The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-07-14
PEARY'S POLE HUNTER.
Practice Trip of The Staunch ShiI
Roosevelt DESIGNED for Arctic Sass.

Roosevelt Desionei for Arctic Sass.
Giving three blasts every few sec
onds with her deep-voiced whistle. the
Roosevelt, the latest ship in which
| Commander Robert T.. teury VIII Try
to reach the north pole, answered the
salutes of all the harbor craft as she
| made an exercise cruise" yesterday
| afternoon down the North River 10
| Fort Wadsworth and back to her an
| chorage off West Forty street.
On the trip yesterday afternoon the
Roosevelt carried members of the
| Palry Arctic Club and their guests.
| Among those present were Rear Ad-
! miraI and Mrs. Coghlan, Brig. Gen.
| Frederick d. Grant. Naval Construc
tor William j. Baxter, Lieut. William
| F. Cronan, United States Navy; Capt
| r. c. Hollyday, United States Navy;
Walter Allen, Civil Engineer, United
States Navy; Henry G. Bryant Presi-
| dent of the Philadelphia Geological
! Society; Amos Bonsall, sole survivor OF
| the Kane expedition of 1888; David
| l. Brainard, United States Army, of
| the Brainard and Lockwood Greely
| expedition party; Prof. William Lib
| hey. of Princeton University; Banyer
| Clarkson and Mrs Clarkson. Herbert
L. Bridgman, Albert Operu, arctic
| artist: Cyrus c. Adams, Prof Henry
/
/ w Hooper, Director of the Brooklyn
| Institute of Arts and Sciences; Madi-
| SON Grant, President of the New YORK
Geological Society; F. S. Upton, n. c.
| Thrall, w f. Hornaday, I'll. S. Snow,
and f. C Wyckof
The first thing that struck the
| guests of Commander Peary was the
| strength of the Roosevelt and the cX
| treme plainness of the quarters of Of
| ficers and men. Not a penny of the
/ funds for the expedition had been
/ spent on ornamentation. The RooSe'
| velt looked a ship meant for serious
work, from the heavily armored slop-
ing bows to the cut away stem with
| its arrangement for lifting the pro-
pcller free from ice.
"Peary is going to get to the pole
| THIS time said the veteran Amos
Bonsall 1--WE made our trip i'm an
| old boat that hld been used for car
| rying sugar 1t was the Advance. She
was braced something like this ship
with cross beams. But when we got
! in the ice and it started crushing her
the beams Of oak bent like bows.
| When the blue ice tries to smash the
| Roosevelt she will rise. When the
| pressure comes to her sides it will
| simply lift her, and the oak beams
| will not bend or snap.
| "One reason for my prophecy of
/ success is this. that every report Of
! incoming steamers is of meeting float-
| ing ice. That means SO much ice out
of the way in the northward passage
| Peary will reach the Pole, this time" ;"
/ The same feeling of confidence was
| shared by all the others who know
| something about the land of the Mid
night Sun. including Commander
Peary. The cook, Charles Percy
who was carrying young Robert T..
III I.,; hs1l in hiC
arms. assured the lad he would re-
| turn with splinters from the North
| Pole carved into reindeer canoe, and
SledgeS.
Il am going to sail for the north
| in a few days-if possible at the end
| Of the week." said Commander Peary.
Il really need $4,000 more for ample
provisions and duplicate sets OF IN
| struments, but If / don't get the
money | will sail anyhow, with
| lessened chances of success and
greater chances of privation, but the
| certainty that somehow or other L
will reach the pole and return
1--WE shall be frozen up about Sept.
| Is in latitude S3, off. the north shore
| of Grant Land. Early in February
/ there will be sufficient twilight to
make the dash northward with the
dogs and sleds, and the sun will ap.
! pear Feb. %. We will have 420 nau-
tical miles to travel and will advance
at the rate of ten knots day until
we reach the north pole. We can
| make the return trip in about three,
| fourths of the outward one, having
| made our path and lessened the weight
! to be carried through the consump-
! ton of provision.
"There will be twenty-five sleds,
with six dogs each. Our greatest pre-
caution is the care of the dogs You
| know, when they die we use them
| for food. On one occasion We came
home with only one dog. He and we
| had eaten the others. :"
c. Foster Howell. of the Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,
Mortified. asked il the explorers We're
! not cruel to their dogs.
No" said Commander Pearly. we
are most careful of them, and only eat
| them when they are dead
After Lieut.. Peary had showed his
guests over the Roosevelt, and while
| they were chatting astern, Gen. Fred
/ Grant who wears q beard like his
fathers, asked the explorer of frozen
| seas when he was going to let his
| beard grow.
Gen. Grant" replied Peary, you
are on the wrong track. Eskimo men
wear little or no beard The first
/ thing | do before We Sart on our jour
ney over the ice is to shave off my
mustache, and / carry with me pair
of sharp shears to keep the beard
/ clipped as close as possible In the
| sleet and snow with a beard yoG
would soon be carrying icicles all over
YOUR face You could not eat, nor
drink, and pretty soon you could not
| breathe.
| To Enlarge Tabernacle Church.