Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-09
TIDINGS FROM PEARY
He Will Remain in Greenland for
Another Year..
RETURN OF His WIFE And CHILD
Was Unable to Reach Independ-
ence Bay.
BY BAD WEATHER

PREVENTED BY BAD WEATHER
Star Saturday. the steam sealer Falcon ar
rived at st. Johns. N. F., that afternoon,
having on board Lieut.. r. E. Peary's arctic
expedition, and also the auxiliary party
which went north to bring the explorer
home. Ill are well Lieut.. Peary and
two volunteers. Hugh Johnson Lea of Con-
necticut and Matthew Henson, Peary's COL
ored servant. have remained at Anniver-
sary Lodg J, in Falcon harbor, North Green
land, to make another attempt to complete
Peary's work. Owing to insurmountable
difficulties. he was Unable to carry out his
plans last spring. The Falcon, which left
Falcon harbor on August %, brought the
following dispatch. which Lieut.. Peary pre-
pared for the New York Sun:
Peary's Letter.
Il was unable to carry out my plan last
spring to reach independence Bay, on the
northeast coast of Greenland, on account of
the terrible weather which set in after We
had started on our Journey. AS / had
planned, l made very early start. We
set out from Anniversary Lodge on Mar IN
q. The winter night was at an end, and
the sun had risen above the horizon about
two weeks before. The party comprs ed
eight men-Astrup, who was my companion
on the journey to the northeast coast in
1892. and MessIs. Entrikin, Lee, Baldwin,
vincent, Davidson and Clark. We had
ninety dogs and twelve sledges. Five ma
tives assisted during the first two days
of the march
Our intention was to make straight over
the inland ice for Independence Bay about
$50 miles away. Our course was to. be
about midway between my outward and
homeward track in 1892. Eight days after
We started Lee and Astrup were compelled
to return to our winter quarters. Lee had
frozen toe that rendered 1t impossible for
him to go on with us. Astrup was i'll and
UNIT for further marching. We were there
fore crippled from the start, for we needed
all hands If We reached the north coast in
order to carry out my plan of dividing the
expedition into three parties. each to I'M
dertake q certain part of the work.
A Terrible Storm.
For the next six days, to March 20, We
made slow progress. and on that day we
were compelled to go into camp after max
ing three miles. We could make no pro-
gress against the furious head wind. The
temperature was 35 degrees below Zero
Entrikin, Baldwin and ] occupied one hut,
and Vincent, Clark and Davidson were in
the other. Here We were imprisoned by the
binding storm for three days. On the I'D
instant. two days after we went into camp,
Vincent. Clark and Davidson were COM
PEELED to retreat to our tent to escape
smothering. Davidson and Clark were con-
siderably frostbitten.
''The storm sub.ided on the sd instant,
and We had cur first opportunity to inspect
the condition Of the camp. We dug the
dogs out Of the snow that buried them.
They were in most pitiable condition.
Some were dead and frozen solid under the
and we had to chop them loose. The ane-
mometer showed that the average wind We
locity for thirtyfour hours was forty-eight
miles an hour. The thermosraph showed
that the average temperature had been 80
degrees below zero. The lowest tempera-
ture during the storm was 60 degrees below
zero. We were encamped on the ice cap,
5000 feet above the sea. believe that this
was the severest stolm ever experienced by
an arctic party on a sledge journey.
"Davidson's frost bites made 1t necessary
for him to leturn to Anniversary Lodge.
Clark desired to continue with us. David
son could not return to the winter camp
alone, and so DR.. Vincent was detailed to
60 with him. They left us on March "a,
and then our party was reduced to four
men.
The March Resumed.
1--WE resumed the march. On the 2sth
the snow drifting badly, Entrikin repaired
a sledge and while at this work he froze
his feet badly Still determined to keep
on, and we shrugged ahead, fighting wind
and weather as best we could until April
TO- The dogs suffered greatly. They could
not rally firm the effects of the terrible
equinoctial storm through which we had
passed. Delths occurred among them
every day. To our dismay we found that
the piblockto, or Greenland dog disease,
which for many years has from time to
time made great Tavages among the native
among our animals. We faced the proba-
bility that we would soon have no dogs to
draw our sledses
Compelled to Turn Back.
1.-The facts that my dogs were being ex-
terminated, that we were still less than
one-fourth the distance on our way, and
that the season was getting late. decided
me to return to our winter quarters and to
save what provisions, alcohol, and on /
could for another trial on the inland ice
next spring. At our halting place 12o miles
on our journey, / cached a good quantity of
supplies, and erected a prominent signal
that will enable me to identify the spot
reXt spring. Then we began the retreat
under much difficulty.
"Entrikin's feet were now swollen and
painful. and he was unable to walk. The
dogs were dying every day. Clark and 1
were affected to some extent by snow blind
ness The best days march We had mace to
the north was eighteen miles, and we had
to take a slower pace home We reached
Anniversary Lodge on April 20.
The Survey of Melville hay.
"Then we tried to do what work we could
in the south. AS early as possible after
his return to winter quarters Astrup set
out for Cape York, $50 miles to the south,
and he was fortunate in being able, early
in May, to complete the survey of the north
ern coast of Melville bay. Most of the
shore line of this bay, as is well known,
had not been determined by earlier explor-
erS
Finding Ross Iron Mountains.
ION May 16 set out with Lee in search
of Ross iron mountains, near Cape York.
After journey of three weeks, during
which the weather was necessarily stormy