Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-03-28

being the first that has appeared in
print. and will no doubt fnd reproduc.
ton in eastern papers. Il is truly In.
teresting Mr. Vinyard ls sun at
Gladstone where the story was writ,
ten.-Ed Herald)
The black night was over If not
the bitter cold and now at the noon
hour we had few minutes of sun
shine
We had worked during the winter
at various tasks, making sledges,
weaving sennit. making dog harness,
feeding the dogs, and attending gen
orally to the work of the camp, but it
had all been coniining, routine work
We had eagerly hailed the moon
twilight with delight. and watched its
rapidly increasing length until the day
came when the sun just peeped above
| the horizon, On that day we climbed
! the rigging to get the benefit of the
rays as long as possible, and TO have
a good long look at the sun, to make
sure we had not forgotten his appear
| ance
| And the rays teN on fields of ice.
| snow capped peaks, anu frosty ice
| bergs. that reflected back again the
light in dazzling flashes that blinded
he eyes despite the cold
And with the coming OF the sun in
| February our work with the dog teams
commenced large part OF our sup
plies had been left on the other side
OF the island, six miles from oar pres
ent camp and the first sledging we
| undertook was that of bringing this
| stun on our teams to the ship | was
one OF party OF six who made the
| second trip over to the hat Mr.. Por.
| ter, a Harvard student and painter
| was in charge of the party and we
| We're the only two Americans, the re-
mander Of the six being Russians
We left the ship afsef our break
fast and went ashore s4Aitr, mp our
dog teams, taking dogs in rotation
| from the line, not being allowed to
select onr team. Hitching up team
Of dogs is no very great task when
you know the dogs. or when you have
had a little experience, but like our
selves the dogs had been tied up all
winter. and were unused to MS or to
being worked. They twisted and
fought to get ont Of their harness.
tangled up in Gordan knots that nee
| essitated bare fingers for their undo
| ing, and bare fingers insured frost
bites. so that the task OF hitching up
an this. our first morning. was SER
ions one i0r us, soft as we We're 1t
was finally accomplished. however.
and about 10 o'clock or a little later,
We were of.
During the winter we had had late
breakfasts, and early suppers, thus
giving us long evenings and nights.
as winter time in the Arctic Is and
must be a waiting time We had not
yet started earlier rising. as the light
only lasted for few hours at mid
day.
The run with empty sledges across
the six mites to the old camp was
made in short order, despite the fact
that the dogs tangled and fought most
OF the way, and by noon we were load
el ready for the return trip We rest
|
fire In the stove and had "A little bite
to eat Shortly before l we were
started on the return trip.
And now the tug begins, The dogs
wouldn't pull. One Of them would
give a lunge against his collar. and
when the load didn't come, he would
stop and set down. Then another
would go through the same perform
ance Start together they would not.
BY dint of much tugging, lifting and
hauling on our own part we finally got
started, however, and strung out in
an irregular line on our backward
route AT each hummock or lump in
the snow-coyered, wind-swept ice they
would stick fast, and the lifting and
hauling would have to be repeated. |
grew very warm and we had not been
many minutes on the road until | be-
gan to SHED" linen. / took off my
outside garment or parliay. and, being
still too warm. my coat also, breast
ing the % degrees below zero in a
sweater and undershirt. depending on
my exertions to keep me warm.
But both the dogs and ourselves
were soft from months of confinement.
and our progress was slow and toll
some The unusual exertlon produc-
ed perspration in abundance. and
could feel my undergarments clinging
to me like wet rags as | hustled to
keep up with the others. But soon
the leaders began TO lag, and after
each hummock was passed we would
stop and throw ourselves on our sleds
for a few moments breathing spell
To qnench my intolerable thirst | be.
gan eating snow, very bad practice
that had been warned against.
During one Of these rest moments
while was steaming with sweat and
eating piece OF snow as | sat on my
loaded sled, with surprising sudden
ness a strong gust of wind swept
across the sound bringing with 1t 9