Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-10

40" "aS ntacheu
nation he found Alme suffering with a
badly Sprained ankle and broken bone in
his foot. 1T is a worse injury than a
broken leg of the simple Sort" said DR..
Mohun, but we took care that the patient
should not learn of the extent of his hurt.
The poor fellow, on recovering from his
faint, greatly felt the effects of the ire
II endous shock to his nervous system, and
being unable to think very clearly in his
condition 1t 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 de-
lay.
A more miserable dozen men than we
this Sunday evening IL would be difficult
to imagine. The rain continued and a
smart nOrtherly wind came blowing from
off untold miles Of ice fields. In our soaked
condition, and many of the men with moth
ing dry to put on, there was only one warm
place in the camp, and that snugly en-
scOnced 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 am
bitiOn of ambitions with every one of US.
Under the circumstances we had a good
supper, and within ten minutes every one
was wrapped in reinSkin, putting at his
good old pipe and thinking that life in the
=
Is not without its compensations, after all.
Hard Road to Travel.
JULY Our foe did not break up during
the night, and lighter ice did not ride upon
1t and push us off, but the north wind drifted
us one and a half miles to the south, or
contrary to the direction in which We
wanted to go. but, fortunately. no farther
from the shore. 1t was hard work this
morning to pull on our wet boots and don
our wet trousers, coats, &c.-everyt thing was
as full of water as the night before-but
like cold bath, 1t was all right after the
first plunge. Mr. Alme had had a good
nights rest thanks to the opiates which Dr.
Mohun had administered, but it now began
to dawn upon the brave fellow that he was
in for q long siege. We shall have to carry
him at least as far as Walden Island, but
this are all willing to do, for no man was
stronger or more eager In harness than he.
Capt. Petersen and 1 set out right after
breakfast to explore the road. The rain had
ceased. but still the weather was exceed
ingly raw aid disagreeable We thought of
the experiences which Sir Edward Parry and
his men had that cold, rainy summer of
1877, when for sixty-seven days on the polar
pack they saw the sun but an average of
once week. Had we been fortunate enough
to reach the edge of the pack. as Parry was,
We should willingly have endured the same
amount of discomfort, satisfied that with our
superior equipment we could have made at
iedSl TIE eighty iii III ueSTee OF nOTtn Idtl-
tude AS the doughty captain and set out
our horizon was bounded by bank of fog
which surrounded us and cut off vision at a
distance OF quarter of mile. This little
world of ours reeking mass of rotten
ice, interspersed by black holes as deep as
the sea itself, and by long, waving cracks,
more or less filed with small pieces 1t was
most discouraging road. but we were so
anxious to escape the dangers of the shift
ing rotten ice, which needed only a gale to
involve us in difficulties from which we
might never be able to extricate ourselves
that we decided to start for the shore Mr.
Alme was made as comfortable as possible
in bed in the Lockwood, and with our
loads increased by his weight as we'll as the
weight Of several hundred pounds of water
and moisture, we started out. Bad as the
road was at the start, 1t constantly grew
worse. We went from one rotten piece to
another-how, 1t would be difficult to tell
The men worked like heroes, and 1t Is a
great pity the fog prevented Mr.. Dodge from
getting some good photographs Of the
scenes.
Through Rotten Ice.
In ten minutes We were all wet again to
cur waists, and after being once wet the
men grew reckless, and actually risked
their lives in their eagerness to shove the
boats along. For awhile our work was
through rotten ice for quite a distance by
dint of breaking up the margins Of the
pieces with oars ind boat hooks. Then
we entered ice that was neither soup uor
flesh. 1t was like the water Of the Mis-
souri, river. too thin to cut with a knife
end too thick to eat with a spoon. 1t
seemed impossible to advance in any way
for there was too much ice to admit Of float
ing our boats and too little to afford a sur
face over which to pull them. Here Capt.
Petersen and his crew of gallant Nor
wegianS came to the rescue in fine style.
Taking the Lockwood ahead, with the in
jured man lying in his bed calmly smoking
his pipe and surveying the scene, they
started on with all the speed they could
command, the ice breaking as they went
along and letting them into the water, but
them to keep going, the men in front find
Ing footing all the way from one to three
feet below the surface and those aft COM
PEELED to ride half the time. In this fash
ion they rushed the Lockwood from one
solid piece to another, carrying q line with
them which was attached to the Parry and
her two sledges.
AS soon as the Lockwood's crew were safe
upon good piece of ice. the four officers
drew the Parry to the edge of the Noe upon
which she had been resting, and then the
seven Norwegians hauled on their line and
drew the Parry flying through the channel
which the Lockwood had cut. Thus we
made our way from foe to foe through the
miserable ice. and after several hours of
this clever work on the part of our sailor
men, had the infinite satisfaction Of reach
ing dry land and ample quantities Of drift
wood. WALTER WELLMAN
--> co.