The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1894-11-22

6UOu0 q Q00EU0I OF an mon In Ol8m0(ef,
which was eesily stopped up. The rivets in
all the plating Of the boats seemed as we'll
set as the day the craft came from the
builders shop. In an incredibly short
time the saiiormen had put up masts with
bamboo poles and rugged sail to them. The
loads in the boats were restowed for voy-
age.
Twelve of the dogs are led away behind
the high ice and shot, poor recompense
for the services which they have rendered
us. 1t was not cheerful scene, that of
their execution. They looked up with
friendly eyes at the men who held the
deadly rifles over them, wholly unmindful
of their impending fate. The brutes had
served us faithfully and had suffered more
than their share of the hardships of the
journey. They had slept in the snow and
shivered in the wind, had left trail of
blood behind them from their sore feet,
had missed many a meal and dined half
the time on short rations. But the neces-
stiles of arctic work know no such thing
rs pity where dogs are concerned, and the
rifles cracked one after another, and the
ice was soon strewn with the bloody
corpses of our faithful servitors. A dozen
dogs remain, and their fate hangs in the
balance. We have not yet decided wheth-
er we shall take them with us on the boats
or mercifully put an end to their careers
with our winchesters before embarking.
The boats being made ready for launch
ing, it was found that no room remained
for dogs. They couldn't be carried with
out filling the boats SO full that there
would be no room for any one to stir, and
there being no other way out of the diff
Guilty it was with great sorrow we gave the
order to have the remaining dozen shot.
If we are able to reach land to the north
east, dozen of these dogs would be of in
estimable value to us in our sledging oper-
atoms there We have been compelled to
kill today at least 30 good draft animals,
dogs that pull heavy load and keep it up
all day long, strong and of great endur-
ance, able to withstand any sort of wealth
er, and with their feet, at first somewhat
sore, constantly getting better. Of the SO
dogs which we bought in Belgium perhaps
80 or IS were useful in arctic work. We
lost some by accident, others strayed away,
and a few were spoiled by inconsiderate
treatment and lack of patience on the part
of the men. During the first week of their
service they were at their worst, but Inn
proved daily. Had we exercised a little
more care in buying larger and sounder
dogs and a little more patience in their use
our experiment. with Belgian draft dogs
would have been a marked success. It was
success as it was, notwithstanding the
long confinement of the animals in the
hold of the ship and the peculiar difficult
ties under which they labored when final
~ put to work. They are we'll adapted to
sledging work, and we regret exceedingly
that the change of plan made necessary in
our expedition by the adoption of the east
ern route and the early launching of the
boats in open water has made it impossi-
BILE for us to carry the experiment to q
conclusion. We do not say that if we were
to organize another arctic expedition we
should employ European dogs, but are in
clined to think we would, taking care to
procure very large and strong dogs and to
have them well accustomed to the Ian
guage of the men who were to work with
them. AS it is, we confess that no more
than SO or SO per cent of the dogs which
we brought from Belgium were of useful
ness to us, but that percentage might
easily have been raised to so or 90 by the
exercise of greater caution in purchasing
and other conditions. We have therefore
spent nearly 81, 500 in our dog experiment
only to find that just at the moment they
were becoming of real value to us it is nee
essary to leave them behind, killed out
of mercy. If we had the best dogs in the
woodland some of our animals could not
be improved upon-it would be the same
We and they would have to part company
at the waters edge. Some of the men
nearly shed tears as the winchesters crack
ed out the death of Wolf Tom, Bebe and
others who had become favorites by their
great strength and willingness to work.
Perhaps the saddest fate of all was that
of Bob, who long reigned as the king dog
aboard ship. He ruled the pack with his
iron jaws. All the other dogs were afraid
of him, and most of the men also. None
but Mr. Franklin would make friends
with him, and for Franklin Bob appeared
to have genuine affection. A soon as we
came upon the ice the other dogs wreaked
terrible vengeance upon the king. They
rebelled against his rule, and by concert
of action set upon him and chewed and
tore and bit him into the most miserable
specimen of dog life that ever walked the
earth. He hung about the camp barely
able to walk, but compelled always to
keep out Of the way of his brothers, who
seemed never to tire of taking out of his
hide recompense for the ills and torments
they Lad suffered at his hands during the
days Of his reign. But for the intercession
of Mr.. Franklin Bob would have been shot
long ago. Pride never had a greater fall.
The last seen of old Bob was three or four
days ago when some of the men went back
to Martens island for driftwood. There,
by the refuse of our old camp, lay the for
mer king of the pack, unable to move. A
bullet ended his career.
Two Hours of Hard Work.
We had two hours of hard work this
morning getting our boats and sledges
across half mile of pressed up ice to the
edge of the water. But the men were SO
glad to see the ocean rippling before them
that they worked as never before, and we
had difficulty in restraining their ardor
and preventing them smashing the equip
ment, SO eager were they for the launch
ing. The wind died away, and the sun
shone with incredible fierceness, causing
the men to mop their faces as they work
ed. 1t was O'Clock this morning before
we reached the edge of the water with all
our outfit, and much good it did our
hearts to see the ocean calm and blue and
no ice in sight to the eastward. An hour
more was spent in preparing for the yoy-
e