Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-07

by George w. Melville, subsequently chleI
engineer of the navy. They took to the
boats at open water, and in terrihc
storm at night the three boats were sepa-
rated. Lieutenant Chip and his ten men
were never heard from and probably met
disaster by drowning. DeLong, with thir-
teen men, landed at the imperfectly
charted mouth of the Lena river, in ST.
beria They found not only one large
river, but a delta formed by many and
were lost. Naras and Mindemann, two of
the men, were sent ahead and managed to
make a settlement, where they were found
by men from the Melville party which
had made its way to the little village.
Melville and his men afterward found
the frozen and lifeless bodies Of the De-
Long party.
The drifting of the wreck OF the jean
nette, however gave that knowledge as
to the probable trend of the Arctic cur
rents on which Nansen later based his
plan Of drifting over the pole in the Franz
Thus. though misfortune claimed another
sacrifice of life. the work of polar investi-
CATION was f1Irthered even by this tragedy.
Adolphus w. Greely, 1981-19a4
The so-called "Greely Expedition is
ANONYMOUS now for Arctic research the
world over Born in Newburyport, Mass,
on March q, 1874. Adolphus Washington
Greedy served in the civil war and at its
close was appointed a lieutenant IN the
regular army. Today he is major gem
eral. In 1881 he was appointed to the
command of an expedition to establish
an Arctic observation station, In accord
ance with the plan of the Hamburg Inter-
national Geographical congress Of 1879
providing for the erection Of chain of
ARfh
concerted international action.
Leaving ST. Johns, N. F., in the Pro-
teus, on July 7, 1881, with twenty-four
men. Greedy on August 12 1884, reached
Discovery harbor, in latitude 81 degrees
A minutes north, longitude GA degrees 40
minutes west, where he established his
station A detachment of his expedition,
under David Legg Brainard, penetrated
to latitude SO degrees 24la minutes NORTH
longitude 30 degrees 4s1s minutes west on
May Is, 1882, a higher latitude than any
heretofore attained.
Compelled by the failure of relief ex-
peditions to reach him. as had been an
ticipated, Greedy began his retreat south
ward on August 9, 1882, and was rescued
at Cape Sabine by a relief party under
Rear Admiral Winfield S. Schley, then
captain, on June 20, 1884, after having lost
eighteen of his men.
It was then learned that relief ship
which had been sent out in 1882 had been
crushed in the ice.
The suffering of the Greely party had
been great. In miserable starvation quar-
ters scurvy had played frightful havoc
with the intrepid men, Many died in weak
Attempts to obtain fod by hunting game.
Henry, one of the prlvates with the ex-
pedition, was executed for stealing a small
quantity of Arctic shrimp when that was
all the food upon which the whole party
was dependent Greedy was so weak he
could not leave his tent when he heard
the sound of a vessels whistle. Shortly
thereafter relief parties landed from the
Thetis and the Bear, the two American
warships which rescued the handful of
survivors
DR.. Fridtjof Nansen, 19s2-1893
The truly modern era Of Arctic explora-
ton usually is regarded by the present
generation as having its opening with the
name of DR.. Fridtjof Nansen, who was
born near Christiania, Norway, on october
TO- 1851 About 1882 he hearkened to the
lure of the north by making voyage to
the Jan Mayan and Spitzbergen seas and
the sea between Iceland and Greenland in
a sealing ship. having for his main pur-
pose however, the observance or animal
life in high attitudes. He then served as
curator of the Natural History museum
at Bergen, Norway. In 1888 and 1859 ne
won glory by being the first man to cross
the desolate country of Greenland, MAX
ing the trip from east to west on snow
shoes His small party encountered great
difficulties in encompassing the terrible
ice cap, that hitherto had dehed even the
hardest explorers. The upward journey
over the plateau, which reached an eie-
walton of 1900 feet, required weeks OF des-
perate effort.
Having carefully studied the subject of
Arctic currents, as information was pos
sible through deducing conclusions from
observations at chance intervals of ex-
plorers or adventures of the wreck OF
the Jeannette, DR.. Nansen essayed his
memorable polar expedition in 1898 on the
shin Fran, which had been especially
with the object OF success
fully encountering the ice floes. he de-
parted from Christiania in June, 1898, IN
tending. IL possible to drift from the ST.
berjan coast across the North Pole to the
coast of Greenland, That long drifting
VOYAGE of three years, which wrote an
other record of reaching latitude Sc de-
grees IA minutes north, is comparatively
recent history.
Robert E. Peary, U. S. NJ 1ss0-1sos
1t was the Arctic research work of Rob
bert Edwin Peary, of the United States
navy. now in the polar regions, which
had inspired the efforts Of DR.. Nansen.
Entering the navy in 1884, Peary, who
was born at Cresson Springs, Pa, in
May, 1856 made a reconnaissance of the
Greenland inland ice in 1886. In June,
1891. he sailed from New York on the
Kite and, making his headquarters at
Mccormick bay on the western coast of
Greenland, he made sledge excursions
along Whale sound, Inglefeld gulf and
Humboldt glacier, proving the converg-
ence of the eastern and western coasts OF
Northern Greenland. At that time ne
reached latitude 50 degrees on the eastern
coast of that land, the insularity OF which
he had proven.
In 1so4-95 he got almost to the 18th par
allel on the west Greenland coast; IN
1S9S-99 he went to between the 18th ana
SOth parallels, the east coast OF ELS
mere Land; in 1912 he discovered Peary
strait, on the north coast Of Greenland
and following the coast to Academy
Land. at about the SOth meridian, gave
10 the world the first chart OF this un-
known territory
On this trip he penetrated above the
eighty-second parallel. In 1900 he took the
east coast of Grlnnell Land, reaching the
parallel. In l9O5-O6 ne
skirted the north coast of Grinnelll Land
made his winter quarters at Cape Sheri-
dan Grant Land, and when ready 10
start for the pole moved past Cape Heck
la on the west, and from there to Cape
Moss. from which he started his attack
on the pole.
All Of these expeditions led over what
has since become known as the American
route, and which seems to offer the best
foundation for a polar expedition, as 1t is
approximately one hundred miles nearer
the goal than the Spitzbergen base which
has been used so often heretofore, and
which, curiously enough, is being made