The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1899-11-02
PEARY IN THE NORTH.
Successful Work of the Intrepid Ex-
pIOrer in the TracklesS
Frozen North.

1t will surprise no one who knows
the uncertainties of Smith sound navi-
cation to learn that Mr.. Peary was I'M
able last year to force the Windward,
carrying his supplies, nearer than 300
miles of the point he hoped to reach
as his winter quarters and base of OPP
erations for his attack upon the pole.
The Greedy relief vessel Proteus was
crushed and sunk at the south end of
the channel in 1888. Sometimes the
channel may be navigated with great
dhIculty, as in 1875, when it took Mares
vessels 20 days to advance 230 miles
from Cape Sabine to Lady Franklin bay.
Sometimes again the channel is compar-
atively free from ice, as in 1881, when
Greedy made the same journey in six
days.
During the year his vessel was beset
in the ice Peary was very busy with his
sledge expeditions, and he has again
justified the compliment which Sir Gle
mests Markham paid him when he
called the American explorer 1.-The
greatest of Arctic sledge travellers"
his routes nave tAlGIutu over l,OUU
miles, and he has covered much new
ground and obtained most interesting
knowledge about the geography of the
region near Smith sound. Hayes sound,
northwest of Cape Sabine, was thought
to penetrate through the land mass to
the Arctic ocean on the west, and thus
separate Grinnell land from Ellesmere
land Peary has discovered that the
so-called sound is merely a narrow in
let, and that Grinnell land and Elles-
mere land form one land mass. The
explorer has also surveyed and mapped
some of the larger indentations on the
west coast of the Smith sound route to
the north; he has crossed the northern
part of Ellesmere land, journey never
before made, and has connected his
surveys of its western coast with those
of Lockwood on the north, thus re-
vealing "a stretch of unknown coast
line. From a geographical point of
view there is no doubt that the large
amount of accurate information Peary
has collected for the enrichment of our
maps fully justifies all his expedition
has cost.
But he has done much more. The
far north is his goal, and with enor-
nous labor he has cached four tons of
provisions for $50 miles along the chan
mel he must ascend to reach the north
of Greenland. These caches are not
more than so miles apart, and the sup
plies they contain, with others he will
move north, will enable him to reach
high latitude even if the Windward,
next year, is unable to push on to
Sherard Osborn ford with the three
years stores she will carry to the eX-
plorer. He will thus make himself
partly independent of his steamer, for
even if she is unable to reach his north
ern base, the line of caches he has plant
ed and will extend farther north may
be replenished by such sledge journeys
as he has made in the past year.
The explorer has thus done large
amount of successful work, both in
extending exploration and in further
ing the interests of his enterprise, which
may keep him north for several years
to come. None but the most dauntless
of men could achieve what Peary has
done in the past year, handicapped as
he was by an unusually bad season, and
by serious accident that temporarily
crippled him. His results thus far JUS
tify the hope that his further efforts
will be crowned by the rich additions
to geographical knowledge which this
great explorer seeks to add to the work
he has already done,-N. Y. Sun.