The Savannah morning news., 1902-04-09

southwark, and has lived through many
| days Of the calm, awful stiffness OF
these regions after the sun has disap-
peared, then he may know something
of the majesty of King Cold. Now and
then there comes the ice pressure and
the hummooks heave and crack with
thunderous reveFberations out of the
eternal quiet. Beauty enough there is
also If one may be poetic. but 1t is a
stern beauty, an. austere coldness of
aspect, that gradually grows more and
more repellant. Occasionally we may
venture out for walks over the ice and
when the moonlight or the glow of the
aurora borealis Is over the vast fields
of ice and snow, there are few scenes
more delightful. But how we shall
long to have the night end!
OF the life we shall live up here I
fear its chief characteristic will be
monotony. or course, through the
night. we shall try to busy ourselves
with the allotted labors of taking OBJ
servations, making full and elaborate
notes. Now and then, we shall make
little excursions in various directions
from camp to camp. We have so much
food that 1t has not become necessary
TO establish a ration though we have
limited the use OF some of our jellies and
preserves. We have excellent shelter
from the cold and our portable houses
are so arranged that they will fit snugly
together when we establish our final
camp. The America" it fitted with
electric lights, so that on board the
ship the ventilation is of the best
Three meals day, warm clothes, a
good bunk and something to do each
day-what more can any man want?
There Is no reason why we should not
be contented and happy. Forty men,
all told, we are. and each one takes his
share of the work We have several
musical instruments on our ship and
many Of the men can play the different
ones. There is fairly well stocked
library OF books and games OF all kinds,
with which to vary the monotony
Eoxing gloves, fencing foils and other
gymnastic paraphernalia furnish us
with needed exercise when we cannot
get out of doors. When selected the
men who make up our party, / was
very careful to get men who were
cheerful in disposition and versatile in
amusements. This care has already
proved to be of much Importance in
our life here.
Our scientific work thus far has been
valuable. We have made continuous
meteorological observations and we
have recorded regularly the force and
direction of the winds, the phenomena
of the clouds, etc. Oar magnetic
work has not been limited to the mere
locating of our camps. We have done
considerable surveying and charting.
and before we get through we hope to
have a fairly accurate map of such
parts Of Franz Josef Land as we shall
touch.
About the first of April we expect
to take up our northward march over
the ICE. From the highest known
point on Franz Josef Land IL is $50
statue miles in a direct line to the
Pole, and / have calculated that we
can cover this distance in less than 100
days. We shall have a large pack of
dogs and each one of those not used
in drawing the sledges win carry an
adjustable pack-pouch containing from
fifteen to twenty younds of condensed
food. The sledges viii not be heavily
loaded and in this / shall have a de-
cideG advantage over previous north
ern explorers. / am confident that
we shall be able to move with great
rapidly over the ice and that by the
first week, in July we shall reach the
northern extremity Of the earth So
far as we shall be able, we shall send
messages back to civilization by means
of our balloon and buoys. Several Of
these tuoys have already been started
on their way and long before we re-
turn many of our messages and re-
ports should be in the possession of our
friends. Evelyn Briggs Baldwin.