Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-03

untraversed north, after single days
sharpening of their wits, can give the Po-
tomac river ducks cards and spades and
beat them at their own game and the cute
ness of the Potomac ducks he veraciously
illustrates by the story that they post SEN
tries at the railway station In Washington
to give them timely warning whenever q
party of gunners take train for the marshes
Still we do get few ducks. and as they
weigh from four to five pounds apiece and
are as good as canvasbacks at s. a pair life
In the arcticS has some compensattons after
all
The Bird Thief Joe.
We try to live as far as possible upon the
country. Away up here near the top Of the
globe-so near its apex that the distance
around the world in this latitude Is only
5000 miles-we see how nature has ordained
that the superior animal shall feed upon
the inferior. The lazy seal feeds upon the
medusae of the sea; the sneaky ice bear
lives upon the seal and a reindeer when he
can catch one, and here comes all conquer
ing man to fill his pots with bear and veni-
son. Even the birds prey upon one another.
There Is bird UP here called Thief Joe.'
He Is big, black, fierce, piratical. His
favorite amusement is pursuit of the ice
moosa, the beautifully plumed and ideally
graceful gull Of the arctics.
Round ard round and up and down they
sail. pursued and pursuer, the former utter
ing shrill cries of terror and the latter
shrieking with ghoulish glee. In vain does
the white gull endeavor to shake Off her
enemy. Now and then his sharp bin reach
IS her body and gives her a savage thrust
when her cries are pitiful indeed The re-
suit or the unequal contest is that the
moosa either drops the morsel Of food
which she has been carrying and makes her
escape, while Thief Joe'' pauses to deyour
y. or she sinks exhausted to the ice and
Iails victim to her relentless Nemesis.
The good DIR. Mohun's sympathies have
been so sharply reused by these conquests
that he says he is going to stop in England
on MS way home and organize a society for
sne ameloration OF the condition Of the IN
fortunate Ice moosa Of Spitzbergen
While at Walsh Island we frightened IN
tne rvets In our aluminium boats These
craft are In surprisingly good condition,
Lockwood, built of 3-16 inch aluminiurn
alloy, Is as tight a drum, and ready for
another battle with the Ice The Parry
OF thinner and softer metal. leaks little.
put can De easily repaired. While going
through the rough Ice we have seen the
sides Of the Parry move In and then ont
again In waves. the result of pressure of
hard pieces against her plating While
some Of the plating has bent. II Is ali In
tact and only the seams have suffered An
ordinary modern boat would have been
spnntered by the usage which these craft
have admirably withstood.
We all wear just such clothing az wa
wear at home spring and fall-thick wooden
underwear, strong boots, sweater"
aiiu Colniioh coat, VeSt ana trousers. For
two weeks we have had no use for gloves
or mittens. and could always have man
aged to do without them for the lowest
temperature we have seen Is IL degrees F.
not below zero, but above. The mean
temperature Is about the freezing point
but the thermometer often rises TO 40 or
% degrees in the shade, and once registered
as high as 80 degrees. The arctic sum
mer Is simply delightful II the wind does
cot blow. For windy weather we find
mucn comfort In light suits Of gabartiine
made for us In London. They are better
IMAM turs Tor keeping out the blasts that
come over tne wastes of Ice and snow, and
IN wet weather are as nearly WATERPROOF
as one wishes Not being absolutely water
proof they are self-ventilatlng and there
tore ldeal garments for use in this climate
Desperate Chance.
Our hope that a south wind would r,oy.
the rough Ice off the shore and enabls us
TO make a northerly advance in ice-rrea
water proved futile. Once, indeed a mar
row strip of water did show itself between
the land and the pack, but IT gradpal,v
closed up again, to our intense disappoint-
ment June closed with fifty bours op
strong wind from the south and southwas,
Just the wind we had been waiting for
But the ice did not even move 1t Rugged
the shore with provoking persistency, and
was every day getting in worse condition
as the pools between the high pieces soft
sned and melted. We then perceived that
II anything at all were to be accompiished
II must be by literally crawling over the
rough ice and through the pools OF slush
1t was desperate chance that anything
could be done in this way. but that chance
we resolved to take. Preparations were
made for the last desperate struggle toward
the north by fitting out the Lockwood and