Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-09-24
EXPERIENCED ARCTIC EXPLORER
EXPECTS TO FIND THE
i, NORTH POLE.
FAILURES WILL AID HIM
undaunted BY His Past Unsuccessful
Dashes He Declares He VIII Win
This TIme.--Will Follow tho Amerll
can Route and VIII Start In July, 'os.

st. Louis, Mo-, Sept 23. - Undisi
mayed by former failures to reach the
North Pole, Lieutenant Robert ID. Pea3
ry the arctic explorer last night told
large audience of scientists and the,
unscientif1c at Festival hall at the
Worlds fair. that he believes that the
distant goal in quest Of which so many
lives have been lost. is at last about
to be reached.
Lieutenant Pearys confidence in the
feasibility OF the project and in his
own ability is unshaken by his eight
failures. He regards his former expe9
ditions as only partial failures, inasd
much as he holds they have equipped
him with knowledge and experiences
necessary to make successful atI
| tempt.
Hopes to Start In July.
"As soon as the meeting OF the in-
ternational geographic congress oh
which l am president Is over shall
hasten back to Maine. where the hull
of the ship In which am to make my
next northward voyage is being con-
structed The hull will be completed
in February. expect to start for the
north between July and 15. i
4 THE expedition will follow the soJ
called American route. That is,through
Davis Strait. Bans Bay, Smith Sound,I
Kennedy and Robson channels and
through the central polar sea.
j '.The plan is to reach the northern.l
most land limit before the long Arctic
night begins. in February, to leave the,
| ship and start across the frozen sea on
| oi nj n mil cP a
ney, reach the pole IL possible and get
Z back to the ship. E before the Ice breaks
up. - 'sssfss.y
;, "The party which will make the dash
across the Ice will consist of two white
men only besides myself. a surgeon
!. and one other All of the remainder,
will be esquimaux. There will be twen.t
ty or twenty-five sledges and an esqutI
mau in charge of each team.
Shows Cause Of Failures.
"The failure Of past expeditions has
been due to the insufficient drivingl
power of the ships used, due to- defl-|
cheney Of structural strength and mis-.
taken main dependence on sailing ca
pacity rather than steam capacity. Inl
the construction Of the ship on which
shall go north the next time there is
reversal of this idea. It will have
maximum steaming and fuel carry
} ing capacity, and just enough sails to
enable 1t to crawl back after all the
fuel has been used, and perhaps after
the wood work Of the ship has gone In,
to the furnace.
"The hull will be SO constructed that
: it will offer no resistance to the lea
when it is caught between two foes,
but will be squeezed up out of the wa
ter as a watermelon seed is forced up-
ward by the pressure of the thumb and
finger. This probably will happen
more than once. Shifting tides will re-
lease it, and it will go forward again.
Final Dash In sledge.
when the ship has reached and
rounded the northmost land. as ex-
: pect 1t to do, the remaining sledge
journey WIFI be only 500 miles. In four
different years have made sledge
Journeys northward 500 miles and
back 500 miles, but the trouble has
been that the ship has not carried me
G far enough to enable me to reach tho
c pole by making the 500-mile trip.
l. "The discovery of the pole will have
II vast scientific and geographic results.
o 1t may be that there will be discovered
l. at the same time an Arctic continent.
e At present there are 100000 of square
miles of territory up there which stand
as a challenge to the world.
e "The man who reaches the north
y pole will achieve the final conquest Of
it the earth I have been engaged too
n long in Arctic explorations not to rec
q ognize all contingencies of that work,
It but / believe my experience covering
,f twelve years. gives me good reason for
o anticipating favorable results from this
!. trin''