The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1899-09-26

those fellows a, Cape Tegethof win look
in here TO relieve me or REINFORCE the
garrison Then We can do our duty 10
Yentzen. throwing in little ceremony al
the same tins. But the week heightened
into a fortnight, the fortnight into a
month. and still no sign from Harms
worth house. Had they forgotten Fort
Mckinley altogether?
In selecting Novwegians for his assist
ants. Mr.. Wellnan had done US the honor
to say that We had more courage. intelli-
gence. and persistence than others. and
warrant you / stood in need of these fac
ultes 20 remain with a corpse for two
months In that by 10 hut and preserve
my reason. on the third day after Vent
Zen's Heath. | carried outside what was
left of him. and when the carcass was
frozen through and through, I brought II
back and laid ii out nearest the door. as
the fireplace was at the other end Of the
room. But while in one respect this was
an admirable arrangement, IL also drew
numberless hungry brutes to the least
protected part of my abode. Frequently a
bear or a pack of wolves were proving
at my gate, filling the air with angry
snarls or wretched lamentations, scratch
ing away the snow or humping their
weight against the door. When you con-
slider that a polar bear weighs from 100
10 500 pounds. you can imagine that these
proceedings were not bereft OF danger.
The Dreadful silence.
AT other times the appalling stiffness
peculiar to the arctic region dismayed me
and nearly drove me to distraction. Some
call this perfect absence of sound the
great calm. majestic. / am not ashamed 10
say that it oyerpowered me in my solitude.
which | never felt more deeply than dur
ing the awful endless nights. / had been
used to sleeping with Veutzen in a fur
sack, each keeping the other warm. Then
we talked and prayed together. until we
slowly d0zed of. This soothing benefit of
comradeship | never felt so much as when
it no longer existed. Besides, there was
the want of animal warmth, which AT
times fairly drove me crazy. Once | slept
with a small thermometer in my coat
pocket. In the morning II showed 10 de-
grees below zero. | had TO bind my
mouth ears, and nose with flannel, and
often thought that it would be an advan-
tage TO North Pole travellers TO have no
nose. as that organ draws upon itself
Jack Frosts severest attacks.
Meanwhile. / never gave up hope of re-
ceivinG a visit from Hamsworth house.
for Mr.. Wellman had plenty Of dogs and
sledges at his disposal, and l was sure
that my Norwegian comrades were not
afraid to enter upon such a journey, even
in midwinter. That il was not impossible
to reach Fort Mckinley from Cape Tege-
thoff during that period is indirectly prov
ed by the fact that Mr.. Wellman made
the journey out in as little time in Feb
ruary as Lieut.. Baldwin consumed on his
return trip in October. The dates were
October % to October 30, and February Is
to February 26. respectively"
American. Were Not Fit.
Bjoervig's story Of the accident on
March q and the subsequent abandon
ment of the expedition contained no new
points. With respect to Mr.. Wellman's
American companions the recluse of Fort
Mckinley said:
Not one of them was physically able
to stand the hardships of the trip; they
did not even make an attempt to accom-
pany Mr.. Wellman on his final dash for
the pole If our little party hadn't broken
down, and if all of Mr.. Wellman's calcu-
latiOns had proved correct, We would have
been in fine predicament on reaching
our goal, without meteorOlogist, bOtanist,
naturalist, and medical officer.
1T was perfectly plain to all that Prof.
Harlan Columbia University was not
robust enough to engage in such an I'M
dertaking. Lieut. Baldwin, the meteorolo-
gist, was suffering from rheumatism most
Of the time, but when free from his tor
mentor he did some good work, which,
however, was not of prime Importance.
DR.. Hoffman, the physician of the party.
was suffering from dyspepsia. which is
about the very worst thing that can hap
pen to a North Pole traveller
Copyright by Henry " Fishes-)