New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-19
CACHES.
THE RELIANCE OF ARCTIC TRAVELLERS
FOR FOOD ON A RETURN JOURNEY.
HOW THEY ARE BUILT AND FIILED-THE IN
VOLATILITY OF CACHES AT TIE
NATIVES HANDS,
NATIVES HANDS.

the Arctic regions and each new detailed map
Of the world has fresh lines and names put
upon 1t in the nearly blank spaces marking the
! frozen zone, there is not little interest leit
| in those primitive temporary structures OF the
explorer without which a trip in the icy wilds
would seldom be pOssible-the caches or the
North The books. the magazine articles the
lectures Of the explorers Of fame. rarely DO
more than casually mention these storehouses
| Of their expeditions. and thus few realize the
part the caches play In Arctic work And still
| less is known Of their actual construction
| Unlike other monuments Of civilization and
| exploration they leave no sign behind them
when once they have ceased to be Of practical
use A heavy fall CT snow or windStorm
comes and tears their last remnants to pieces
| on occasions something Of this sort happens
| to cache even while it is serving as re-
! postory and Is beng depended upon by some
slowly toiling party far away. Peary was I'M
! able on retracing his steps on one OF his Green
| land journeys to find several OF the cacheS ha
had carefully established and plainly marked
snowstorms and gales OF wind had oph'era'''
every sign Of them. and no amount oil S'arch.nh
was OF avail Had the Peary party al ''''
i,rc,uro not happened to fall in with plenty ot
game starvation would have been certain
A cache is an Arctic storage warehouse made
! 10 keep provisions In until they arc "d'''"
| The word Is the French word cache meah'"S
s,,nply hiding-place. A hiding place Is precise'y
| .ha, =, ia for while men are not 10 be feared
on the score OF theft In the Arctc 'a''"S am
mails or all sorts are. The great white bear
! that abounds in these regions VIII red""y
| sniff out food and any supplies iei' pe''"' ''''
to b. Theoretically sealed
Thus the cache Is the first outpost Oh CIV ma"
| ITO, in the far North. When the liudsons Say
| region was being travcrsed and explored Tor 'he
! o~s, time caches were SGT up everywhere. Now
rho region being fairly wcll-known land per-
| rnan.nt supply posts IN the form oil uhy VIZ
Iogcs Of perhaps but two or three Du''u'"SS.
have been established and men are to be touhi
settled there the year round
,r,. ,raat Northern belt OF the land OF per
| petual c. circling the Pole has however h"'''
Of these permanent settlements, though ye"'
| nv wear the Danish Government Is pIahtlEs ne"
supply villages still further north on the snowy
coasts Of Greenland. These Danish villages a'c
intended primarily for the bcncht OF the "'ee"-
| landers but explorer Is ever 'uih'n away
from their hospitable doors. Food is given him
outright II hc wishes II. or he IS aHo"cu '"
buy IT at cost price. Each year sees the eN-
tension II these Danish villages further hor'h'
mainly on the west coast really the only hapl'"-
he mart of the island The entire interior OF
| Greenland ia a vast ridge Of ice ana snow.
| colossal elaring mountain ranges crossing TINS
ridge WAS one Of Nansen's greatest achle'e-
mcnts) and the east coast Is bordered ny ce-
foes that shift continually and rapiuy 'h"'
landing 4, practically impossible. Yet even on
,h,. cast coast several Danish villages nave
been set.
once beyond the last Of these villages an eH-
pIoring party must plan its own food suppilrA
! This II does by establishing these caches along
| ito lin. Of march. An Arctic expedition moving
overland practically always Intends to return
by tn, same route Even in thcs" days Of COM
pressed foods the weight OF several months
provcndcr for a large party Is considerable. In
caches it u.s. therefore. slowed along the route
several days Journey apart
what Is simply hole In the ground Is hrst
dug A matter of extreme difficulty at times
Then painfully digging elsewhere earth -
brought to the surface and a quantity Of TINS IS
| duup,d into the hole Ice is melted ana the
water from 1t poured upon the earth the entire
| mixture freezing in few moments into COM
pact mass This Is the bottom Of the cache
ON II the provisions the party want To put aside
| FOR a future day are laid. many pounds for
| each man carefully calculated. There should
be lust enough to support life comfortably until
! the next cache is reached on the return. with
two or three days ratiOns over for emergencies.
with stones Ice and snow the walls of the
| cache are now built up. water being poured
over the snowy structure Theoretically to seal
IT, II is a point Of honor. among even the poor
| est nativ, s. not to rifle cache unless In cases
! Of the direst necessity: but the provisions must
, be kept safe from the bears Properly bult the
structure is impregnable. and 1t needs the WORK