Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-18
SEARCH FOR NORTH POLE
Address by Mr.. Walter Wellman Before
National Geographic Society.
Future Expeditions Must BE Prepared
to Make Dash in Early
Spring.

MT waiter Gilman tod OF MS experience
in the arctic region, from which he re-
Gently returned. Mr.. Weliman's address,
which was copiously illustrated with stere-
Opticon Views. was in part as follows:
The Wellman polar expedition of 1852
had two purposes in view. One of these
was to finish the exploration of Franz
Josef Land. and the other was to make an
approach by means of dash near or to
the north pole. The expedition was aided
in a financial way by the National Geo
graphic Society, by President Jesup of the
American Museum of Natural History, by
President Mckinley, the Secretary of State,
Mr.. Hay; J. PierpOnt Morgan, w. *. van
derbilt, William c. Whitney and other we'll
known pubic men. The cost of the expedl-
ton was about s27.00o, of which sum ST.
$50 was subscribed by the various contribu-
tors
After relating the details concerning the
sailing of the expedition, June %, 1888,
from Tromso, Norway, and other matters
concerning the trip to Franz josef Land,
the speaker told of the difficulties encoun-
tered In pushing the ship north through the
iCe-clad British channel. He said: "Find-
ing nothing but ice in every direction, we
were forced to return to Cape Tegetthoff
and there send our stores ashore for the
purpose of establishing winter quarters.
Continuing. Mr.. Wellman said: The cos
mOpoitaniSm of modern scientific eXplora-
ton is nowhere better illustrated than in
this region. Discovered by chance by Aus
tro-Hungarians 1t was next visited by Eng
IiEhmen under the leadership of Is. Leigh
Smith
The hansen Expedition.
Mr.. Wellman told of several other expe-
ditfons to the same part of the world, and
then said:
The next visitor to these lands was DR..
Nansen. and ne came down from the north
on his return from his memorable sledge
tourney from France, reaching the north-
east islands at the end Of the summer ana
finding it necessary to winter III an I'M
provised hut After the Norwegian came
The Americans ourselves, with our Nor
Wegian comrades and as we were coming
out this summer we met gong IN the
Young Duke of AbruZZi, the ltaLan prince:
This Young scion OF royalty the Is son o!
a former king of Spain--Amadeus) has at
great expense outfitted his expedition, anu
is determined, as he says, to reach the pole
or lose his life in the attempt
at is not too much to say that OF ali Ihe
men now in the arctic regions the young
Italian prince has the best chance to reach
the pole or TO eclipse Dr. Nahsen leSolo'
In nv opinion neither Peary or SVendrup,
both of whom are wintering on the "est
coast of Greenland, about latitude 10. has
much chance Their base is too lar south.
with Peary Svendrun and Abruzzl the
conditions are the same in one lmportanI
respect as they were with us; The EFFORT 70
and nothing but dash. 49,
Mr.. Wellman admitted that he was the
author of the phrase "a dash for the pole
hut he could not he said, claim credit as
the originator of the idea. LAS far back as
1927" he said. Parry, the Engnshmah'
attempted dash for the pole from the
shores of northern Spitzbergen, and estap-
lished one Of the nOrtherly records IN that
constant advance toward the pole Whlch
man has persisted in making
The aim of every pole seeker Is to get
his base or his outpost established as lar
north as possible upon the land, and TO
make a dash beyond that point. Thus Mr..
Peary planned a depot OF supplies at the
extreme nOrtherly limits of Greenland, but
has not as yet been able TO establish 1t.
Abruzzi Is wintering at 81, and we made
our headquarters a little north OF ~ and
established an outpost about 81
Journey of Short Duration.
THE explorer may use two or three years
in establishing his outposts upon the most
northerly land he can employ for this pur-
pose. but when he once leaves the land and
takes to the frozen surface OF the polar sea
his Journey must be one of short duration,
q dash for these reasons: 1t is only in the
spring of the year that he can travel ad-
over the ice sheet, and this is
so because the winter ts too dark. In the
summer the warmth Of the sun makes the
snow soft and sticky, fills the pockets with
sludge and water, and aids the winds and
currents in breaking UP the ice.
Practically the only season for travel
over this drifting. shifting field Of ice Is
confined to March April and May. Every
thing he and his dogs eat, as well as the
fuel for melting ice into drinking and
cooking water, must be carried from the
land or the outmost depot, not only for the
advance journey, but for the return. Moth
ing can be had on the way; 1t is useless to
establish depOts upon the sea Ice beyond
the land for the sufficient reason that they
he found pXceDt
good luck. Even in winter the ice sheet IS
never at rest.
Limited in time and limited in weight
the explorer perceives that the best and
practically the only thing for him to do Is
to take advantage of the favorable season
of from 100 TO 125 days. and make all his
the shorter time he can remain out; the
heavier his loads the slower must be his
rate Of travel.
Greenland. Andree made his dash bravely,
but recklessly, by balloon AbruZzi essays
dash from near Nansens winter hut and
our outpost. We tried the dash, too, and
might have done very well but for an &C
cident which overlook U.S. In preparation
for this effort to reach or approach the
pole and also TO aid the work of explora-
ton, which also formed part Of our plans,
we established at Cape Heller, near the Slst
parallel. an outpost or depot OF supplies.
When this was done the ice sheet upon the
bay and the straits was solid and appar-
emily unbroken. Within less than forty
eight hours the party found themselves in
vOlved in the greatest difficulty on account
of the sudden breaking up Of the ice and
its rapid drifting out to sea under the in
huence of strong off-shore winds.
Desperate, Heroic Work.
Nothing but desperate. even heroic
work enabled them to save their lives and
the valuable equipment. Finally. managing
to reach the land, they struggled northward
for a month, sometimes upon the Ice sheet
more often upon the rough shore, occasion
ally crossing glaciers and now and then
advancing some Of their heavier weights
by boats in comparatively ice-free water;
and were at length compelled to stop for
good on account of drift Ice In the channel
and the rapid approach of winter.
ITO the most of us the winter seemed
short and not much of a test of patience
True, the absence of the sun for l27 days
and nights was somewhat Of a deprivatio
leading us to the conclusion that II we
We're going to pass the remainder OF our
days in those regions sun-worship was the
religion which would most strongly appeal
to us but we had work TO do, bears to kill
scientific observations TO carry on, books to
read, exercises in the open air to take
when the winds did not blow too severely
and the night was none too long
THE sunless winter was long but not
tod Res Of oil faIl l.