The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-07-10
PeARY TO TRY ONCE
MORE FOR NORTH POLE
Explorer Outlines Plans and
Expresses Faith in Success
of His Venture.

on another north pole expedition, has pre-
pared an outline of his program for the
new trip. In the main he will follow the
same procedure as before as to time of
Start across the pack, s%ledging, etc, but
will somewhat change his route. Peary
says:
II purpose in my next expedition to
follow the same program and route as
in the last. with such notifications as
have been suggested by the experience
and discoveries of the last expedition.
81 shall use the same ship, the Roose-
welt; shall leave New York some time
during July: shall follow the same route
north, via Sydney, c. D.. straits of Belle
Isle. Davis straits. Baffn bay and Smith
sound; shall use the same methods, equip
ments and supplies; shall nave a minimum
party Of white men, supplemented with
Eskimos; shall take on these Eskimos
and dogs in the Whale sound region as
before, and shall endeavor to force my
ship to the same or similar winter quar-
ters on the north side of Grant land as
in the winter of 19O5-06.
"Wintering here will he essentially the
same as in 1905-06. though l expect next
time to avoid the distribution of my dogs
and a large portion of my party through
the interior of Grant land during the win
ter, enforced in the last expedition by
the poisoning of the whale meat which l
had purchased for food for my dogs.
Some Changes in the Route.
1.-THE sledge work will begin as before,
in February, but my route will be modi-
fed as follows: First, I shall follow the
north coast of Grant land as far west
as Cape Columbia, and possibly beyond,
instead of leaving the land at Point Moss,
as | did before.
Second, leaving the land, my course
will be more west of north than before,
in order to counterfeit or allow for the
easterly set of the ice between the north
F "---f 1~-1 --1 a. NJ
covered during my last expedition.
Another essential modification will be
q more rigid massing of my sledge divi-
6lons en- route, in order to prevent the
possibility of a portion of the party being
separated from the rest by the movement
BOT the ice, with insufficient supplies for
a protracted advance. as happened on the
last expedition.
"There is no doubt in my mind but
what the big lead encountered in both
my upward and return marches in my
last expedition, and which was also OBJ
served by me in 1902, although closed at
that time, is an essentially permanent
feature of his part of the Arctic ocean.
This lead extends westward from Cape
Morris Jcsup, the most northern point of
Greenland, in the general ncighborhood of
the saith parallel, toward Croker land,
and forms the line of demarcation be-
tween the heavy, rough. nearly notion
less ice embayed in the great blight be-
tween Cape Jesup and Crocker land and
the less heavy, more mobile ice of the
central polar sea, moving steadily from
the ice cncumbered areas, north of Boring
strait, across the pole toward the North
Atlantic in a broad stream between Cape
Morris Jesup and the northern point of
Franz Josef land.
The Route Will Be Shorter.
II have little doubt of my ability to
make this lead Chat is, the Saith parallelD
instead of the north coast of Grant land
(S3 degrees north latitude), my point of de-
parture with fully loaded sledges. If this
Is done 1t will shorten the route by nearly
100 miles and distinctly simplify the propo-
sition.
On the return march in the next ex-
petition. I probably shall do voluntarily
what | did ~involuntariiy last time, that is,
retreat upon the north coast of Greenland
"a course ~diagonally with the set of the
ice) instead of attempting to come back
20 the north coast of Grant land (diag-
onally against the set of the ice).
In adjunct of this program will probably
be the establishment of a depot we'll up
the north coast of Greenland by the first
supporting parties returning to the ship.
This. however, would simply be a precau-
tionarS measure, as my personal acquaint-
ance with the entire north coast of Green
land and the east coast as far south as
Cape Parish would permit the subsistence
of a small party upon the game of the
region.
New Surveys Along North Greenland
4 such depot party assuming the neces-
4 eary caliber in the LEADER might be able
to extend my surveys Of 1900, south from
Cape Parish to Independence bay and
possibly beyond, and would certainly be
able to explore the interior Qualifications
of the great Greenland ice fjords debouch-
ing into the central polar sea between
Cape Bryant and Cape Morris Jesup, pre-
senting the most boreal manifestations of
! glacial conditions in the world. and bring
Mack a synopsis OF the fauna, flora and
geological features of this coast.
ut may also be possible for the second
detachment of returning parties to go west
from APE Columbia along the north coast
OF Grantland to Cape Colgate, and per-
haps Cape Thomas Hubbard, and thence
to Crockerland, for the exploration Of
this new section Of the unknown Arctic.
In regard to this region a we'll known
Arctic and Antarctic writer recently said
that the exploration of Croker land might
entirely change all proconceivcd notions in
regard to the unknown polar area.
The Area Of Explorations.
The two auxiliary routes indicated
above means the investigation OF the most
northern coast line in the world (situated
only about 500 miles from the pole ITSELF,
through possibly 100 degrees Of longitude.
(This represents the difference in longi-
tude approximately between the Yellow
stone park and the Azores.J
IN view of the fact that in my last ex-
petition l personally covered within the
limits of a single sledging season one-half
OF the range. both la~titudinally and longi-
tudina1ly, contemplated in the above out
line, it does not seem too imaginative to
assume that the program, as outlined, can
be carried out by three simultaneous par
ties, utilizing my methods and guided by
my personal acquaintance with the greater
portion of the route traversed by each.
II shall take with my advance parties
on the next expedition light sounding APP
paratus, and make every effort to secure
a line of s%oundings from the north coast
OF Grantland to the pole, that may deter
mine the general features OF sea depths in
this region, and the position of the CONT
mental shelf north OF Grantland and
Greenland.
BY the "American" Route.
The main features Of the above pro-
gram are, first the utilization of the
Smith sound or American route. This
must be accepted today as the best Of all
possible routes for a determined, agrees
sive attack upon the pole. Its advantages