The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1897-08-15
HousEKEEPINo lN rHE NoRTH

An Explorer aud Ills Larder-Tsa the
Only Drink.
Lieut Perry. there must be the stern
In the far north have only been eclipsed
thus far by DR.. Nansen, has impaired
few OF his ideas on housekeeping in
the arctic regions. says the New York
Telegram. or course the mainstay
Of the larder is a supply Of canned ar
ticles. such as preserves. Jams. biscuits,
vegetables. butter, tea. coffee, choco-
late, cocoa and, In short, every variety
OF food that is capable OF being pre-
served In a canister. Such supplies are
OF course, most useful on board the
ship; during sledge Journeys it is
however, different. "On these" said
Lieut.. Peary, there must be the stern
est simplicity in the matter OF food
The changes which I should make in
another expeditions 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 provisions 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 jour
neys | took a great many things that
were not only useless. but worse, be-
cause they merely 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. Penn
mican is beef mixed with n consider
able quantity OF suet 1t Is the stable
arctic food and IL is not at all disagree
able to the taste. II is much com
pressed. One pound of II is equal to
four pounds OF ordinary meat. so that
the carrying OF IL reduces the sledge
weights very much. One pound Is the
daily ration for man or the hard
ship biscuit one pound is also a days
allowance. and OF tea about a quart.
These rations are consumed almost al
ways In two meals, which are all we
have time to stop for on sledge Jour
neys. The tea is in compressed. quar-
ter-pound cakes, which are further
marked of, somewhat like cake OF
chocolate. into little divisions OF a
quarter-ounce each. One OF these makes
a pint OF tea, and II is stronger than
one generally drinks II at home. The
condensed milk is the ordinary article
which you see everywhere. II freezes.
OF course often perfectly solid, but
that does not impair II. Tea is the
only drink for sledge Journeys. Coffee
is not satisfactory, nor Is chocolate or
cocoa, which produces thirst Lime
Juice / have no faith In at all. and l
shall never carry Il again. II has al
ways been thought necessary to coun-
teract a tendency TO scurvy, from the
consumption Of so much salt and fatty
food. But | never had any indications
OF seuryy in any OF my party. Dried
vegetables have been carried by some
explorers, and while they are we'll
enough TO have at the Headquarters
where. as / said, there may be any va
riety one chooses, they are entirely
superfiuous while sledging. A man can
get along perfectly well without veg
etables in fact never eat them even
at home, and there isn't much nourish-
nent In them for arctic work. There
is one thing besides those have men
toned which consider good. and that
is compressed pea soup. Il has a great
deal OF nutriment in IT, and is especial
y palatable. But It can be dispensed
wish, il reduction OF weight becomes
a highly important point. for the penn
mican and biscuit are trustworthy
standbys."