The age-herald., 1899-03-26
"A GREAT CROWD
 OFF FOR THE POLE
Four Expeditions, Not Including Andree, and Two Re- lief Parties, Are Either I'm or Seeking
 These Desolate Regions

The Polar regions are going to be crowd
 ed this summer-that is, for the Polar re-
 gions. No less than six-and If Andree be
 included, seven-expeditions are either in those deselate lands or will be on their way
 thither. Of these, four arc bound on one
 common pursuit, the search for the North Pole, while others are all relief parties, searching after the absent explorers. At no time since Arctic exploration began,
 have the Polar regions been assailed by so
 many forces of their would-be conquerors. Of the exploring parties now under way, | or about to start, the little band of An | dree's who left Franz Josef Land in what | seems to be now their ill-fated balloon, na- | turaliy attracts the most attention. Old Arctic explorers put little truth in the oc- | casional stories that come from the North
 west in British Columbia or from remote | places in Siberia that Andrees body, or that of his companions, or portions of his balloon have been found
 Many of them believe that Andree will turn up just as pr. Nansen did. And
 though Polar exploration by balloon is
 never likely to become popular, it Is not
 without the bounds of probability that this first expedition of the kind may turn out favorably.
 Next to this Lieutenant Pearys expedi- tion Is of the most interest, particularly to Americans; tor Lieutenant Peary has way with him of going north and coming back again in good shape and with fresh discoveries to tell about. Then there Is Captain Sverdrup's big expedition which sailed on the Tram, from Christiania in
 June last; the Duke of AbruzzfS expedi- tion; and that conducted under the auspi- ces of the Quebec Geographical society by Captain Bermier of Quebec. Of these, aside from Andree's, Captain Sverdrup's and Captain Berniers are most noticeable, both from the size of their equipments and the number of men engaged in them. The relief parties consist of an expedi- tion which Is now being fitted out at St. Johns, N. F., by Walter Baine Grieve, to go to the relief of Lieutenant Peary; and an expedition under the direction of the Danish explorer, Captain Daniel Brun, with Prof. Nathorst, the Swedish geologist, which will start in few weeks for Jan Maven, small volcanic island 300 miles east of Greenland. The Peary relief ship will follow in the explorers wake direct to Greenland. The Andree relief expedition will search the depot established by the Austrian government on Jan Maven 1s-
 land and then proceed to the east coast of Greenland.
 Work on the Duke of Abruzzis polar ex-
 petition is now going rapidly forward at
 Copenhagen He is expected to arrive i'll
 the Danish capital in a short time to su-
 perintend, personally, preparations for his
 latest venture. He will sail early in the summer for Spitzbergen, and will pass the
 winter on Franz Josef Land He hopes to reach the North Pole by dog sleds in Au- gust, 1900 The expedition will cost about $250 900, most of which has been subscribed
 by King Humbert. The latter is quoted as saying that pr. Nansen had made over-
 lures to the Duke for the command of the
 proposed expedition, but that the offer was refused.
 Captain Sverdrup who, with fifteen com rades, sailed on the Tram from Christiania, Norway, on June "A last, for explorations on
 the north coast of Greenland, arrived at
 Egedesminde, Greenland, after rough
 journey, on July 2. The party reached
 Upernivik, near the northern boundary of
 the Danish domain, on August A. and he is supposed to have sailed on the following day for the far north. On the journey up the Greenland coast Sverdrup purchased some dogs, making about 100 eledge anil mals, including fifteen that he took from Norway.
 Sverdrup's intention was to force his way through Smith Sound and Robeson Cham
 nel as far north along the coast of 0reen- land as possible, and then to use his ship
 as headquarters for sedge expeditions. These sledge parties will be sent out to
 explore and man the northern mainland
 coast line and to attempt to connect Cape
 Washington, the most northerly point
 known on the west coast of Greenland,
 with Independence Bay on the east coast,
 discovered by Peary and if possible, with
 Cape Bismarck, further south, on the same
 coast. Other sledge parties will leave the
 Tram to explore the archipelago north of
 Greenland.
 These plans of Sverdrup's are identically
 the same as those announced months be-
 fore by Lieutenant Peary. It creates an
 unusual condition of affairs in Arctic ex-