The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1896-02-07
LOVES ARCTIC CLIMATE.
One of Peary's Men Finds Our White
Ill Weather Suitry, 5ssS5-,2

Ohe OIL feary's Men Finds Our Winter
s5.. Weather suitry. ID
II hear everybody kicking about the
cold weather this morning. said a big
man without an 0vercoat in the Aston
house this morning. Here I am too
warm in cotton underwear, and every
body else shivering in all kinds Of wraps.
strange, but ever since came from the
polar regions. 1t seems to me that when
tne mercury is anywhere above zero tile
bfrds should be singing and roses in
bloom. You see spent two years with
IN q stones throw Of where the North
role is supposed to be, and where it.
takes a spirit thermometer to toll how
cold It is on the Fourth of July. Why,
the Eskimos j am acquainted with
Mould we, collapse from suiistroke on Il Gay
Il was in the North country with
reary; and l must say l never enjoyed
hte-that is, physical existence--so much
as did there. 'The energy which 4 man
Will develop III a temperature of IS de-
grccs below zero is beyond coMprehrn-
sion until it is experienced. Why. young
man. II YOU would go up into that co,,n:;
Try you would eat more in one meal
statement does not exaggerate. the con.
dltions. Eat! Why. l am afraid to tell
you the plain truth about how a man
eats in that climate You'd think J, was
y fairy story. Just as in a hot country
the human appetite Graves fruits and red
pepper and hot drinks, in the frigid zone
the system demands fat meat, oil and
cold tallow. 1t is no fairy story for
Christmas entertainment that an Eski-
mo child enjoys tallow candle more
than stick. of candy.
MY appetite here is no stronger than
any other mans. l don't cat any more
than any man of my bulk, but give you
my word that while l was on march
in the North my daily ~mtions were six
teen pounds of blubber and a gallon Of
whale oil. ! have seen Lieut.. Peary
draught. The capacity of the Eski-
mos for food is past belief, Judged from
what white man will eat in New York,
I'VE had two big natives in our party,
VINO seemed never to get enough to eat.
although there was unlimited provisions,
and t'eary concluded to test them. We
had been on hard. long march, and
everybody was near famished when we
Went into camp. Peary thought the
time had come to see how much those
men could eat, lie ordered them to
build SNOW hut for their own use.
where tic could keep tab on them. He
pounds of blubbcr and forty pounds Of
tallow. Twcnty-four hours later we
took out the block of snow which served
for the huts door. There were the
two fellows, asleep, and not an ounce
Of blubber or ta]low visible. That's a
fact. as sure as l live.
Il shall never forget a Christmas eve
! passed in an Eskimo hut. and the fun
had with an Eskimo bnby-n boy about
= years old. He was stark Naked stand
ing on Il deerskin by the fire. and he was
the most grotesQue-looking brownie i'm
aginahle. for he was all stomach.
cut Il thing strip Of blubber, about nj,
inch wide, and put the end of it in his
mouth. He rolled his round eyes and
began to chew. I knew it wouldn't hurt
him and I continued to feed it into his
mouth and cut more blubber, until.
promice you. l had fed that young one.
by actual measurement. sixteen feet of
blubher. Now. what do you think of
that: And it's true. oo."-New York
Mail and Express.