The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-03-14

=
never reached and few have ever passed 1t
headquarters will be established, and
then the party will steam to the edge of
the great ice pack about a degree farther
north, After a landing is effected the
steamer will return to Danes island, and
about the 10th or 18th OF May the dash for
the pole will begin.
That marvellous new metal aluminium,
has been utilized in the construction of
slcdges, boats and other apparatus, and
thus equipped with far lighter parapher-
MALTA than any previous explorer Mr.. Well
man expects to be able to push on north at
the rate of from ten to twenty miles per
day. AS he will have only about GOO miles
to travel before the pole is reached, he ex-
poets to either reach the gonl or n point
very near. it in fifty days. lie will then
return to the edge Of the pack in fifty days
more, his steamer will pick him up and he
will then return home.
Mr. Wellman has carefully studied the
great problems before him, and expects to
profit by the knowledge gained by preyi-
Gus SeXplorers who have traversed the pack
and to avoid their mistakes. His early
start Is for the purpose Of getting far north
before the pack begins its drift toward the
south. Away back in 1897 Sir Edward
Parry pushed on northward over the pack
at the rate of from sixteen to twenty
miles per day, but his heavy equipage
compelled him to break his loads into
parts and pass from five to seven times
over the same road.
Other explorers, handicapped with old
time sledges and boats, have been com
PEELED to progress in the same slow man
ner, but Mr.. Wellman believes that with
his light aluminium outfit retracng his
rfn x.,t1l hs, hot
mile travelled will take him a mile farther
toward the pole. At the start the drift of
the ice pack will not be against him, and
when he returns later in the season it will
assist him in his homeward journey.
Mr.. Wellman carries with him his alu-
minimum boats and sledges-the first ever
built in Ameriea-und tests have dcmon-
Btrated that they are. by far the lightest
and at the same time the very strong
boats and sledges of their size that the
world has ever seen. The entire equip
ment of the party of fourteen will be about
$500 pounds. and as forty hardy draft dogs
will assist in carrying it, the average
weight per man and dog will be about 100
pounds.
One novel feature of Mr.. wellman's
scheme of exploration is that it is strictly
newspaper expedition, and If MIR. Well
be apprised of his progress toward the
pole, n thing shat has never before been
done In the case of any previous polar ex-
pedition. Members of his party will be
sent back from time to time to the edge of
the Ice pack with letters describing the
progress of the expedition and the discov-
cries made by the explorers. At the edge
of the Ice pack the dispatches will be taken
on board Mr.. Wellman's steamer which
will return to Norway, whence the world
will receive the news.
Whether Mr.. Wellman's dash for the
pole will be successful or not remains to
be seen, but II his novel plan is even partly
carried out he will succeed in reaching a
degree Of latitude farther north than that
reached by any previous explorer. With
Wellman, Peary, Nunsen and possibly
jackson in quest of the pole this year, 10
seems highly probable that 1894 will mark
the solution of the frozen north s fascnat-
ing mystery.