Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1905-07-25

Peary is off ON his seventh journey
to the frozen north. As usual, he is
confident of success. 1t may be that
this time he will reach his goal, for
seven is a lucky number He has learn
ed how to live in the polar regions, and
he seems TO enjoy life there. Lhe IA.
tives know and trust him, and he with
be able to utilize their services to the
utmost. There are many points in his
favor.
Commander Peary belongs to the
civil engineer corps of the navy. He
did his first notable work as assistant
engineer of the Nicaragua Canal in
1884 and 1885 In 1886 he made his
first expedition to Greenland TO exam
Inc the inland ice cap, and made inter
esting and valuable discoveries.
In 1SS7-S he was engineer in char re
of the Nicaragua Canal surveys, but in
1891 was chief of the arctic expedition
sent out by the Philadelphia Academy
of Natural Sciences. He discovered in
this voyage that Greenland was am isl
and, and made a survey of the northern
portion, reaching 50 degrees north lati-
tude on the east coast.
Commander Peary made another arc
tic voyage in 1888, and discovered the
famous iron mountain which has been
subject of speculation among navi-
gators since 1918 Peary found that
the loadstone mountain CONSISTED of
three large meteorites, one weighing
ninety tons. He made other voyages
in 1896 and 1897, bringing the meteor
ties to the United States.
Peary's fourth regular arctic expadi-
ton covered the years 1S9S-1902. In
this voyage he rounded the north ex-
tremity of the Greenland archipelago,
passing the most nOrtherly land in the
world, and reaching the most north
erly point in the Western hemisphere
attained by any navigator, 81 degrees
and II minutes north latitude.
In his four voyages Peary practical
ly cleared up the Greenland mystery,
and determined the character of the
ice cap on land, of the ice to the north
of land, and took observations as to
the water between the Greenland arch
ipelago and the pole. In the voyage
just begun Commander Peary has plan
ned to begin exploration where he left
it in 1902. If he can reach without de-
lay the water beyond the last of the
great land groups surveyed by himself
three years ago, he will be ready to
make the much-talked-of dash to the
pole.
If he is not able to reach the pole he
will devote himself to what he regards
the more important work, the careful
survey of the islands north OF Green
land, and determination of the char
acter Of the water to the north Of the
islands.
So, the quest of the North Pole will
be carried bravely on this summer The
! friendly battle that has so long been
waged between heroic sons of England,
| Germany. Norway, Sweden, Holland,
| France. Russia, and the United States
to be the first to attain the goal of ex-
| plOration, will be continued in the form
of several expeditions. Moreover there
| are already, somewhere high up in
| those frozen wastes, at least two dar-
ing explorers.
Commander Peary's venture in the
newly built Roosevelt is, of course, the
| most important, but it is said that if
| the present crisis between Norway and
| Sweden does not prevent, hansen will
make another attempt in the near fu-
ture. hansen, in addition to being a
| famous explorer, is also a Norwegian
statesman of note, and has even been
| mentioned for the presidency, should
| Norway. lately split from Sweden, be-
| come a republic instead of a monarchy.
Undoubtedly Peary and hansen are the
| two foremost living men in the field of
| Arctic exploration. 1t is the belief of
many that the summer of 1905 will be
! forever notable, because it saw the
American start on the trip that was to
force the North to yield up its secret.
But it is not on Peary and hansen
CL
are focused. Somewhere in the north,
Captain Road Amundsen, a Norwegian
explorer, is threading his way through
the ice foes, trying to make the transit
from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean
by the Northwest passage. Amundsen
left Christiania harbor in June two
years ago. His dual object was to find
the Northwest passage. and to make
further investigation of the magnetic
North Pole 1t is believed that he has
completed the Northwest passage. for
all messages received from him by
whalers since he left showed success.
He has now been out of commission
for some time, but the fact that he has
not returned by way of the Atlantic,
has made the government of Norway
so confident that it has sent a relief
expedition with provisions to meet him
when he comes out into the boundless
Pacific in Boring Sea.
TA1d