The Saint Paul globe., 1897-05-21
THAT Is THE PURPOSE OF AN EX-
PERT sCIENTIFuC EXPNOR-
INGs PARTY,
WHICH SPENT THE DAY HERE.
u, s. GOVERNrIENw WANTS THE
MOUNTAIN SCALED TO AID IN
SCIEN CEL
COAST SURVEYS FOR DEFENSE.
In That Branch of the Study
of Nature.

The party of intrepid young Ameri-
cans, who will undertake to climb Mt.
st. Elias, in Alaska, reached the city
yesterday from Philadelphia and reg
istered at the Ryan for the day, leav-
Ing at 4:30 o'clock over the Northern
Pacific for Seattle. ~
The party consisted Of Lieut.. Henry
G. Bryant, prominent in connection
with his explorations In Labrador;
Samuel j. Entrikin, Of West Chester,
Pa, was second In command Of the
Peary relief expedition, and Ector b.
Latham, an official of the United States
coast and goedetic survey.
The expedition has the sanction OF
party bear letters to the officials In
Alaska, and to the officers of Amert-
can warships and revenue cutters. The
naval and revenue officers are directed
to facilitate the work Of the explorers
in every possible manner.
If the party reaches the summit OF
Mt. ST. Elias, 1t will have accomplished
what man has not yet succeeded in do
ing, so far as Is known to history.
Four expeditions have made the at
tempt and failed.
Lieut.. Bryant, however, Is confident
of success. He does not make any
boasts, and rather avoids notoriety.
But he says, in quiet and determined
manner, that he believes that, with
the assistance Of the experts who will
go with him, the summit Of the peak
will be reached. 1t will be a very
hazardous and difficult undertaking.
Extreme hardships will be endured, but
each of the party is bundle of mus
cles and nerve. The party is in COM
mand Of Lieut.. Bryant
Mt. st. Elias lies in disputed terrific
ry. Both the United States and the
Canadian governments claim that ths
mountain is within the jurisdiction Of
their governments. The contention of
the United States government is that
the original treaty which fixed the
boundary intended that the dividing
line should follow the shore line, and
not the outside line Of the chain Of
islands which lie some distance out in
the ocean. If the British contention
Is good, then the mountain is cut off
from the American possessions. If the
treaty intended that the boundary
should follow the actual shore Line, the
mountains, with their supposed inn
n1ense gold deposits, are plainly within
American territory. .-z~:
Messrs. Bryant, Latham and Entrikin
are all experts in their business. While
in the Arctic regions, =Entrikin learned
the science Of handling dog teams and
the peculiar sledges used by the citi-
zens of the Polar seas. He saw two
years of life on the ice foes of Green
land, and was in the party which res
cued Peary. Mr.. Entrikin will have
charge of the dog teams on the Mt
St. Elias expedition, and will give the
party the benefit of his large exper-
ience. Mr.. Bryant says the expedi-
tion will be out nearly four months,
most of the time being spent on the
glaciers Of Mt. st. Elias. Several Of
these have already been located by
previous excursions, but some have
never been explored. The party will
be compelled to find it's own path over
the perpetual ice to the summit. For
miles and miles this ice is scanned with
crevasses and fissures, and progress
will be slow and perilous.
The outfit which the party will take
will be modern, and many Of the i'm
pliments such as are used by the most
experienced Alpine guides. The entire
party will consist of eight persons, five
Of whom will be engaged to do the
carrying. Up to certain elevation
the party will be enabled to live with
average comfort.
But on reaching the ice line, the
regular food supplies will be reached,
and the party from that time on will
live on a scientifically prepared food
which DR.. Nansen used on his recent
trip. a concentration of albuminoids
and vegetable foods, compressed into
strips eight inches by two and a half
wide and one inch thick. One of these
strips weighs eight ounces, and is suf-
ficient food for two men day. Upon
this concentrated food and a few other
articles, the explorers will subsist un-
til they descend from the clouds. Each
man will be provided with a small oil
stove for heating purposes, a supply Of
medicines and other articles. The
party will take two silk tents, which
are lighter in weight than canvas, and
very warm. The men will sleep in the
regulation Arctic sleeping bags of fur.
as the atmosphere near the summit
Of Mt ST. Elias is known to be ex-
ceedingly cold. The mountain is located
at 141 longitude and 601a latitude
Lieut.. Bryant said yesterday: 1--WE
will leave Seattle May 20, and, on
reaching Alaska, will move, as soon
as possible, in order to take advantage
Of the season.. The time for explora-
tions on Mt st. Elias Is necessarily
short on account of the short season
and the extreme northern location.
IT want to emphasize the fact that
our expedition is not at all in competi-
t1on with the party which has been
out from Italy, in charge of Prince
Luigi Amadeo, a nephew Of the king.
The Italian party will not reach San
Francisco for a month yet, and is in
no way connected with or in competi-
tin with our party. The fact that the
coincidence"
e. B. Latham, Of the expedition, Is
well known in connection with his serv-
ices to the government In the United
States coast survey He has been In
the service for years, and, although
comparatively young man, is looked
upon as an authority In his work.
Speaking of the coast survey work,
he said:
"The government Is now seeing the
necessity of resurveying the sea coast
and gulf coast of the United States,
and / believe this work will be pushed
on as soon as possible. The present
survey was made years ago, and when
the science was In IT'S infancy. An
other reason why a reSurvey is neces-
sary is on account Of possible military
purposes. The present survey was
made when the best piece Of ordnance
in the world would not shoot over
three miles. The present range Of can
non Is from eight to fifteen miles, and
1t is imperative that the government
should know where shot would strike
at any point on the coast. To gain
this information, a complete survey of
the coast line for twenty miles inland.
with data concerning mountain ranges,