The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-01-22
WINTER in THE ARCTIC
EVELYN BRIGGS BALDWIN WRITES
OF THE BLEAK NORTH.
Food and work Needed to- Carry Men
Through an Oppressive Night OF
Six Months.
WASHINGTON Letter.

complete isolation of a polar expedition
during the long winter night You, who
may be sitting beside merry CRATE fire
when you read this, have no fear of cold
or hunger or any other need Of man, be
cause you are within reach of all Of ma
lures great stOrehoUses of food, heat and
comfort. But once you pass above the
arctic circle and neglect to return to civil
IzatiOn before the ice pack closes in, the
truth is crushed upon you-heavily If you
are not possessed OF sufficient supplies TO
fight six months night through 10 the
dawn, seriously even if you have every
thing an abundant foresight could have
provided for struggle which is too often
fatal because of its terrible monotony of
severe hardship.
For night In the polar regions is not
idle thing. neither is an attempt TO reach
the lend Of the earth a simple voyage. a
camping and steady march ever a smooth
field Of Ice. The stoutest hearts chilled
by the long, desolate night. through all of
which a world of ice groans and crackles.
And when the dawn comes there is only
eneircIing whiteness of snow about to
dazzle the eyes and the breaking up Of the
vast expanse into chasms and pinnacIes of
glistening ice mountains.
1t is a harsh picture which you at home
may see-something like that of the bleak
shore Of Norman's Woe on which beats
an ice-shrouded ship with the two occu-
pants frozen stiff to the mast But Long
fellow never lived beyond the Arctic circle
and those who may try to conjure up the
terrors of the north forget that the polar
regions, grim and terrible as they are, have
No hardchfne fo0 RI no
those impered by such motives as are the
members of my party, and backed by such
stores Of supplies as guarantee our lives
and considerable degree of comfort dur
ing our stay in the frozen north. For the
Baldwin-Ziegler polar expedition prepared
the dogs and the ponies, and our guns will
add much TO this store. No expedition has
ever gone out with so complete equip
ONLY WILD GAME THERE.
There are only two sources of supply for
an Arctic party after navigation closes-the
cargo it has brought along and the wild
game 10 be found on the ice pack. So an
expedition in search of the north pole
needs to search for little else. The food
which is brought along must be the main
stay Of life
The game. of course, is supplemental,
but. because fresh meat is necessary to pre-
vent scUrvy among the members of the
party. and also because the hunting itself
offers a means of diversion and recreation
this source OF food supply becomes an i'm
pOrtant factor. On my previous trips to
Franz Josef Land | had decided that the
western coast of Alger island was a favor
able feeding ground Of the waIrus. Here
there are plenty of mOllusks and such
other food the walrus is accustomed to
dig up with his huge tuskS. L considered
II very fortunate, therefore, that our first
Arctic camp was pitched on the southwest
coast or AlgSr island, and we had not been
located there long before the truth of my
former Surnises was proven Large herds
of waIrus were in the near neighbOrhOod.
and every man who could shoot a gun OF
hurl harpOOn had plenty of sport during
the days following our arrival there. When
We were making our way up through the
Islands or the Franz josef group one day
we had sight that made our hearts glad.
Right ahead or US was herd or walrus,
forty or fifty all told diving and plunging
their great black bodies alternately I'm and
out OF the water Then they caught sight
OF US. but, though the sight of greater sea
monsters may have been strange to them.
our ships did not brighten them. We, on
our part, were wary OF venturing against
them except in large force for the walrus
is a fighter.
In nine cases out Of ten hunting the polar
bear Is about as much sport shooting
the family COW, but. if you happen to ven
ture on a tenth case, beware The mother
bear will fight hard for her cubs, and If
she gets within striking distance OF her foe
he has little chance of escape. With our
modern guns there is often danger of
OVerCOnfdence.
MOTHER BEAR AND CUBS.
On one of our hunting trips there were
three of US together when we sighted four
bears, a mother and three cubs, coming
toward US together. and single member of
the tribe, perhaps the paternal ancestor.
was not far away We CHANGED to be on
1f.I
US until We were quite close TO them. We
opened fire upon the group. but only one
bullet took effect in the mother bear For
some reason Leffingwells rifle missed fire,
and had it not been for the quick work of
all of US we could not have got out of
the difficulty unframed.
The choice parts of the bear meat we
keep for our own table; the gall, spiked
with a bit of cOgnac. makes an excellent
tonic, and the rest of the carcass is put
away for the use Of the dogs. Besides bear
and walrus we have captured few seal,
and some Of the members OF the FIRTH of
party have had some good duck shooting.
The few other kinds of game are unim-
pOrtant and OF little value food To be
sure. there are elder ducks and some small
birds, as well as a variety of smaller ami
mails, mollusks, etc. but most of these are
10 the south Of our present winter camp.
The two practical articles of food TO be OBJ
tanned outside OF our own supplies are polar
bear and walrus. Before the FrithiOf re-
we had already stored away several tons
of walrus and bear meat from the hunting
done on the way up, and this store Will be
increased fast may be.
When our expedition sailed We took with
us a supply OF food large enough to keep
our party OF fOrty-two men alive for three
years For the seven Siberian ponies
have enough hay and oats TO keep them IN
good condition until we reach the northern
most camp. when they viii be killed. each
one yielding 500 pounds of dog food In adj
ditfOn over 100 tons of dog food were taken
aboard at TrOmSOe, Norway, 10 sustain our
pack OF CANNES Now. all this supply will
OF itself be sufficient, we feel sure, TO carry
us 10 the pole and over the other side OF
the world down 10 the east coast OF Green
land, where we shall find a further supply
Of food left by the Belgica for our use. But
in case we shall not accomplish our first
dash 20 the pole, let Us see how we shall
be fixed. In the first place, we shall not
have taken all our supplies on the march
tons OF food VIII be stored at different sta
tiOns along the way IS far as JacksOns
old camp at Cape Flora Then. IL need be.
the dog food. which includes pemmican,
dried fish and dog biscuit, Is good enough
for the human members of our party o
eat. We shall not be driven 10 the eXtrem-
fly Of making the dog pack self-sustaining
through a process of eating itself. nor shall
we come 20 the limit of eating Arctic sau-
sage ourselves. We have large stock Of
what would have been impossible luNuries
10 any previous expedition OF the kind.
PRINCE HENRY'S VISIT.
Cordial and Splendid welcome Urged