The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-03-08


Vincent delivered the second in his
series of lectures I'm Arctic Seas. a
Winter Among the Nations of North
| Greenland" The spacious hall Eas
completely filed there being not even
standing room for many late corners.
a fact which testifies to the popularity
of these lectures.
Dr. Vincent last night carried his
hearers through southern Greenland
and related some of the Peary party s
experiences on Bolton bay, their winter
| headquarters. There is a trend of
humor running through the lecturer s
efforts and the fact that he speaks eX-
| temporaneously adds to the interest
! 1t would be quite impossible to do him
| justice in brief newspaper review.
! Dr. Vincent began by telling about
! the tremendous ice cap which covers
! Greenland. 1t is no less than 1,3O) miles
| long, 450 miles wide, and with an aver
age thickness of 5000 feet Were 1t
1 not for the enormous amount OF ice
| Greenland, by reason of warm cur
rents from the equator, would be COM
paratively speaking, a warm country
After describing the costumes worn
by the nations, the speaker said when
! the party entered the snug little har-
| Dor of Holsteinberg, every native in
| the village came out in his little ky
| ockS to get aboard. The first man to
! gain the deck announced, with an air
| of great Importance, that he was the
village schoolmaSter. In fact, 1t was
| learned afterward that he was some
what of a nabob. having a bank ac-
count of $3.50. He spoke English toler-
ably we'll and taught scnool in three
villages each year, for which he re-
ceived the munificent salary of SlS.25
per year. nine months work This
should be a lesson to o. teachers who
complain of poor pay. he country, OF
course, being under j., .iSh he, the
Danish system of currency is in vogue.
The schoolmaster was Shrewu man
and made money bartering in furS. He
was also something of a painter and
wood carver as well as being an au-
thor. The speaker had in his possess
sion a book written by this great man
of Greenland.
The people of north Greenland had
no such term as lie" and steal"
In their native state they never lie and
never steal, but contact with civillza-
ton has taught them both arts They
are a ver. humane people and treat
their dogs much better than do the
civilized people their horses and other
beasts of burden.
The speakers announcement that in
Greenland he first learned to dance the
tWo-step brought forth ffutter OF
merriment. 1t came about in this way:
After leaving Holsteinsberg the party
proceeded some 200 miles north to Godt-
haab, a village of about 800 inhabit-
ants. 1t was here the speaker formed
the acquaintance of Maria. Maria was
the village belle, and there was some
thing Of a romance surrounding her.
A few years before, when a Scandi-
navian explorer visited the harbor, Ma
ria had fallen in love-dasperate-v
in love-with one of the crew,
whose name was Jens. The love
affair was not one-sided by any means,
for Jens loved Maria and in the midst
of ice and snow the two were as happy
as if they had been surrounded with
the Injuries of civilized countries. But
the spring came and the captain called
Jens to sail for home The good craft
hove anchor and at the gangway stood
lens taking a last look at the rock
bound. Recovered shore where dwelled
his Maria My good man." said the
captain, ARE you not glad to return
homer" With tear-stained eyes Jens
responded that he would rather spend
the rest of his days at Marlas side
than return to the land of his BIRTH
The speaker did not say whether any
of the Peary party left Maria with |
broken heart as Jens did but during !
their entire stay there they danced |
every night with the village bellies to |
the music of two violins and an ac-
Gordon.
Cape York was the next stopping |
place. and about the first question |
Lieutenant Peary asked of the natives
was whether they had seen VerhoH. |
Verhoff. it will be remembered, was a
member of Peary's first expedition, and
while out hunting one day got lost.
The natives traced him for many miles
until they came to a big crevasse in
the ice A snow bridge across the rift
appeared to have fallen in and the
was that Vernon Tell
down into the opening and either was
wedged in and froze to death or fell
the entire layer of ice and
was drowned.
The lecturer then described the
party's winter quarters at Bolton bay.
1t was composed of a house of three
rooms and built of pine logs. One
apartment was for Mr.. and Mrs. Peary,
one for a dining room and third for
a bunk room The only heating was
from coal oil stoves, and as some of
the coal oil was lost the supply be-
came very limited. 1t was an every
night occurrence for a person to roll
into bed and wake up in the morning
to find his socks had frozen to the
wall. Inc CIleI dl1uSelIieHL VI tie
party was to take care of the donkeys
and dogs There were eight of the
former, all of whom had to be killed
On account of the severity of the eli
mate. The canine colony numbered
80, and the music furnished by these
animals became more monotonous than
the bleating of sheep to the sheep
nerder There were more dog fights to
he square inch than onion chops in
he ordinary boarding house hash.
Greenland should be a good place for
4 poor shot. The ducks that a Salt Lake
sunsman scrambles for through cane
and mire go to Greenland during the
summer and there, away from civii-
,ation, become so tame they can be
killed with rocks. Deer and elk is
plentiful, the party killing no less than
,53 during their stay in the frozen re-
yion The party used no stimulants
n the way of alcoholic drinks while on
heir expedition, statement that drew
'orth vigorous applause from the lady
auditors.
Poultry Pointers.