Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1908-02-24

tent snow houses are a necessity, and
whatever dlscomforts they entail are
passed on as unavoidable and not
thought Of.
Taking Il all in all, in travelling In
the arctic regions philosophical com
mon sense IL as great help TO living
as It Is elsewhere. II one II subjected
to miserable discomforts II must be re-
garded simply as a part Of the life.
There is one other thing 20 which
would like to call attention II may
It Is always well before starting out to
resume the journey In the morning to
take as much tea and water as one
can hold. II Is impossible to get water
during the day without stopping to
build a fire and melt the snow unless
one carries a fask inside the clothing.
and this stopping uses up time.
Snow Is bad for the mouth and IN
time makes Il sore. besides not being
sufficient 10 quench the thirst except
for the moment. The worst feature of
eating snow Is that n one gives way 10
the temptation there Is no stopping for
the rest Of the day. for. while 1t
quenches the thirst for the time being.
It only serves to increase II IN the long
run, and shortly after taking some
snow one Is more thirsty than before.
II found that by drinking in the
morning | seldom was thirsty until
night and had no great desire to drink
unless a halt was made In the middle
Of the day and FIRE started for tea"
Evelyn Briggs Baldwin. arctic ex-
plorer, who was the meteorologist with
the Peary expedition OF 1884, second
In command OF the WellmaD expedl-
ton OF 1850 and leader Of the Bald
wln-Zlegler polar expedition Of 1902,
said the other day In speaking OF the
New York to Paris automobile race:
II think the race is entirely feasible.
Having passed so much time In the
arctic region, | naturally feel ! am
competent TO judge OF the likelihood OF
the contestants In the race getting sue
cessfully through the upper part OF
Alaska and Siberia. although, OF course,
arctic explorers have not much to do
with automobiles. as will be readily
understood.
II think the contestants would find
their journey greatly aided II they
make use OF horses whenever such use
might be necessary. On the Baldwin
ZIegler expedition ! caused a number
Of tough little ponies to be purchased
in Siberia and shipped to the north,
where we made excellent use of them.
"They are extremely hardy. and one
pony will haul as much as one entire
dog team, or about 500 or 900 pounds,
They do not eat their heads or as
the saying goes, and compressed hay
can be carried along on the loads. II
the occasion arises they can be utilized
for food, as was done on the Ziegler-
Baldwin expedition, and those who ate
the meat were not aware that they
we're not eating beef until some time
afterward.
"Reindeer cannot haul much more
than ninety or a hundred pounds, SO
1t win DO seen ut once how great an
advantage It Is to have ponies instead
OF reindeer, paid about $50 apiece
for ponies la Siberia. Eskimo dogs
cost me about SO each In Greenland,
but much more than that to have
them delivered on board our ship.
by taking ponies along with them
the contestants In the forthcoming
race viii find their troubles greatly
lessened, for the animals win extri-
cate them from many bad places In
the road. The horses will travel on
an average almost as far each day as
can the autolsts with their machines
through the worst parts OF their trip
that Is. IN Alaska and In northeastern
siberia.
1.-THE party must have some means
OF transporting extra parts for their
automobiles. food and other necessities,
for they cannot carry sufficient sup
plies OF this kind ON the machines
without loading them down SO that
good progress win be impossible. II
horses are not utilized dog teams
will have to be used. and they are not
as serviceable, need more looking after
and collectively win eat more than
will Siberian pony.
"As for obtaining them, they could
be purchased in western Siberia and
sent along the route through northeast
ern Siberia. say, as far as the Kolyma
river, where the autolsts could be met.
AS the ponies would not be needed
until next fall. there would be plenty
of time to send them from points
whore they might be purchased to the
Kolyma river or thereabout.
"of course ! am most anxious that
the American contestants shall win,
but whatever their nationality | hope
that the best sportsmen and those who
do best shall be victors."
Aluminium Money.