The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-01-26

petition returned 10 England. Hud-
son himself. one 0f the most tragic
figures in Tie history OF the Arctic.
hgl mi>ar1b.y persisted. after being 80,
adr.ft Zoo snail boat by his mutiuous
crew. Ir WIS now believed that the
way 10 the Pacific had been discovered,
and tiIat 10 undoubtedly lay through
! Hudson Bay. Within five years a
number % expeditions were made into
this vast sheet Of water. and in these
! FOX Channel aul ROwe's Welcome
were explored
III 1876 Captain Cook sailed on his
last voyage ir au attempt to penetrate
! tie Polar Sen 10 the eastward through
the Bsriu- strait. but was separated
! ly solid barrier Of ice from ship
! spu, ~ await him I'm BatIiu Bay.
Ey the end ~ the eighteenth cen
tury Agcti' exploration had ceased 10
be uudpraE.A merely in IN" interests
Of furtacv.ug commerce. and il had be.
gun tp 1.,um, Importance from a pure
ly s..ru-jg. standpoint The fir, Of
these expeditions. scientific i'm charac-
ter. -...rd ir ISIS 10 discover the
Nowhwr,- PASSAGE by means Of the
great openings reported by Ba.hu 10
exist at thp westward end Of Bafiin
Bay. T.,rr taa command OF John
Rp-, ti' expedition penetrated Lam
caste, STRAIT rpr about sixty miles and
on meeting with heavy i.c Ross came
10 tla conclusion thar the strait was
merely t0y AMI returned TO Eng
land Pagry. r Lieutenant under Ross.
disagreed with this view. and ina 1919
jed lu expedition tO again attempt the
Pa>,J-n. Parry was undoubtedly one
of the ab.n~t explorers of his time,
aul hi, achievements were splendid
The problem OF the Northwest Pass.
age was really solved by the Inflated
expedition under Sir John Franklin,
parity by t> own efforts. but largely
through the relief expeditions sent out
later The Franklin party. consisting
of 10 men i'm two vessels. wintc?cd
at Errchy Island near the beginning ~
Barrow strait in 1919. ana i'm 1916
reached King William Land, where the
ship, were hp>et i'm Ill" ice. From the
Only record found il WAS shown that
land expedition under Lieutenant Gore
hld demonstrated uuQueStionably the
cNi,,ruc, Of the Northwest Passage,
but on th, return Of this party to the
~hp, they found that Franklin himself
with tWauty-ihrro men had died. The
Nc.,ci> were abandoned in 1S4S. ana
the remainder pl the party pcrishnd in
an atJrmp- 10 reach the Fish River.
The numerous search expeditions were
very >uccrs,fU. in exploring the Amer
lean Arctic region from Greenland
westward Colliu~on. particularly. sUc-
ccodcd u navigating his ship, the En-
tcrpri>e. from E"riug Strait 10 Cam
bridge Bay. Victoria Land. where hr
Wint"rrd safely. accomplishing his re-
turn the following ycar: During this
time hp had seen. though unknown 10
him. the g.H where Fraukliu'S ships
hai bean destroyed. ana had even
picked up relics ol that unfortunate cN-
ppditior.
This brings u, to the first actually
accomplished Northwest. or rather
Northeast Passage made 10y Mcclure
in iS5O-5i In his vessel the lnycSti-
gator hr reached Banks Land, which
Ia explored lS well rs Prince Albert
Land. After wiutering there for three
years he was finally forced To abandon
his ship in Mercy Bay. Learning of
Franklin search expedition at Becchy
Island. he managed To reach one of its
4. - Lt ny tvnp1alN
arduouS SledGc journey to the east
ward. and was later taken to England
through Lancaster Sound by the
Phoenix, of the same expedition. He
thus completed the first passage from
the Pacific 10 the Atlantic northward
of America known 40 tine history OF
mankind. Mcclure was undoubtedly
the first of the great multitude of eN-
plorers % accomplish this feat and
while he had encountered continuous
waterways for the entire distance, the
journey was performed under such
difficulty and hardship that until to-
day no other navigator has attempted
To equal II.
But the past year has seen inscribed
on the pages of the Arches history the
record of a journey which not only
equals but far SurpasseS the remark
able trip of Mcclure. To Captain
Roaud AmundScu. of Norway. belongs
the honor Of being the first actually
10 force his vessel through the historic
Northwest Passage, trayersing TN"
northern shores of the continent from
the Atlantic 10 the Pacific, and Incl.
dcntally pursuing highly important sci.
cutitc Investigations which included
thr definite location of the north mag
nctic pole upon King William Land.
To Us the story of the Northwest Pass
age j. more or less historical merely,
for since the Franklin search cNprdi.
tious. half century ago, il has fallen
rather into the background. The voy-
age OF the Norwegian captain with a
crew ot seven men iu hIs forjy-SiN ton
>ioop. the Giua. j. the final elimination
] ..t t,,tr .r.rttYt.. pF faii lnrtNhiu and