The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-09-02
AMERICAN EXPLORER
 TELLS HIS OWN STORY
tContinuer from Page One,

tCOmNtmuer tfOtm fh&e Ouest
 Many Eskimos have gathered on the Greenland shores at Annatoak for the winter bear hunt. Immense quanti- ties of meat had been collected and about the camp were plenty of strong dogs. The combination was lucky for there was good material for equip ment. All that was required was con- veniently arranged for at a point only TOO miles from the Boreal Center. "A house and workshop were built of packing boxes by willing hands and this northermost tribe of 250 people set themselves to the problem of de- vising a suitable outfit Before the end of the long winter night we were ready for the enterprise and plans had matured to force a new route over Grinnel land northward along its west coast out on 10 the Polar sea-
 Exploring Party.
 "The campaign opened with few scouting parties being sent over the American shores to explore the way and seek the game haunts. This mis- sion was only partly successful be- cause of the storms.
 "At sunrise of 1908 (February 19). the main expedition embarked on its voyage to the Pole. It consisted of eleven men and 103 dogs drawing eleven heavily laden sledges. The ex- petition left the Greenland shore and pushed westward over the troubled ice of Smith Sound. The gloom of the long night was relieved only by a few hours of daylight. The chill oi the winter was felt at its worst.
 "As we crossed the heights of Files. mere Sound to the Pacific slope th' temperature sank :. to minus eighty three centigrade. Several dogs wer, frozen and the men suffered severely but we soon found the game trails along which the way was easy
 We forced through Nansen Sound to Lands End. In this march WI secured 1O1 musk oxen. seven bears
 and 3s5 hares.
 "We pushed out Into the Polar sea from the Southern point of Herbert Island on March IS. Six Eskimos re- turned from here. With four men and forty-six dogs moving supplies for eighty days, the crossing of the Cir cumpolar pack was begun. Three days later two other Eskimos. forming the last supporting party returned and the trials had now been reduced by the survival of the ffttest. The two best men and twentysix dogs were picked for the final effort.
 sight of the Goal.
 There before us in an unknown line of 46O miles lay our goal. The first days provided long marches and we made encouraging progress. big lead which separated the land from the ice of the central pack was cross ed with little delay. The low tenn perature was persistent and the winds made life a torture. But cooped up in our snow houses. eating dried beef tallow and drinking hot tea, there were some animal comforts occasion nal ly to be gained.
 For several days after the sight of known land was lost the overcast sky prevented an accurate determina- horizon was partly cleared and new land was discovered. Our observa- tions gave our position as latitude 84.47; longitude s6.3a There was urgent need of rapid advance, Our main mission did not permit a detour for the purpose of exploring tho coast Here were seen the last signs of solid earth; beyond there was nothing stable to be seen.
 We advanced steadily over the monotony of moving sea Ice and now found ourselves beyond the range Of all Iife-neither foot prints of bears nor the blow-holes of seals were de- tected. Even the microscopic creat- ures of the deep were no longer under us. The maddening Influence of the desert of frost became almost in the daily routine. The surface of the pack offered less and but there still remained the life sap ping wind which drove despair to its lowest recess.
 "The extreme cold compelled physi- cal action. Thus day after day our weary legs spread over big distances. Incidents and positions were recorded, but adventure was promptly forgotten in the next days efforts.
 Life of Shivers.
 "The night of April was was nota- ble by the sinking of the sun at mid night over the northern ice. Sunburns and frostbites now were recorded on the same day, but the double days gilt ter infused quite an incentive into ones life of shivers.
 "Our observation on April placed the camp in latitude se 36, lontitude S4.2.
 "In spite of what seemed long marches. we advanced but little over a hundred miles. Much of our work was lost in circuitous twists around trou- blesome pressure lines and high. IT, regular fields. A very old Ice drift, too. was driving eastward with sufft- cient force to give some anxiety All though still equal to about fifty miles daily, the extended marches and the long marches for travelling with which fortune favored us earlier, were no longer possible. We were now about 200 miles from the Pole and sledge loads were reduced. One dog after another went into the stomachs of the hungry survivors, until the teams were diminished in number, but there seemed to remain a sufficient balance for man and brute to push along into the heart of the mystery to which we had set ourselves.
 "On April 21. we had reached Se degree, 59 minutes, 46 seconds. The Pole was in sight. We covered the remaining fourteen seconds and made a few final observations.
 ,,Y .aIa tr.,,bt@hoar and AbwaIsI fNka