Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1898-02-24
An Arctic store-House.

new detailed map of the world has
fresh lines and names put upon it in
the nearly blank spaces marking the
frozen zone, there is not little inter
est felt in those primitive, temporary
structures of the explorer, without
which a trip in the icy wilds would
seldom be possible-the caches Of the
North. The books, the magazine arti-
cles, the lectures of the explorers Of
fame, rarely do more than casually
mention these store-houses of their ex-
peditions, 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 clvihza-
tion and exploration, says the New
York Tribune, they leave no sign be-
hind them when once they have ceased
to be of practical use. 4 heavy fall Of
snow or a windstorm comes and tears
their last remnants to pieces. Peary
was unable, on retracing his steps on
one Of his Greenland Journeys, to hnd
several of the caches he had carefully
established and plainly marked.
Snowstorms and gales OF wind had OBJ
liberated every sign Of them, and no
amount of searching was Of avail. Had
the Peary party at this juncture not
happened to fall in with plenty Of
game starvation would have been GER
tain.
A cache is an Arctic storage ware
house made to keep provisions in un-
til they are wanted. The word is the
French word cache, meaning simply a
hiding-place. A hiding-place is pre-
cisely what it is, for while men are not
to be feared on the score Of theft in
the Arctic lands, animals Of all sorts
are. The great white bear that
abounds in these regions will readily
sniff ont food, and any supplies left
behind need to be hermetically sealed.
Thus the cache is the first outpost
of civilization in the far North. When
the Hudsons Bay region was being
traversed and explored for the first
time, caches were set up everywhere.
Now, the region being a fairly wells
known land, permanent supply post
in the form of tiny villages, Of per-
haps but two or three buildings, have
been established and men are to be
found settled there the year rodnd.
The great Northern belt Of the land
of perpetual ice circling the Pole has,
however, none Of these permanent set
Elements though year by year the
Danish government is planting new
supply villages still further Dorth on
the snowy coasts Of Greenland These
Danish villages are intended primarily
for the benefit Of the Greenlanders,
but no explorer is ever turned away
from their hospitable doors.
Once beyond the last of these vii
lagos an exploring party must plan its
own food supplies This it does by
establishing these caches along it's
line of march. An Arctic expedition
moving overland practically always IN
tends to return by the same route.
Even in these days Of compressed
foods, the weight Of several months
provender for a large party is corsid-
erable In caches it is, therefore,
slowed along the route several days
journey apart.
What is simply hole in the ground
is first dug, matter Of extreme diff
Guilty at times. Then, painfully dig
ging elsewhere, earth is brought to
the surface, and quantity Of this is
dumped into the hole Ice IL melted
and the water from it poured upon the
earth, the entire mixture freezing IN
a few moments into compact mass.
This is the bottom Of the cache. On
it the provisions the party want to put
aside for a future day are laid, 20
many pounds for each man, carefully
calculated. There should be just
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. 1t Is point
of honor, among even the poorest ma
tives, not to rife a cache unless in
cases Of the direst necessity; but the
provisions must be kept safe from the
bears. Properly built the structure
is impregnabIe, and it needs the work
Of pickaxes to tear it open.
II Is marked by ANYTHING that the