Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-05-20
Peary's North Greenland Exploring
Party Sent Ont Early in April
for Active Work.
They Will Attempt to Penetrate the
Unknown Businesses of the
Northern oeniDSular.
Some Reasons Why Peary Hopes to
Reach the North End of
Greenland.


R. +. Peary, .. 5. N, doubtless saw the
sun pcering aoove the horizon II the lest
week Of February, a<t2r Il period OF twl-
Light and da,L aass lifting ahcut 100 days.
| During March Tie vel )me sunlight I'm
gered a little Icrger with each successive
DAY, ard early April usbered u the period
CT active exploration. Neeriy FL the ex
| petitions to North Greenland, alter the
long night of comparative inaction, have
sent out on their sledgI 10 eXpeC'tors dur
Ing the trsT week IN April, ana three OF
LneEl, DR.. Hayes, Captain Markham ana
lockwood when he stared for the Earth
est NORTH" all began the formidable work
Of the season On April 4 It is hoped that
Paary's sledges, bound for the nor h end
OF Greenland, are already several weeks on
the way.
How has the ittIo party passed the long
winter night? All we can say is that
tnat they had the most comfortable winter
quarter that nave sheltered any Norvn
Greenland expedition except Lieutenant
| Grcaly'S az FJIt Conger; that hey had n
ample supply Of food for one year; tina
reindeer, fox and rabbit tracks were
around their camp in Jr'y last, a2d there
seemed a good prospect that the huntorq
would lay In far supply Of fresh Inear
during the ten W. aks or daylight remalD-
ing; that they bad seven tOns Of coal,
plenty OF the heaviest wooden clotbiug,
which it Was hoped to supplement by fur
! garments i be made dung the winter,
an Obu1dance of kerosene aud oil stoves,
and an ample supply Of reading mat r,
including an Italian lexicon which WIS
added to their Library by mistake, and
must mildly have surprised Lieut. 5uas,r
Parry when lie opened his boxes. 10
letter be wf0r3 from McCormlc bay = the
writer Of this aloicl0 Lieutenant Pea
said:
The accident will Interfere with M
proposed work of surveying this season,
hut it will not interfere with the two
principle objects Of the expedition, viz.
| the determination Ct the northern ter
minus and the study Of the Whale SOUND
natives. l have some brave and sturdy
JOunR fellows with me and by next sprlls5
! shall be Is good as ever.
WINTER AMID THE SHOWS.
Considering the paltys equipment NJ
! the experience Of its predecessors, we have
no reason TO d0u6t mat it passed last wiz
Ter In comparative c0mfort. The pay had
as neighbors during the winter the kindly
disposed arctic highlanders, one Of those
nuts was on Herbert island, only few
p1les from fhe Ppary cabin. The lieut. ~
| ant has with him fine Photographic out
tit, aud he hoped to make a thorough study
CT these interesting EsQuimos, the most
northern human being IN the world.
There Was plenty of winter work to d..
All the men We're exercised, wheneVer tie
weather would Eermit. on Nor Hegian
Ef.lyI 90 ON uUbJ0 r.
use on their journey north Then sledgee
were to be made from timber that formp4
part of his equipment. For two years be-
fore he went north Peary was experiment
ing with different woods to find matJrla'
for his 6iedges that would combine the
greats est toughness and hghtness. His
s.edges differ fora those ever used in
Greenland work, except the two he made
far his journey on the inland ice IN 1925
He has these sledges with him, 97d
several Others of the same type, though
LIGHTER, were T, be made during the winfar.
HIS sledges ara far lighter than those DR..
Nansen used in crossing crossing Green
laGd, but they are expected to csl1y just
heavy loads. Pcary expected to pNck abouc
200 pounds weight on each one.man
sIedoe, which is double the load Lock
wo0u's men we're able to Faul along the
shore of the Arctic sea. The loads consist
of the pemmican, condensed soups, yege-
tables and other articles Of food specially
reserved for the sledge expedition, the
camp equip ments and the scientific justrI-
ments.
The last days of March, probably, saw
the little party hauling the sledge supplies
up the steep hasaltlc hill that rises q
foo4 Oh 10 70 4o,o
they found their icy highway. Four or
FIVE men, each dragging asIedge, form the
xpIoring expedition. Mrs. Pea-y snd
Matt. Henson, the colored servant, were
left behind In the cabin. If Paary eau
reach IS degrees north latitude, where most
geographers think the big island ends, he
has !, $40 miles Of weary siedging before
him. It is 2 big undertaking, but he has
four and half months in which to do the
work for he does not expect to break m
camp for his return home before August
Is. What is his plan of operations?
PLAN OF OPERATIONS.
Along the route to the north is Hum
boldt glacier, Pet rmann ford, Shera-d |
Osborne ford, and between Sherard o. !
BONE and Cape Washington, the farthest |
point Of iand sighted by Lockwood, is |
De Long ford. At or near all tn sc point3 |
Peary expects to establish supply oerofs |
on the northern march. 1t has been tound |
as lar as the inland ice is known, THAT !
there nunatacks, or points of land peer !
above the ice sea. Nansen was seldom !
out of sight Of them. Pea-y will cacLe his !
supplies on thes7 snunatacks The whole
party is not likely to advance beyond |
Petermaun ford. Two sledges will return
to camp from that point and two or three.
manned by the men who have shown the
greatest endurance, will push Oh for the
north coast.
Peary's 2C0 miles of inland ice worx in
50 deg. 90 min. nortL latitude is 1886 rob-
bed deep, soft snow Of Its terr0rs. He be- I
lieves that with his snow-shoes and his
type of sIedge he can make good progress
over soft STOW, for which Nansen's
sledges were not so well adapted. He viii
dot btless meet crevasses, but the sledee-
men roped together the danger from this
source will not be great; al least that was
the experience Of Nansen, whose men
tlmbled into many cr5v-sses, but escaped
uniniured. There will be days when the
party will be storm bound, and can do
nothing except to lash down their
tent and keep comfortable, if possible, in
their sleeping bags. When the wind Is
favorable sails may be rugged to assist To-
comotion.
Peary hases his hopes On reaching the
north end Of Greenland upon the theory