The Savannah morning news., 1902-04-09
LAST WORD FROM BALDWIN
BEFORE THE ARCTIC NIGHT.
BY Evelyn Briggs Baldwin.
Commander Baldwin-Zeigler Polar
= Expedition)


the ice in the early part of April. It
IS the, hope of Mr.. Baldwin. who is
in command, that they reach the Pole
within the next four months. The
following article was prepared by him
shortly after his first winter camp was
established on Alger Island and was
sent back with the last word that has
reached civilization since his departure.
1t gives the latest news to be had of
his expedition for some time TO come,
together with his plans for the long
winter night through they have just
passed.
Life within six hundred miles of the
North Pole has little attraction for the
man who likes the comfort, the pleas
ures and the warmth of a home, but
our party did not seek these regions
as a resort and, consequently, we shall
not be disappointed with our surround
inss. l must say that conditions have
not been so bad, though we had to
through several trying expert
ences on our way up to and through
the channels of the Franz Josef group
of islands
remember reading the story Of
kane's expeditions, and the part which
tells of his struggles through the long
Arctic night is most horrible His
equipment was OF the poorest, most
OF his dogs died of bad food, every one
OF his men was dreadfully afflicted
with scurvey, snow blindness, FROST
bite and all sorts of kindred ills.
II feel that We are fighting the bat
tie OF life at a disadvantage" he
wrote, and that an Arctic day and an
Arctic night age a man more rapidly
no harshly than a year anywhere else
IN this weary world.
NOW, OF course, we shall not have
any such experience to relate when
we return to civilization. Indeed, I am
AFRAID we shall feel that all the glory
OF extreme suffering belongs to pre-
Vious explorers and that we shall have
very little TO write about, unless we
actually reach the Pole For the
whole expedition, / wish to say that
down to the present our experiences
nave not been remarkable. Save for
an occasional sickness and two or three
slight accidents, every man has been
In good condition. | was unfortunate
enough TO slip and fall one day while
out hunting polar bear and was con-
lined to my cabin for a day or two.
Otherwise, / have had excellent health.
We have been able to store away a
large part of our provisions at differ
ent camps and our dogs have survived
IN a much larger proportion than was
the fortune of any previous expedition.
We have lost very few of Il original
pack OF AZ.
The chief reason for all these good
reports is simple enough. We are
equipped with the very best supplies
possible to secure-enough to last US
twice as long as we expect we shall
need them. Indeed, everything was
done before we left civilization to
make our stay in the Arctic not bit
more disagreeable than in a winter In
Labrador.
From the time of our arrival at Cane
Flora and the meeting with our supply
ship, the Frtthjof, we have been busy
making q suitable base of supplies at
Camp Ziegler on Alger Island and in
establishing another temporary camp
farther up the channel. BY degrees we
shall make progress northward until
the hardening of the ice pans and the
coming of the long night shall compel
up to establish a final winter camp.
This we hope will be we'll beyond the
eighty first parallel. The labor of mev-
ing forward Is very difficult Supplies
have to be taken here and there and
stored at convenient stages. Our very
large equipment has increased our
present troubles, thought which is
not so unpleasant when we think of
the future that these supplies will
make pleasant and agreeable.
Our most thrilling experience in
moving our stores and dogs occurred
just before the Frithjof departed. We
were making our first Arctic camp on
Alger Island, had already successfully
landed four boats Of dogs, and had re-
turned to the America" for the fifth
and sixth loads.
In addition to the dogs going ashore
this time several additional members
of the party took their places In the
boats. We had no sooner cast off the
lines from the steamer when / noticed
that the tide had set in and was run
ming very rapidly In the opposite di-
rection to which we were trying to go,
while the wind had risen and was
ruff1ing the water in a threatening
manner We began to be carried
Immediately gave the order to return
to the america" All hands labored
hard at the oars, but to no effect.
Realizing our position, we made
known our danger by the blowing of
the boatswain's whistle and making
other signals of distress. A light boat
put out from the America" but the
two men in Ii were of little help in
stopping the drift of two heavily load
ed whale boats. In a short time all
three boats were being driven rapidly
away. There was no more available
boats on the America" and nearly all
the rest of the expedition members
were on shore. Two boats from the
Frithjof, our supply ship, were at the
time discharging loads Of waIrus meat
at the selected camp, and, In response
to our repeated signals of distress, one
of these boats came to our rescue. All
four boats fastened together then at
tempted to stem the side, but 1t did
not take more than a moment or two to
convince us that the combined efforts
OF all at the oars were powerless.
There were now twenty men and
more than a hundred dogs adrift at
the mercy of the waves. We sig
nailed again and again, hoping to bring
the one remaining whale boat to aid
u.s. We could see that her men I'M
loaded their cargo of walrus meat as
rapidly as possible, but, instead of
coming toward us they pulled toward
the Frithjof. For a moment we could
not understand the situation. Pres
emily the curling smoke from the fun
mel of the supply ship made IL clear
Watchful Capt kjeldsen was on the
bridge and as he pasesd to and fro 1T
could be seen that he had his eyes on
us, and, although the anchors of both
steamers were deep in the sand, we
knew that the Frfthjof would come to
us as soon as the men from the return
ing boat could weigh her anchor. AS
for the America" no help was to be
49, -