The daily democrat. [volume] (Anadarko, Oklahoma) 190?-1908, 1907-07-13

OF all the explorers Of the arctic
Commander Robert +. Peary has been
the most consistent, persistent, and
systematic, and thereby has won the
universal sympathy of the people Of
the United States. as well as of other
countries, and as he announces his
plans and prepares for another ad-
vance upon the elusive pole which lies
IA miles beyond the far northern.
most point he has been able to reach
yet, it finds the public interest even
this may be due to the other expedi
tions which have started out or are
about to start out in quest of the
north pole. notably. of course, the
Wellman balloon venture, and the
question is being asked: rs the
prize to be stolen right from under
the nose of the intrepid Peary, after
he has tried so bravely four times TO
gain II for himself and while he is oc-
cupied with his fifth expedition" For
an answer we must wait develop
ments, one year, two years, perhaps
more.
But one discovery which Peary
made on his last expedition gives en-
couragement for the belief that sue
cess will crown his last venture, and
that was the finding of the course of
drift in the arctic basin Peary un-
questlonably is the best equipped man
who ever sought the pole. He was
bitterly disappointed, indeed, in not
having success crown his efforts on
his fourth trip. That he went further
than man ever went before: that he
had to turn back at a time when It
seemed that the great triumph was so
near, Is not enough. Out of that fail
ure he believes he discovered the road
to victory.
He does not predict success. He is
not of that kind He knows better
than perhaps any other man the tre-
mendous odds that must be overcome.
but he banles on the experience he has
gained, and If good fortune attends
him there is a chance. just a chance,
that he will bring back to America
a story that will thrill the world and
put his name in letters big on his.
tory's page.
Few persons realize how minutely
Commander Peary looks after the
smallest details of the equipment for
the sledge journey that marks the
final advance across the ice OF the
Polar basin. From the time he put
the Roosevelt against the ice foot on
the north coast of Grant land in Sep
tcmber, 1905, until he made the actual
start across the ice in February, 1906,
there was not waking moment of all
the days in that interval that he was
not studying the problem and working
Il out at the same time OF just how
little he could take across the ice on
the sledges of his several parties and
sustain their lives and those Of the
necessary dogs.
He knew the stern necessity Of get
ting the outfit down to the smallest
compass and the lightest possible
weight. A matter of few pounds on
the sleds would make all the differ
ence In the world at the crucial mo
ment. IL might swing the balance
betPeen success and failure, life and
death. And II was to eliminate just
such an oyer-burden that he worked
for so long. How vital this matter of
weight is he shows Ia his story of the
escape across the open lead that
stretched its Styx-like width OF black
water between his party and the solid
ice beyond on their enforced retreat
from their furthest north last spring
One of his Eskimos discovered that
a thin coating of ice had formed
across this expanse of water that hO
believed would support the party. 1t
was that or death, in all probability,
and so Peary resolved to try II. With
their eyes fixed on the ice before
them, ice so thin that 1t swayed with
their weight as they advanced across
IL, they moved their snowshoes steadi-
ly forward, not knowing when the
next step might be their last, as it
surely would have been II anyone had
gone through into the water beneath.
When Peary finally reached the solid
ice TO the southwark he echoed the