The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-04-18
POLAR EXPLORATIONS.

ClOSlIlS Dy the numerous Efforts 10 III
fold the mysteries of the Arctic re-
gions. The winter season having been
rather mild than otherwise in that zone,
this year ought to be favorable to the
work which has been laid out.
Lieutenant Peery's expedition is al
ready encamped at Greenland, and a
relief expedition will start for that
region with supplies and be ready to
render such aid as may be found neces-
safy, as well as to ascertain the con-
dition and prospects of the Peery
party.
Jacksons expedition, which was to
! have sailed from London last year,
will depart in July to proceed by way
of Archangel and Franz Josef Land. 1t
will consist of eighteen persons, bak-
ing food to last them four years. on
a steamer of three hundred and fifty
tons. The plan is to form a lease of
supplies at the highest available point,
| then push on with sledges by way of
Peterman's land to-who knows?
Another expedition, under Professor
Stein, somewhat similarly equipped,
will leave perhaps month earlier for
Smiths Sound. to go on to EIlesmere
Land.
Walter Wellman, whose project has
occasioned more attention and COM
ment than any OF the others, except
perhaps that of Peary, is to proceed
to the western coast of Greenland and
then push northward with aluminium
sledges. 1t is designed for rapid ad-
vancement, a daring dash across the
ice to reach the farthest possible north
! ern point in the shortest possible
time.
The aluminium sledges are novelty
They are haIf-a-dozen in number, of
the Hudson bay type, with fiat smooth
bottoms. They weigh each about 20
pounds with a carrying capacity of !, 600
pounds. They can, when necessary, be
converted into boats by an ingenious
contrivance SO that they can be run
through slush without wetting the
stores. This. is done by fastening up
on the sledge watertight cans of cases
of aluminium, having sufficient dis
placement capacity to carry the sledge
land its entire load. These cans are
securely fastened to the bottom of the
sledge, making a structure which is
unsuitable and watertight. and which
cannot be destroyed by contact with
the ice The weight of the sledges,
inclusive of the watertight compart-
ments, is sixty-fve pounds each. They
We're made in Washington under the
direction of an. eminent American en-
gineer, and, together with the boats
and other i-npedimenta, have been dis
patched direct to Norway.
Three aluminium boats have been
| constructed for this voyage. built on
the lines of the United States Life
Saving service. They are each Is feet
long, AZ feet wide and weigh from
$50 to 400 pounds, but have tensile
strength of $4,000 pounds to the square
inch. They have sledge bottoms. un-
detachable
Assuming that the ice pack can be
traversed, which has been demon
strated on former expeditions, Wall
man thinks that an average man with
light load on his back can walk
over the pack, even at its toughest,
at an average speed of one and a half
to two miles per hour. The whole
question is, therefore, one of energy
and power. The road over the pack
is not improbable, but if it is to be
successfully traversed, the party must
have small loads and great motive
power.
Another novelty in this expedition is
the employment of fifty draught dogs
from Belgium and Holland. animals
which are superior in strength and
tractibility to the Esquimaux dogs
which are not a. necessity in the sum-
mer.
The food is of a concentrated kind
and sufficient to last twelve months.
to be specially used for sledge travel
Except some fur suits for an emer-
gency and feece-lined underwear. the
clothing to be used is only the ordinary
winter kind. Sleeping bags of light
reindeer skin, made in Norway. are
provided for the company.
The following details of the intended
journey have been supplied by Mr..
WelIman himself for publication and
we copy them here in full:
"on April "a our party of sixteen
men, including five Americans and
eleven Norwegians of whom fo1,r t ara
scientists of the University of Chris
uanla, sail from AaleSund, Norway. in
the steamer Raynvald Jarl This shin
has for several seasons been enga ged
in the whale and seal fishing and is
built specially for ice work. She IS
commanded by one of the best ice pilots
in the world, who acted in that cana
city for Captain Virgins during his
last Yenissei expedition. Leaving
Aalesund we shall proceed north along
the Norwegian coast to Tromsoe and
sailing thence on May we shall
steam as rapidly as possible due north
to Danes Island, Spitzbergen, where
we hone to arrive on May 10. Here
you will see the tremendous ADVANTAGES
Of the route we have adopted Thus
early in the year, and with only a
few days steam from Norway. we are
able to reach latitude so, which is as
far north as many expeditions have