The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-09-16

- and and to to a .So d0i the
Es--3EzsS dangers Of crush
from floating
masses heavng and grinding in the ocean
swell her navigators made the ship fast to
hoe, expecting to be towed by it to clear
water. Instead, vast fields and mountains
OF Ice closed in about the foe until the sur.
rounding sea was everywhere buried from
sight. For fifty-thrce weeks, or Il year
and ten days, the voyagers were prisoners
In ship which was itself n prisoner In tho
ice, yet the journey went on to "A conclu-
sion as remarkable us any the most skillful
mariner OF arctic seas ever attained. Tho
imprisoned sailors were explorers in search
OF passage to the polar sea- Their YES
sci drifted steadily and almost directly to-
ward the pole until it reached latitude 20
degs. 43 min., about the limit of all arctic
voyages before or since
Perilous journeys by the score of Eng
lsh, American and German explorers in
the western arctic sea from 1920 to 1870
left worlds still unconquered since they
extended only the width of 90 degs. of
longitude and the remaining three-forrths
OF the circle slept in the unbreken solitude
of past eternity The existence of an open
polar sea was yet unverified, and one
theory about it was as good as another; so
ton that the equatorial currents must send
their warm streams around the shore of
the eastern continent to unite and modify
the temperature of the waters at the pole
In order to test this theory two Austrian
ofiicers-Lieut. Carl Weyprecht, of tho
navy, and Lieut.. Julius Payer. of the
army-sailed from Norway in June, 1871, in
the small Norwegian vessel Isbjorn and
penetrated to latitude 70 dogs. IL min,
where they found an open ocean coated
with thin and scattered ice.
Ovcrjoycd Mt the discovery they returned
to Europe and quickly formed an expedi-
ton for thorough trial of the possibilities
OF arctic navigation. 1t seemed not to have
occurred>to them that 1871 was IN off year
for jack Frost in that locality, and they
laid things out for IL good long picnic
among the bears and icebergs thither-the
sole monarchs of the circle That sweeps
around the pole. Both Weyprecht and
Payer werejust the men for daring deeds.
Both had served in the wars in Italy and
won decorations in battle. Weyprecht was
navigator, and Payer went through a
course of training on the prccipitious sides
of the snowy Alps and among the treach-
erous glaciers that flow like "A slothful sea
at their bases. He had also male three
trips in the arctic regions
Their vessel was the screw steamer Te-
getthoff, of 900 tons burden. fitted ont with
three sail masts and IL l0O-horsepower EN-
CINE. She was built expressly for arctic
voynglng butw not an iceboat. since she
was intended to plow the open poIar sen.
She was provsioned for 2I[ yeurs, and was
manned by German, Hungarian, Sluvonic
and Italian sailors. Italian was the Ian
guage of the ship
The Tegetthoff sailed from Lapland in
June, lsTs in company with the Isbiorn,
that went out to establish relief depot OH
the Nova Zembla coast for the expedition.
The vessels separated about the middle of
August, the Isbjorn returning home. The.
course of the Tegetthof was to have been
due north between Nova Tembla aud
SpitZbergen, the region where the Isbjoth
found navigablc ocean the previous year.
When the explorers found the ship fast
in the ice they set to work to break up the
foe and open II channel into the sea- But
the assures made by busting Immediately
froze, and creviccs made by s,lwing also
closed at once. A trench made around the
ship one day would he frozen solid the
next The autumn of 1872 passed in these
vain efforts to get to sea. Then came the
bleak air of an arctic winter; the sun sell
dom shont; the SLIP and rigging were en-
cased In icy armor, and the highlands OF
Nova Zembln still i'll view became white
with freshly fallen snow. Then followed
the long reign, night and the explorers
knew no more of their fate nor of the
world than they could divine from the
narrow outlook from the masts of the IL
getthoff Outside was the view of the
ship, like specter in white" wrote
Lieut. Payer. stretching out her arms as
If in silent complaint toward the heavens
nd
on mountain not of water. but Of ice-a
wall of ice and snow surrounding her hull,
snow lying thick upon her deck and her
rigging stiffened in icy lines"
Inside the ship rs early as November.
frost appeared on the bulkheads of the,
sleeping berths and the bedclothes frozr I O
the sides of the ship. The iron knees uf
the deck beams CLEANED like staactites,
small glaciers formed under the berths and
the skylights were frosted over inches thick
with concealed breath and vapor.
The outfit of the ship assured comfort to
all on board, the only anxiety being the flu
ture. When the long night ended in the
spring of 1873 the coast of Nova Zembla had
disappeared and the prisoners knew they
were jonrneying northward. Again they set
to work to break up the foe and free their
ship, but their saws became fast in the ice,
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