The Washington herald., 1907-05-12

Nearest The Pole. by Robert E. Peary
At a recent meeting OF the Peary Arctic
I Club it was resolved unanimously TO place
the steamer Roosevelt" IN drydock for
rehtung, and subsequently 70 tender
the same 10 Commander Peary for a final
attempt TO be made by him 20 reach the
north pole. This means that the peary
Arctic Club hopes 20 send out another
Polar expedition during the coming
/ summer. and il also accounts for
such shortcomings as viii be found IN
Commander Peary's book Nearest the
Pole" As d matter Of fact it is
wonder that Commander Peary has been
able 10 put this book together at all
as he has already begun work in hitting
out his new expedition. Such as II is.
however. the BOOK is a complete account
Of the building Of the Roosevelt" OF the
! organization Of the expedition with the
! fine ala OF Mr. Morris X. Jesup, president
| OF the Peary Arctic Club; and of the
wonderful achievements of Commander
Peary In planting the American flag IN
/ north latitude s. degrees and seconds.
which feat was accomplished on April
/ II, 1865, This was the farthest north ever
attained by any human being and the
/ expedition OF Commander Peary has
shown that It is Well within the bounds
[ Of possibility for those who follow after
20 reach the pole itself. As Commander
/ Peary says IN his preface, which Is large
/ ~ a reproduction OF the speech he made
! in response 10 the presentation 10 him
| By President Roosevelt, Of the Hubbard
[ Medal:
The result Of the las; expedition of the Pear3
Arctic Cllb has been TO simplify The attainment q
/ the p9e, 50 Ier cut. % accentnate the fact that
| man aad Eskimo dog are the only two mechanisms
capable of meeting an the varying contingencies 0
] Arctic work, and that The American route to the
pole and the methods and equipment which have
been hr1ught % 4 high state Of perfection during
the past nfteen years, stu remain the most uTac-
ti,abie means q attaining that object.
Had The past winter been IS normal season in the
Arctic REGION and not as II vas particularly open
/ one throughout the Northern hemisphere. ! sh0uid
have won the prize And even if / had known be-
fore leaving the land whz' actual conditions were
/ % the nortnward. as I know now. / would have
So modified my route and nay disposition Of sledgts
that I could have reached the pole IN spite Of the
open season.
Another expedition. following in my steps and
/ prohtins by my experience. cannot only attain the
pole but can secure the remaining principal desid-
ersta In the Arctic REGION namely: a line Of deep
sea s1undirgs through the central Polar Ocean. and
the deneati0n of the unhslcsn gaps in the north
cast cuast line Of Greenland from Caps Morris Jusup
to Cape Bismarck. And this work Can be done in 3
! single season.
As regards the belief expressed by some that the
attainment Of the north pole possesses value or
[ interest; let say that should au American first
cf all place the stars and Strips az that Gov
eted SPOT there is not an American citizen at home
OF abroad but would feel little better ard little
pTuudeT Of being an American; and Just that added
/ increment of pride and patriotism 10 millions,
would Of itself alone be worth ten times the cost
Of attaining the pole.
Mr.. Peary tells of the organization of
the expedition. the fitting out of the ship:
and his first chapter describes the voyage
from New York 10 Etah. Here the
Roosevelt was met by the auxiliary
Erik which had been sent on ahead
with an extra supply of coal and pro-
visions Shortly after leaving Etah bound
for cape Sheridan, the Roosevelt" struck
the ice, and a few miles north of Cape
Lupton had it's steering gear and rudder
smashed TO pieces. The damage was re-
paired in Newman Bay and then the
Roosevelt" fought her way on to Cape
Sheridan close 10 the cairn, built by the
Alert" some thirty years before. Here
they loaded up with a lot Of musk OK
which were plentiful in the land here, and
here they spent the great night" II
was from here that Commander Peary
started away from the ship on sIedges
and fought his way steadily forward
toward the north. The dogs died rapidly
as they went along. and the men forced
the marches as hard as they could. OBJ
seTvatiOns taken a little before noon on
the 21st OF April showed they had reached
ST degrees minutes north latitude and
had at last beaten the record. Comma nder
/ Peary writes:
A can perhaps be imagined ! was more than
ANXIOUS 20 keep On. but as J looked al the drawn
faces Of my comrades, at the skeleton figures Of my
few remaining dogs. at my nearly empty sledges
and remembered the drifting ice over which We had
coIne, and the unknown quantity Of the big lead
between rs and the nearest land, ] felt that had
cut the margin as narrow could reasonably b
expected. ! told my men to turn back from here
The narrative goes on to tell of the
return from this point farthest north tC
the Greenland coast and once this was
reached the little party OF hardy pioneers
went along the Greenland coast until they
found the Roosevelt" Commander Peary
made other side trips in the Roosevelt %
along the glacial fringe of Grant Land
until they finally reached Cape Sheridan
again. The return voyage to New York
was uneventful.
Supplementary chapters to the narrative
tell OK the foundation of the Peary Arctic
) Club and its purpose There Is also a
report Of the expedition OF lS9S-1902 and
a special chapter gives a fine description
of the Arctic steamer Roosevelt" and
how she was built The volume Is frag-
mentary. the narrative in places hardly
lucid, and It is evident that its author
! has worked at 1t between whiies while
getting ready for another attempt to reach
= his most desirable goal The book IS
! strikingly illustrated with great number
Z Of unusually good photographs and some
colored prints. It is an interesting story
! Of endeavoT and daring. (New York