The Washington times., 1903-07-14
Dangers That Will Beset
Ziegler Party.
LOCAL SCIENTISTS OPINION
Thinks Expedition Stands Excellent
Chance Of Securing Honor for
America.

NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. are particularly In |
terested in the forthcoming Ziegler ex-
pedition into the Arctic region in search
of the pole, because William J. Peters,
of the Geological Survey. is to be second
In command of the party said we'll
known scientist this morning. Mr..
Peters left New York for Europe We'd
nesday. May 81, with the other members
Of the Ziegler party. All are Americans,
and they will make their dash for the
pole from Norway on the America.
"of the last attempt of the Ziegler
party to reach the pole. z. B. Baldwin.
the eminent Arctic explorer. recently
said to me:
We had not the glory of making the
dash TO the pole. as we expected, and
which would have been so satisfactory
TO everybody. but we did all that 1t was
4 possible to do. We were forced TO forego
the glory, but We accomplished work in
spite of all the difficulties with which
we had to contend. which makes 1t pos
sible now to make the dash without fear
of failure and with perfect safety. My
experience in Franz Josef Land had led
me to expect to find open water. wheFe
We found instead unfortunately, the ice
packed in such a way that 1t was impos-
sible to get through.
Blockade of Ice.
(" This condition might not obtain
again in years There was a blockade OF
ice when l was up there before. but 1T
certainly robbed us of glory the last
time. This is naturally disappointing to
men who make the trip for the hrst time.
but when you go there twice or three
times you are prepared to wait. Nov,
however on account of the work did
last season, this years expedition will
be independent of ice blocks and ships. !
I'VE might have remained. OF course. |
4 II we had had supply OF coal, but as It |
was running short. we were forced to
return Not TO have done so would
probably have meant the loss OF our
ship and all hands, so that In this con-
nection we did all that lay in our pow
er. A ship cannot last among broken
ice without keeping steam up. In addi
tion. We needed dogs. for we had lost
q number and new sledges were abso-
lutely necessary before another move
North could be made
A Stanch Craft.
! THE America was a stanch craft, of i
some $50 tons burden, and we sailed /
from Dundee full OF hope and never
doubling we would make the pole as we /
had planned. Half of the men on BOARD |
were Americans. and the other half was |
made up OF Swedes. Norwegians, Rus
SLAMS, and Austro- Hungarians. so that
! we had a mixed crowd But while we
had little chickering's. little squabbles. We
had not much. 1 venture to say, as 1
is to be found any morning on any ship /
in New York harbor, with the men all
OF one race We had practically Lo
Quarreling. no unpleasantness that Is |
not inevitable where a lot of men arc |
| herded together. and we were rather a |
happy family. On this score there is DOT
, a single complaint.
From Dundee we went to Tromsoe.
From there we pushed on to Franz Jo-
sef Land. with our dogs and ponies |
When We reached Franz Joseph Land. |
August II, we were dumfounded TO dis |
cover the channels, which we expected
to find open. packed with ice There
was little broken as we reached the 1
land. and nothing seemed to be able to |
break the fee in the channels When
I went about in these channels in a |
rowboat, but last year our passage was
completely blocked
Depends on Winds.
The wind must blow In a certain di |
rectiOn for a period before the packed
Ice breaks We set TO work to break |
through. but every effort failed Day |
after day l spent in the crows nest or |
lookout. directing the ice plow, but /
the Ice was impenetrable. We continued 1
our efforts without ceasing. from the /
moment we arrived at Franz Josef Land /
| until October 8, but all our work was
: in vain. Then the winter was upon us |
and we could do nothing until spring
came But. meanwhile. had resolved on /
scheme AS We could not get through 4
Z the ice, we must get over it by sledging
and pushing as far north as possible. !
establishing depots at intervals on the
outmost point of land
-" We did not wait for the arrival OF
spring 10 begin operations. but started |
J. our sledge work on January 2I These
operations we continued until May p. /
, and the work we did in that time is a |
foundation. base for future work that
must place the reaching OF the pole to
the honor Of America. We had of course
already established Camp Ziegler. Thi,
was our headquarters and here and on
board our ship we had ample supplies
for establishing the deDots which
considered SO necessary 10 the success
of future expedition. OF course. II we
had found It possible 10 pass through
the northmost point of Franz Land this
would not have been needed. Now we
need not depend OF the direction OF the
wind to break the ice or care whether IL
breaks at all.
The Fist Depot.
Forty miles north from Camp Zieg-
Ter we established the frst depot. This
is on Greedy Island. and We called f.
Kane Lodge Then we returned TO head
quarters for further supplies and set OUT