Los Angeles herald., 1905-06-10
PEARY SANGU|NE
Of BIG RESULTS
SPECULATES ON HIS POLAR
POSSIBILITIES
LOOKS FOR NEW CONTINENT
Arctic Explorer Says That Discovery
of North Pole Would, at Least,
Bring Honor to
America

Special to The Herald.
SOUTH PORTLAND, Me-, June O.
"supposing that I succeed in finding
the north pole, what good shall we
derive from it?" said Lieutenant COM
mander Robert p. Peary, as he dis
cussed his plans for leaving New York
on July 4 on the steamer Roosevelt IN
another effort to reach the place he
has sought for several years. II don't
suppose there is any money in it, and
although there is a possibility of find
ing new whaling grounds, 1t Is possi-
bility so remote as to be hardly worth
considering. But there are other rea-
sons. We may, quite possibly, take
soundlngs which will determine the
general features of the great polar
ocean, and then there are 100000
square miles of unknown land and sea.
A new land may exist there-a conti-
nent containing new fauna and-who
knows?-even human beings as intel
llgent as ourselves"
Lieut.. Peary has completed all his
plans for the trip, and he will sail
from the Maine coast not later than
June Is for New York. He will re-
main in that city until July 4, when he
starts on his cruise north. The first
and only stop will be at st. Johns, N.
f., where his supplies will be replen-
ished and his crew of Eskimos will
be taken on. His route from st. Johns
will be directly through the Gulf OF st.
Lawrence to the Labrador coast. From
there he will proceed to the west coast
of Greenland and as far as Cape York.
There his sledge dogs will be taken
on, and he will then sail to the shores
of Grant Land, on the southern ex-
tremity Of the northern polar sea.
BY that time, it is expected, it will
be September, the beginning Of the long
polar night. During the period of
darkness Peary will establish various
depots for provisions, and when dawn
comes he will start north with his Es-
kimos and endeavor to cover the re-
frozen sea which lie between the north
ern shore Of Grant Land and his final
goal. 1t is in that territory that he ex-
poets to find an area Of 100000 square
miles at the pole where the foot Of
man has never trod.
For myself I doubt the existence of
human beings there" Lieut.. Peary says
In a letter to President Roosevelt. "Yet
some claim in a scientific work that
the Garden of Eden originally existed
at the pole. Perhaps I may find it
now, and some prehistoric people in it.
For me, however, there is q sentimental
reason far greater than that. My dis
covery of the pole means additional
prestige for my country, and should 1
succeed in my mission-should an
American be the first to plant the Stars
and Stripes at the summit Of the frozen
north-well, it may be that seventy
millions of my countrymen and coun-
trywomen would feel one thrill Of
pride, thrill of pride worth all the
hardships and all the sufferings my
trip is going to cost"
Mrs. Peary, by her own earnest de-
sire, will accompany him, as will also
their daughter Mildred, twelve years
old. Nearly all the fur clothing which
the Americans will wear on the trip
has been manufactured in Maine. The
purpose of the trip to New York is to
load the Roosevelt with provisions.
The Arctic Club of North America
will give Peary and his crew banquet
in New York city on the night before
they sail.