New-York tribune., 1902-12-04
PEARY AND THE POLE.
THE ARCTIC EXPLORER TELLS WHY HE
REGARDS THE LATTER ACCESSIBLE.

While Commander Peary in the city one
evening last week, he gave some of his reasons
for believing that il is feasible to reach the
North Pole by way of Smith Sound and Grlnneh
Land.
-,Hitherto" said he, 1.-THE departure from lana
out upon the Ice has been undertaken Garner
than April ) or Is. At that time the sun mas
been above the horizon long enough to mooerate
the temperature greatly, and soften the nee IL
this stage of the undertaking was entered upon
four or FIVE weeks earlier. the ice would uh-
oueetionably be much f1rrler- Besides, if there
should open a lead or crevice that seemed I'M
passabie for the moment, the cold would De
intense enough to freeze il over in a few houfs'
or at most IN a day So
How early in the year would it be practicahie
TO make q start2'
We must wait Cor daylight but this is SUI
fictent for our purposes At the beginning OIL
March. OF even at the close Of February IL Is
not necessary to delay until the equinox Inc
daylight 1 speak Of would be the Same as the
morning twilight few minutes before sunrise
Gould not the moon be utilZed?
There is a period extending from three or
four days before the date of full moon to three
or four days after when the moonlight is OF
some value And the most useful moon-lhal
having the highest declna tiCn-comes rather
late in the winter. \ little advantage might
possibIv be derived from a full moon coming la'e
in February Still. the most brilliant moonlight
experienced in the arctic regions is haroiS
strong enough TO enable one TO examine the ice
at anv considerable distance. That's what we
need the light for most.
Even under the most favorable circum-
stances you must remember. the course taken
after leaving the land is not very direct IN
deed 1t is exceedingly tortuous- The ice belnS
broken I'D into foes and these undergoing more
or less motion among themselves. great deal
of prospecting is necessary in order to hhd
secure path for men. dogs and sledges'
why do you prefer GrinneH Land TO Green
land as q point of departure?
The general drift of the ice which is mere
in an easterIy direction is not so marked in the
one case as the other.
''Over how great a portion of the route after
leaving Grinneu Land would you expect to nhd
poor ioe?'
Possibly for two hundred miles. or little
less than halfway to the pole. Cape Recla is In
latitude S2:5a-a trifie over seven degrees ION
the pole. This would he about 10 geograpnlC@ a.
OF nearly 500 statute. miles IN a slratsnt ~ nm
Would your idea be to winter at Fort CoIgeF
and make that your main depot of supplies:
Fort Conger is only about sixty miles eos.
or southeast OF Cape Hecla. and serves very
we'll as a base for a small party But l would
very much prefer 10 force my snip all Iie We
Alert-s winter quarters. These are just dpoNe'
and around the corner TO the westward from
Fort Conger. My original plan. years ago vas
10 secure q corresponding position on the !Noien
Greenland coast. to the eastward OF hooeSoI
Channel But [ could not get there. ana now l
have abandoned the Greenland route as less ue-
sirable ..o,s
The great advantage of having the snip .tselL
so far north is that would thus carry an my
stores with me- To transport large quanIues
nv sledge from point as far south as cape
Sabine for instance. up to Fort Conser, Is @ ooo
much of an undertaking. The success OF ouI
push ont over the ice from Cape Hecta ospehus
somewhat on the size Of the party, ana lhdl III
turn depends on our food supply. 1 regard the
advantage of getting the ship into winter quar-
1ers at the point indicated so great that 1t ls
worth large sacrifices for
-eyNhat is the chief difficulty about getting up
so far2' -, ,r-;a
well the trouble before was that the Wlno-
ward did not have powerful enough englheSS-
Nine summers out OF ten the ice softens enousl
IN Smith Sound TO permit suitable Vessel ~
force her way up. BY suitable mean not
only equipped with powerful engines out stout
enough TO stand the pressure of the ice.
For how long q campaign would you go pre-
nared IL YOU ever went again? Five years
No: think two years would be enough IL
We had good luck and went properly prepalei'
only one winters stay up there might pe ee
santial but at most two ought 10 test lile he'oi
bility of my latest theories