The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-09-22
Has Arrived at ST. Johns with the
Went North to Meet Him.
VERY LITTLE ACCOMPLISHED
PEARY, LEE AND HENSON WITHOUT
PROPER FOOD FOR DAYS.
Forced to Abandon Their Journey To-
wards the PoIe-Iron Meteorites of
Large Size Discovered.


relief steamer has arrived here, with Lieu
tenant Peary and his companions from
Greenland on board When the Kite
reached Whale sound. on Aug. 3, Lieu
tenant Peary, Hugh j. Lee and their col
ored servant, Matt Henson, were found
waiting for It, The party had only ten
days previously returned from their great
overland expedition, which had proved a
comparative failure Lieutenant Peary and
the others started late in March and made
their way to independence bay, which is
the most northerly point of Greenland that
he had reached on his previous expedition.
independence bay was reached early in
June, but there were not enough men In
the party to accomplish any bold venture,
They were further deferred from any great
undertakings by the insuficiency of their
food supply, an obstacle which was lore
seen last year. All three of those who
participated in the journey were greatly
reduced from the lack of food, and were
obliged to abandon the attempt to make
further progress. In this respect this year s
work was but a repetition of last year
failure, although the weather experienced
was much more favorable this year than
last. Nearly all the dogs that were taken
on the expedition died and the remainder
had to be shot by reason Of the lack Of
food for them.
The Kite experienced splendid weather in
the north and started to explore the west
side of Smith sound after picking up Lieu
tenant Peary and his companions, and dis
covered many new harbors. She traversed
the whole coast. visiting Jones sound, Cape
Sabine and Littleton island Perhaps the
most most important discovery of this trip
was two meteorites of large size and al
most of pure iron, which were taken on
board the Kite. Another meteorite, weigh
ing about forty tons. was found, but it
was impossible to bring it home.
Many sensational stories are current
among the crew of the Kite as to the ex-
trefnities~ to which Peary, Lee and Hen
son were reduced by hunger. According to
these stories which the explorers refuse
to either confirm or deny, they were al
most starved and were forced eat seal
meat and other refuse ip order to preserve
their lives.
FAILURE OF AN EXPEDITION.
Peary and his & ma .ons have bnt little
TO say in regard to their experiences. The
overland expedition to independence bay,
II is learned was not only not as salts
factory as had been anticipated, but came
very near to resulting fatally TO Peary
and his two companions. They started
late in March on this journey and after
reaching independence bay were unable to
proceed more than few miles along the
coast Just beyond their former stopping
place They reached the top Of mountain
and were unable to proceed further on ac-
count Of the precipitous nature Of the de-
scent During the trip an unexpected con-
tingency arose, owing to the fact that
Lieutenant Peary was unable to locate his
cache of last year. He was unable to dis
cover any marks indicating 1t, and was
compelled to continue his journey without
the ample food supplies which he had
'reckoned on. The three men-Peary. Lee
and Henson-went at once on short rations,
outstanding as much food as possible, bat
before many days their sufferings became
intense and Lee broke down altogether.
The strain had been SO great on him that
1t became necessary to place him on a
sledge, which the other two drew. His ILL
ness gave further cause for alarm because
of the fact that adequate medical supplies
were not on hand and ii was feared during
the first stages that he would die from ex-
haustion. But he rallied eventually.
All three owe their lives to the shooting
Of eight musk oxen, but during the journey
they had to sacrifice the weaker dogs and
feed the flesh to the others, for it was nee
essary to sustain life in some of the ami
mails as long as possible, to enable their
supplies and instruments to be brought
along. out of forty-nine dogs which started
only one returned alive, and all five sledges
were abandoned during the two days just
prior to the return of the party to Ami
yersarv Lodge Their safety they looked
upon as almost miracle, as during those
last two days hardly a particle of food
passed the mouths of any of them and the
struggle to reach their home was one of
ever-ncreasing suffering. When the relief
expedition reached Anniversary Lodge the
Peary party was showing marked evidences
of terrible experiences.
Lieutenant Peary was extremely non-
committal in regard to the expedition gen.
orally and ALL Of the party declined to ex-
press an opinion on the work done, nor Will
they state what new discoveries have been
made The Kites cruise. after finding Peary
was not prolific of results, or If it was, not
much is being said of the nature of the
discoveries. number of walrus and seal
were shot for museum specimens, and Prof.
Dyche made an unusually large collection
of birds at Holsteinburg. The two meteor
ties which were found are of large size,
one weighing about three tons. The great
iron stone reported by Sir John Ross, which
was also come upon, could not be got off,
owing to its unwieldy size and enormous
weight. 1t is believed by the members of
the party that the expedition could have
made point much further north In the
Kite as there was water as far north as
could be seen from Littleton island, DR..
Kanes winter quarters. the most extreme
point visited by the Kite after taking of
the Peary party.
The Kite sailed from st. Johns on July
IL. for Peary's headquarters in Ingelefeld
gulf. Greenland. On board the steamer
was company OF scientists under the
direction of Emiel Debitch. brother of
Mrs. Peary. Included in the number were
Prof. Rollin y. Salisbury, OF Chicago Uni
versity; Prof. l.. l.. Dyche, OF the Kansas
State University; Theodore Leboutillier. of
Philadelphia, 'and DIR. John Z. Walsh, Of
Washington
Prof. l.. l.. Dyche All Right.
LAWRENCE. Kan. Sept. 2i.-A private
dispatch from Prof. L. L. Dyche, on board
the Kite. off St Johns. was received In
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