The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-10-08

quarter degree Of latitude attained beyonC
T.. 45.
The expedition will remain on board as Ions
as there Is a reasonable chance of getting far
ther north with tho ship.
Timc Is to run until midnight OF the date:
given, and the latitude attained Ia to be- deter
mined by yourself and Professor French.
Hoping that you and your crew will be able
10 earn at least part Of the above, am, sin
cerely yours, WALTER WELLMAN.
This offer was made not because we had
any fear Captain Bottelfsen and his men
would fail to do the best they could with
out reward, but because we wanted them
to feel that they as we'll rs ourselves had
something to work for, and that there was
70 be some compensation for the hardships
they are compelled to endure while navi-
eating the arctic seas.
Captain BOttelfsen thanked us for the
offer and modestly announced his inten-
tion to do the best he could, with or with
out reward. But that he was pleased with
the opportunity given him was as natural
as obvious. The master of the Jarl has
hopes of being able to make at least 81. 30
before the 23d of May and says IL he had
more coal In the bunkers he might little
later beat the worlds record for ship, or
S2. 10. That record was made by Captain
Halls Pelaris In the Greenland waters
Ten miles farther north was claimed for
the Polaris on that occasion, but SO. l6 Is
all that has been allowed by critical arctic
historians.
First Taste of Ice Bear.
We had our first taste of ice bear today
when Mr.. Franklin took the place of Sew
ard Wastfalt and prepared the lean parts
Of the cub shot on Tuesday for our dinner
table. A platter feet long and 10 inches
broad, heaped full Of hamburg steaks made
Of CUB fosh, was none too much for ID men
"a sure indication of the popularity of the
meat In a crew like ours. Young bear is
much esteemed by all the Norwegian sail
ors, but the old animals, they say, are rath-
or rank. A popularity of ice bear as an
article Of food is the supposed danger of
eating it's liver, which Is generally believed
70 be poisonous. This theory has been
oontradictcd on what appears to be good
authority, but you couldn't hire Norwe-
gian to taste bears liver for love or money
Captain Petersen has been mourning
the loss Of the she bear that was shot on
Sunday and got away to the ioe. He re-
fused to believe the poor brute had been
buried by Ice or drowned in the sea and
today organized q party to go ashore and
look for the dead or dying victim OF too
much curiosity. They searched Table Is
land and crossed on the ice to Phipps' Is
land, but could find no bear, either living
Or dead. Nor were they able to get a shot
at anything else. Steward Wastfalt, who |
was out on his own hook, secured half a !
1ozen arctic birds of beautiful thick plum |
sRe, perfectly white. The wounded bear |
must have been drowned or buried by ico |
unless she was shrcwd enough to perform |
ipon herself the surgical operation which |
HE polar boar is known to be adept in
he stoppa9e of hemorrhage by pulling out |
'iawfuls OF her own hair and stuffing
hem In the wound, thus gaining enough |
strength to make good her escape.
Tho polar bear Is peculiar beast In |
moro respects than one. Ii man comes
ipon bear unexpectedly, tho best thing
o do Is to run at him, shouting and wav-
ng the arms, whereupon Mr.. Bear becomes
frightened and runs away. III the man
un from the bear, the bear will be sure to
un after the man. In such an emergency
he best thing the pursued biped can do,
I he Is not too badly scared 10 think, Is to
AXE on his hat, his coat, his mittens and
ther articles OF wear, one after another, and
oss them To the pursuer. The bear can
asily outrun man. but Is burdened with
0 much curiosity that he will stop 70 |
nun at every strange object found In his
ath. The weak and awkward feature of
he little game of running at tho bear and
caring him out Of weeks growth before
o gets chance To scare you Is that, whilo
no bear never fails To improve his oppor-
unity when IL comes, sometimes he Is
oorish enough To refuse to run In the right
erection WHOM you take yonr turn. A
'llision under such circumstances 10 not
realty To the disadvantage OF the bear,
ut Is likely To be uncomfortable for the
IAN. The Norwegians are not afraid TO
leet bear face To face at close range II
icy have boathook or pikestaff I'm their
ands. They approach the bear ON the
inny side where he has his front paw up
shade his eyes, he being unable To rec
! the bright sun without taking this pre-
sutton. The experienced Norwesians take
'e sunny side because the bear cannot
. them very we'll there, and coming close
him they plant the end OF their pike
an In the snow or ice and permit him Co
lsh upon IL and stab himself TO death.
The Worst Day Vet.
WEDNESDAY, May 10. Officer of the
", Captain Petersen.
During the night the gale increased In
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