The Topeka state journal., 1898-05-17
THEWELLMAN EXPEDITION
Composition of the Party and Its
Plans-To Make Dash for the
Pole and Search for Andree.

washington, May 17.-Walter Well
man, the correspondent and Arctic ex-
plorer, will sail on the steamer Lain
today, for the first stage of his new
attempt to reach the North Pole. He
will go to London, and thence to Nor
way whencA he expects to start north
! ward about Che goth of June. His point
! of departure will be TrOmsoe, on the
nOrthernmost coast of Norway. From
Tromsoe he will ge to Archangel, Rus
sia, where a pack of Arctic dogs are
awaiting him, carefully selected by the
same Russian expert who fitted out
DR. Nansen's party. For draught pur-
poses, on a long stretch, it is necessary
that these dogs should be trained as
carefully as horses for a race They
are tOughened to exposure by being
compelled to sleep in the snow all Win
ter, on the borders of the Arctic sea, in
a temperature of from so to SO degrees
below zero; and they are prepared for
their privations by being made to sub
sist on a very low diet while they are
being exercised in pulling loads.
Mr.. WeIlman's ship will be the FIRTH
jof pronounced by the managers of the
Norwegian Lloyds the fastest and
strongest ice steamer in Norway. The
| ships company will consist of nine
men, seven of whom will make the
final dash for the pole. Four of the
seven are Americans; the other three
are NOrwegianS, whom Mr.. Wellman
takes with him free of charge by an ar
rangement with King Oscar of Sweden,
who is an enthusiastic friend of explor-
alton The Americans are Prof. Har-
Ian of Columbian university in this
city, who will be the physicist of the
party under the auspices of the United
States coast survey; Lieut.. Baldwin of
the weather bureau, who will serve as
meteOrOlOgiSt, geOlOgiSt, and, bOtaniSt;
Dr. Edward Hofrna of Grand Haven,
Mich, medical officer and naturalist;
and Mr.. Wellman himself, who will be
leader and director of the entire expedi-
ton. Prof. Cope of Columbian univers-
ity will go along as far as Franz Josef
Land, to make some important geodetic
observations. In selecting Norwegians
instead of ESQuimauX to accompany his
party, Mr.. Wellman adopts different
course from Lieut.. Peary. But exper-
fence has proved to him that NOrwe
gianS are much more hardy, understand
travelling through the frozen zone in all
it's technical details quite as well as
EsquimauX, and have vastly greater
| courage, intelligence, and persistence.
From =Archangel the expedition will
| sail through the floating ice for Cape
| Flora, in Franz Josef Land, where it
| expects to establish a supply station.
| Leaving a couple of men in charge of
| this, the seven adventurers will push
| on through the archipelago to the north
] end of Franz Josef Land. They will
! winter somewhere between 50 and SO
| degrees north latitude, in a hut built
| of stone, drift-woOd, walrus-skin, and
| ice, and living on the game of the
| country which is said to be very abund-
ant. Before the middle of February
| the long Arctic night will be over, and
| the dawn will be light enough to permit
| of further travel. Mr.. Wellman has al
| lowed himself about 16 weeks between
| February and June for his journey of
| 1000 miles between his winter station
| and the pole and back again. He has
| not dared to allow longer period, be-
| cause soon after the 1st of June the
| snow in that region begins to melt
| enough to make travelling through it
| extremely hard. Although it will be
| practically daytime through all this
| part of his trip, the days will be mark
ed off from the nights by a. calendar of
| the party's own making, the days be-
| ing devoted to travel and the nights to
| sleep. Allowing an average of nine
| hours travel every day for 112 days,
| the party could make one mile an hour
and accomplish their round trip be-
tween their winter station and the pole
with a little time to spare. But I'M
| doubtedly, having all their supplies car
ried by dog-sledge, and being them
selves en- ski, they will be able to
make much better progress than this
and allow literally for all sorts of de-
| lays and for a sufficient stay at the
pole, if they reach it, to make valua-
BILE observations.
Altogether, MIR. Wellman has decided
| to devote about one year and a half to
his expedition. Whether he finds the
| pole or not, he feels that he may bring