back of ice that is steadily flowing
down toward the sea Of unfrozen water. break
ing over the top in places and forming cata-
racts of ice and stopping up in others into
lakes.
MR.. pEARY's PLANS.
Mr.. Peary then told briefly Of his trip into
the interior in 1885, which furnished him with
the material for the foundation o: his present
project. The northern limit, he went on to
say which is to be his goal, is probably not over
200 miles north of the last place where stop
will be made. The party will be small, con-
sisting of not more than six men, q chief an
assistant, physician and two or three others.
The value Of small parties in arctic
explorations, he said, has been thoroughly
demonstrated. and the last stage of the journey
will be taken by two men, the strongest and
most resolute Of the expedition Provisions
and equipments for two years'life in Greenland
are now being selected and prepared, and the
start from these shores will be made in Q few
weeks.
The path over which the party is to travel is
the hard, dry snow that covers the vast
frozen reservoir that forms the interior of
Greenland, which to the mind Of the lecturer
is the perfection of roadway for foot travel.
All walking. and all progress is to be done in
this way, will be done on Norwegian snow shoes
or skiers, which vary from six to twelve feet in
length and few inches in width.
All of the elements of luck which render so
uncertain the average expedition In the frozen
zone are in the present instance to be fully
eliminated There will be no danger from the
sea, nor from the crush OF ice, nor from the
breaking of foes and the separation OF the
party. The matter Of practicability dwin-
dies down to mere matter OF she
progress that can be made. From fifteen
to twenty miles day is thought to be a fair
average on a conservative estimate. The aver
age of all previous records is 1914 miles. The
trip from Whale sound, the first starting point.
to the estimated northern terminus of the
island and return is thought to be about /, 028
statute miles. and this, at the rate Of 1S.l4
miles day, will take ifty-six days Of
steady travel. There is a season dur
ing the arctic summer of about six months
during which sledging may be successfully
prosecuted. and this will be the time taken for
the trip. The fury Of the storm, which at
times sweeps this great plateau, Is the greatest
drawback to success. but, in the opinion Of the
lecturer, there is no danger whatever. The
exposure to cold, he thought, is a mere physi-
cal annoyance, not a danger. There are no
reptiles, no vermin, no fierce animals to cause
the sleeping hours to be filed with risk. The
brilliancy and life Of the arctic summer are not
to be surpassed. There is no greater distress
among the people Of this region than among
the farmers Of the Dakotas in the fierce winters
Of the plains.
PRESENTED WITH FLAG.
At the conclusion Of Mr.. Pearys remarks Mr..
Gardiner Hubbard, president of the National
Geographical Society, stepped to the front Of
the stage and presented him with beautiful silk
dag of the United States with the remark that
it had been placed in the hands of the society
by a lady of Washington, Miss Ulrica Dahlgren
to be given to the explorer, with the re-
quest that when he sets foot upon the farth-