The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1894-12-13
THE NORTH POLE.
From first page.

CAOm III page.
pearance OF being solid and strong. BY
hanging to the boat he was pulled out,
and the men, always good natured, laughed
and jOked at their own accidents
We had today splendid chance to test
the merits of our equipment Just as it
has withstood the shocks of work in hard,
rough ice, SO it has endured the water
holes and tidal channels We have never
had to stop or to change our method of
operations on account of fear of wetting
our provisions. The sledges take to the
water as kindly as the boats, and you
would be astonished to see how our alu-
minimum sledges are banged and knocked
about, trailing after the boats, over rough
places, diving headlong into cracks and
blowing through rotten ice or debris with
out injury to themselves or contents. We
have found that while we can use the to-
boggan or fat bottomed sledges in all
kinds Of work our runner sledges have to
be put in the boats while traversing such
surface as this. Without the water tight
aluminium cases to store our provisions in
we could do nothing at all.
JULY 8.-After this we shall with some
timidity see the eighth day of month
approaching. Two months ago today we
were tied to the shore ice at Danes island
and in the midst of q heavy storm from
the northwest. A month ago today we
nearly lost the lives of the officers and half
dozen of the best men in the expedition
by having the Parry and Kane thrown
broadside upon the ice in raging surf.
Today we passed the most miserable hours
we have as yet experienced and finished
the day with the most serious accident
which has yet befallen us. The road grew
worse as we advanced. Half the time the
boats were in rotten ice, breaking through,
and the men pulling alongside as best they
could, with their footing crumbling be-
meath them or sinking away entirely, and
with one of them going down to his Shout
ders every few moments, saving himself
only by hanging to the boat. In the early
part of the day the men tried to make
themselves more comfortable by taking off
their boots and wringing some of the wa
ter out of their stockings, then putting
the wet stockings on again. But they
quickly tired of this, and except for a
change of wet for dry stockings during
the dinner hour every man of us plodded
along till evening with boots full Of wa
ter and underclothing and trousers asoak
to the waist.
The afternoon was superlatively abom-
Unable. A fog came down upon us and
then q drizzling rain. It would be i1npos-
sible to describe the discomfort of our sur
roundings during the remainder of the
day. The sea wet us to our mindless the
rain completed the job to the top of our
heads, and where the two together left
dry thread the perspiration produced by
our hard work came to the rescue. We
had hoped to make the other side of the
bay in order to reach driftwood and be
able to enjoy the luxury of fire, but per-
ceived that it would be impossible, and
about in the evening sent Captain Pc
dersen and crew ahead with the Parry
to pick out a safe foe upon which to make
camp.
Soaked to the Skin.
When within 40 feet of the spot which
Captain Petersen had selected for this
purpose, Mr.. Alme, the meteorological of
our expedition, leaped across tidal crack,
as he had leaped hundreds of times during
the past few days, and fell in faint upon
q small piece of ice in the middle of the
channel. Boervig rushed to his assistance,
and as soon as the boat had been made
safe the men picked up theixdnjured COM
paniOn and carried him to the camp place.
DR.. Mohun, who was back with the Lock
wood, was sent for at once, and on exami-
nation he found Alme suffering with a
badly sprained ankle and q broken bone in
his foot. 1T is worse injury than a
broken leg of the simple sort, said DR..
Mohun, hut we took care that the patient
should nca learn of the extent of his hurt.
The poor fellow, on recovering from his
faint, greatly felt the effects of the tre-
mendous shock to his nervous system, and
being unable to think very clearly in his
condition it seemed to him that we
| should be compelled to leave him to his
| fate out here in the desert of ice. 1t did
| not take US long to reassure him on this
score and to promise him that he should
have every care which our resources could
| command, even at the expense of much
| undesired delay.
A more miserable dozen men than we
this Sunday evening it would be difficult
| to imagine. The rain continued, and a
| smart northerly wind came blowing from
| off untold miles of icefelds. In our soaked
condition, and many of the men with
| nothing dry to put on, there was only one
warm place in the camp, and that snugly
| ensconced within the reinskin bags, which,
heaven be praised, were reasonably dry,
and to crawl into these bags as quickly as
possible and to remain there as long as
the law would allow was the confessed
ambition of ambitions with every one Of
us. Under the circumstances We had q
good supper, and within ten minutes every
one was wrapped in reinskin, putting at
his good old pipe and thinking that life
in the arctics, water soaked, cold, hungry,
weary, is not without it's oompensations,
after all.
Something had come into our midst
which appeared to tighten all our burdens.
1t had reached the heart of every man in
the party. This something was the touch
of nature, the sight of Meteorologist Alme,
the giant of our crew and a man exceed
ingly popular with all for his frank, man.
~ qualities, lying on bed of suffering,
from which he might not be able to get up
for weeks to come. We lowered about
him, glad of the chance to be of the sim
plest service to him, and when he had been
made quite comfortable by DR.. Mohun and
slowed away in his warm bag our hearts
were SO full that we wanted to be good to
al orr cO11oraCoc Thonoh onr ,,,o,, oro