The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-11-21
PEARY TELLS OF
HEROIC STRUGGLES
Continued From First Page.

following summer. For thirty-six
hours, men, women and children
worked necessarily landing coal and all
supplies and equipment.
4. The Sun Goes-Food Spells.
This position became perforce the
Roosevelt's winter quarters, tho I had
aimed for Porter bay at Cape Joseph
Henry, twenty.seven miles to the north,
and here she remained moored to the
exposed face of the ice foot, with her
nose pointed steadily and stubbornly
to the north. By Oct. l, 100 muskoxen
and deer had been secured. On Oct.
IL from the summit of Black cape I
saw the sun for the last time.
During October my dogs died rapidly,
the cause being traced to poisoning
from my cured whale meat. Several
tons of this were thrown away, and
faced the proposition of subsisting my
dogs and Eskimos upon the country
until the spring feeding season began.
From this time until into February all
the dogs and nearly all Eskimos, with
Marvin and Henson, lived in snow
houses in Hazen basin and along the
slopes Of the United States ranges, sub
sisting upon muskoxen, reindeer, hare
and salmon trout.
The winter was the direct antithesis
of that experienced by the Alert in this
region. Temperatures were compare
lively high and every few days we had
violent winds from the south, some
times in the shape Of squalls of few
hours duration, sometimes continuing
as furious gales for two or three days.
At those times water leads from hun
dred yards to two and three miles in
width invariably formed, extending
from Cape Rawson to Joseph Henry,
and doubtless farther in both direc-
tions. The ice was in more or less
active motion practically all the time.
A Period Of Peril.
On Christmas night the ice suddenly
broke completely away from the shore
from Cape Rawson to beyond Cape
Sheridan and disappeared in the inky
darkness, leaving the starboard side of
the Roosevelt exposed and unprotected.
simultaneously violent southerly gale
began which threatened to tear the
Roosevelt from her mornings, tho the
port anchor and cable and every steel
and manila cable on board was made
fast to slots in the ice foot. The swell
heaving around Cape Rawson from
Robson channel rocked the Roosevelt
pronouncedly.
The next three weeks were a period
of. constant anxiety with the ice pack
surging back and forth along the shore
and liable to crush upon us at any time.
I had no fear that the Roosevelt would
be crushed, but was prepared to feel
her being forced bodily upon the ice
foot and thrown on her beam ends.
Explicit orders were issued in re-
gard to the extinguishing of fires and
lamps. In this contingency with the
exception Of brief intervals of quiet,
the ice remained in motion up to the
time of my leaving the ship and the
Roosevelt was subjected to repeated but
not. crucial pressures.
On Feb. Z, Marvin came in with the
last Of the field parties, and T found
that 120 dogs remained out of my orig
inal pack of over 22O.
Exploring Parties Sent Out.
A few days later Captain Bartlett,
with DR.. Wolf, Mr.. Clarke, Fireman
Percy, assistant Stewart, twenty Eski.
mos and twenty sledges, went to Cape
Hecla to reconnoiter. The ice north
ward from that point, they reported,
was in. condition disagreeable, tho
not unexpected. Leads Of water ex-
tended north from Cape Hecla as far
as could be seen from the summit of
the cape and leads and pools were nu-
merous to the northeast.
On Feb. 10 Captain Bartlett left
finally for Cape Hecla. Mr.. Marvin
and party followed the next day, Dr.
Wolf and his party the next, and two
days later. When I left the Roosevelt
there was a lead of open water extend
ing from Cape Joseph Henry past Capes
Sheridan and Rawson. The northern
part OF Robson channel was open
There was open water along the Green.
land coast as far as the Black Horn
cliffs and apparently to Cape Bryant
with numerous pools and leads in the
sweep from Cape Henry to Cape
Bryant. .-,-,-
Three marches brought me to Cape
Hecla. where the entire outfit was as.
sembled: Our encampment comprised
Messrs. Bartlett, Wolf, Marvin, Hensen
twenty-one Eskimo with 100 dogs,
the personnel for one main and five OF
six division parties, which on my pro.
gram hoped would be able to advance
with supplies and maintain communi.
cation to base beyond the highest
point suited for my final point Of de-
parture.
Point Moss, some twenty miles west
Of Cape Hecla, was determined as ou1
days were spent at Cape Hecla resting
the dogs. the expedition quartering in
seven snow houses and subsisting upon
four musk oxen killed just back of
Cape Hecla. ~. - = ~
With pioneer party of three light
sledges, Captain Bartlett and his party
followed the next day, then Clarke and
his party, then DR.. Wolf. then Messrs
Marvin, Ryan and myself. During oul
stay at Cape Hecla there was open
water along the ice foot and a large
lead reaching north from the cape.
On my second march from the lead
the movement Of the ice was such as
compelled me to assemble my sleds upon
an old foe to await until the. commo.
ton ceased. Farther on the dnctor,e