The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1897-06-26
AMID ARCTIC SHOWS.
How Explorer Pcary Subsisted While
on His Trip to the Frozen North.

on His Trip to the Frozen North.
Lieutenant peary. whose brilliant eX-
ploits i'll the far north have only been
eclipsed thus far by DIR. Nansen, las
impaired few of his ideas in ho'.sA-
keeping in the arctic regions. OF course
the mainStay of the larder Is a supply
of canned articles. such as preserves,
jams, biscuits. yegeta beS. butter, tea,
coffee. chocolate. cocoa and in short
every variety of food that is capable Of
being preserved in n canister. Such
supplies are, of course. most useful on
board the ship: during sledge Journeys
it is, however, different. .On these.
said Peary. there must be the sternest
simplicity in the matter of food The
changes which | should make in an
other 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 | should take, and
those are prmmican. 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
ncy ! 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. If a 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 Il hotel dinner.
"Pemmican is beef mixed with a con
siderable quantity of suet. 1t IS the
staple arctic food and it not at all diSa-
greeahle to the taste. 1t is much com
pressed. one pound of it is equal 10
four pounds of ordinary meat, so that
the carrying of il reduces the sledge
weight very much. one pound of it is
the daily ration for a man. OF 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 III compressed. quarter
pound cakes. which are Ter mark
eC off, somewhat like a cake Of cnoCO-
late, Into little divisions of 4 quarter
ounce each. one Of these makes a pint
Of tea. and 1t Is stronger than one gen
orally drinks at home. The condensed
mi.h IS the ordinary article which YOU
see everywhere. IT freezes. of course.
often perfectly solid but that does not
impair It. Coffee Is not satisfactory.
nor IS chocolate or cocoa. which pro-
duces thirst. Lime Juice | have no
faith in at all, and | shall never trv If
again. 1t has always been thought nee
esSary to counteract a tendency 10 sour
w, from the consumption of so much
salt and fatty food. But | never had
any indications OF scurvy In anv of NV
party.
Dried vegetables have been c9rried
Ivy some explorers, and while thnv are
well enough to have at the hea Jouar-
ters, where, as | said. there may be
any variety one chooses, they are en-
Jirply Superfluous while sledging
man can get along perfectly we'll with
out vegetables; in fact. never eat
them even at home. and there isn't
much nourshm"nt in them for arctic
work. There is only one thing besides
those | have mentioned which I CON
slider good. and that is compressed pea
soup It has great deal of nutri1nant
in il and IS especially palatable. But
II can be dispensed with if reduction OF
weight becomes a highly important
point. for the pemmican and biscuit are
trustworthy stanG-bys. New York
Telegram.