Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-10-19
EXPLORERS RETURN
Robert Stein Arrives After Three
Years in Grinnell Land.
his MEETING WITH LIEUT.. PEARY
Proposed Dash for North Pole in
March, 1902.
SUPPLY OF PROVISIONS

SUPPLY OF PROVISIONS
| Mr.. Robert Stein of this city returned to
his home yesterday morning from three
| years exploring expedition in Ellsmere and
/ Grinneil Land, two sections of very large
| island lying opposite Greenland, The
west side of Bafin's bay, Smiths sound,
Kennedy channel and Robson channel.
Mr. Stein is quite young man and resi-
| dent of this city. his brother being engaged
| in farming operations at point some dis
| tance north Of Washington. For a number
of years prior to 1898 Mr.. Stein was en-
| ployed as translator of French, German and
| other foreign languages in the office of the
| United States geological survey, and it was
while there that he developed an intense
| desire to visit the arctic regions.
Finally, after many trials, he left, In COM
| pany with DR.. Leopold Kann of tie Uni
| versity of Vienna, Austria, and Mr.. Samuel
| Warmbath of Boston, Mass, in March,
| to Lieut.. Peary from Cape Breton Island,
going to Ellsmere Land, in latitude 20 and
/ so degrees north.
| Mr. Stein and his companions depended
| almost entirely on their own savings and
resources for the expenses of the trip. their
/ object being to explore the west coast OF
| Ellsmere and Grinnell Land, which appear
| blank on all modern maps of that region,
| but when they reached their destination
they found that they had been forestalled
by Peary and Capt. Otto Sverdrup. com
| manding the Fran, Nansen's old ship. both
commanders having explored practically
| the entire stretch of these unknown coasts.
Mr. Stein and his party planned to re-
| turn on the Windward. the ship that was
| scheduled to arrive with supplies for Peary
| in June, 1900, and return during The sum
mer of 1901, all of which they succeeded in
| doing, leaving Cape Sabine July 6, 1901,
| and after being delayed by ice en- rVnte
| on several occasions, finally reached New
| foundand on September %, from which
| point they returned to their homes.
| On reaching Washington yesterday Mr..
| Stein paid a brief visit to his old friends in
| the office of the geological survey and from
| there left for the home of his relatives out
! side the city.
The NOrthernmOst Island.
! Grinnell Land is the northernmost is
| land of the North American continent. Yet,
according to all accounts, it is not. for some
reason, nearly so cold Greenland, lying
| Just across Smiths Sound nor is 1t buried
! in glacial ice to the extent observed in the
| latter island. For this reason, Mr.. Stein,
as well as the other explorers, who, in times
past, have visited Grinnen Land, which is
as large in area as Pennsylvania, Maryland
and New Jersey combined found plenty of
game on the island, such polar bears,
musk oxen, walrus, seals, ptarmigan and
! water fowls in advance, and upon which
he and they depended largely for food
Finding themselves forestalled in the OBJ
ject of their search, Mr. Stein and party
turned their attention to scientific work.
| They spent the winter of 1S99-1gW0 with
the Eskimos at Cape York, Greenland,
and in the spring following went to Cape
Sabine, Grinnell Land. They also spent
some time on Northumberland Island.
Speaking of life in those regions Mr.
Stein stated that they experienced no trou-
bic in securing food, such as it was. and
that owing to the cold climate and exercise
they had no difficulty in getting accus-
to and seal
When he yesterday entered the office of
MIR. Bailey Willis, chief of the department
of exploration of the United States geologi-
cal survey he remarked that he was once
more enjoying the luxury of civilized food
after three years of diet of walrus fat.
roast ptarmigan, seal meat and roast musk
OK.
Meeting With Peary.
In spite of the hardships and dangers
that he had to undergo, Mr.. Stein returns
hale and hearty, none the worse for his
experience in the north.
During his stay there Mr.. Stein saw a
good deal of Lieutenant Peary, concerning
whom he had the following to offer:
"Peary and his entire party, consisting
of himself. DIR. Deidrich, his colored man,
Matt, and twenty-three Eskimos, passed
our camp at Cape Sabine on March 6, 1901,
on his dash for the pole. He reacned
north, and from there returned. 1t was on
the return that he and DR.. Deidrich had
their disagreement. DR.. Deidrich is now
with the Eskimo people near Cape Sabre
He is in no danger, but. if he winters there
he will have pretty rough time of it
ION his return Lieutenant Peary TTIpt to
West Ellsmere Land, where he has been
spending the summer in hunting. Al pres
ent he has 200 walruS carcasses in storage
at his northernmost station at Etah, Green
land, and a lot of other meat besides.
Along in November Peary will leave West
Elsmere Land and spend the winter con-
veying this stock of provisions to Fort
Conger. go miles further north.
He will have party stationed there to
receive the meat and transport it on to
Cape Heckler, the last and northernmost
| base of supplies. Lieut.. Peary told me that
he expected to finish this work by spring.
| and that he expected to begin his second
! dash to the pole March To- 1902. I would
| not be surprised to hear of his succeeding.
| By spring he will have the largest store of
| supplies ever moved so far north, and with
| this base to fall back on he ought to sue
coed.
1.-The difficulty in reaching the north pole
| is not the cold. During the whole time 1
was in the north l had my hands and ears
| frostbitten only once or twice. The trou-
| bic is to secure food, because after you
! leave the SD degree of latitude there is no
| longer any game to be found
Signs of Occupation.
He states that although Ellsmere and
Grinnell Land are completely uninhabited,
the signs of former occupation by the Es-
kimos are everywhere apparent in the
| shape of burial grounds, ruined igloos and
remains of weapons and tools
Lieut. Peary thinks there are Lskimos in
West Ellsmere Land, said Mr. Stein, for
the reason that what little of that region
he explored this summer was simply alive
with game Of every description, and the
Eskimos are always following the herds
of musk oxen, cariboo and walrus he thinks
there should be tribe of them in that sec
ton
Like others who have visited Grinneu
Land. Mr. Stein found the region one of
peculiar interest Throughout the island
he says, there are deposits of brown coal
and Ignite, rich in fossil plants that have
received classification at the hands of Prof
Heer the noted Swiss authority on fossil
botany. These fossils show that in past
ages the climate of north Greenland and
Grinnen Land very much different
from what it is today, the fossil plants dis
covered in the deposits being magnolias,
sequoias. expresses, oaks, ETC., flora very
much like that of the southern states of
today
Mr. STEMS collection is quite valuable
one.
In addition to his collection, which viii