The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-05-07
AMID ARCTIC SHOWS.
How Explorer Peary Subsisted While
on His Trip to the Frozen North.

on His Trip to the Frozen North.
Lieut.. Peary, whose brilliant exploits
in the far north have only been ecIipsed
, thus far by DIR. hansen, has impaired
a few of his ideas in housekeeping in
the arctic regions. Of course the main
stay of the larder is a supply of canned
articles, such as preserves, jams, bis.
cults, vegetables, butter, tea, coffee,
chocolate, cocoa and, in short, every
variety of food that is capable of being
preserved in a canister. Such supplies
are, of course, most useful ON board the
ship; during sledge journeys it is, how
ever, different. ION these" said Peary.
there must be the sternest simplicity
i'll the matter of food. The changes
which | should make in another ex-
petitions sledge equipment would be
all in the direction of cutting down
the variety of food supplies. There
are just four things in the way of pro-
visions that l should take. and those
are pemmican, ships biscuit, tea and
condensed milk. A fifth article would
be furnished in the shape of fresh meat
of any kind that we might kill on the
way. On my previous journey L took
a great many things that were not only
useless, but worse, because they mere
~ added weight to the sledges and thus
wasted our strength unnecessarily. II
man cannot get along with pemmican
and biscuit, with tea to drink the arctic
regions are no place for him. He
mustn't expect the luXuries of a hotel
dinner.
''Pemmican is beef mixed with con-
siderable quantity of suet. 1t is the
staple arctic food, and is not ut all dis
agreeable to the taste. 1t is much COM
pressed. One pound of it is equal to
four pounds of ordinary meat, SO that
the carrying of it reduces the sledge
weight very much. One pound of it is
the daily ration for a man. Of the
lard ship biscuit one pound is also a
days allowance, and of tea about a
quart. These ratioes are consumed al
most always in two meals, which are
all we have time to stop for on sledge
journeys.
THE tea is in compressed, quarter
pound cakes, which are further marked
off, somewhat like a cake of chocolate,
into little divisions of quarter-ounce
each. One of these makes a pint of
tea, and it is stronger than one general
ly drinks at home. The condensed milk
is the ordinary article which you see
everywhere. It freezes, of course, often
perfectly solid but that does not impair
it. Tea is the only drink for sledge
journeys. Coffee is not satisfactory,
nor is chocolate or cocoa, which pro-
duces thirst. Lime juice have no faith
IN at all, and l shall never try it again.
1t has always been thought necessary
to counterfeit a tendency to scurvy,
from the consumption of so much salt
and fatty food. But l never had any
indications of scurvy in any of my
party.
Dried vegetables have been carried
by some explorers, and while they are
well enough to have at the headquar-
any variety one chooses, they are en-
tirely superfuous while sIedging. A
man can get along perfectly we'll with
out vegetables; in fact, l never eat
them, even at home, and there isn't
much nourishment in them for arctic
work. There is only one thing besides
those | have mentioned which / conSid-
er good, and that is compressed pea
soup. 1t has a great deal of nutriment
in it and is especially palatable. But it
can be dispensed with if reduction of
weight becomes highly important
point, for the pemmican and biscuit
are trustworthy stand-bys." N. Y. Tel
egram.