The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-11-06
Heat of the Sun Is a Sham
and Its Light a Torment
to the Three Strugglers
With Weary Nerves and Compass in Hand, Dr. Cook
PlodS Ahead of the Sledges, Tracking the Route
to Home and Food, Heat and Rest.

food enough n roach land. while even
short delays nigh. easily jcopnrdize our
return. We could not, therefore, do 9th
erwisc than 10 force ourselves against
the wind and drift with all possible speed
closing the eye 10 unavoidable suffering.
With no alternative. We tried 70 per
suade ourselves that conditions might be
worse.
The oighty.sovcnth was crossed. the
/ eighty sixth was nearcd. but there came
a time when both mind and body wearied
| Of the whole problem Of forced rcsolu'
! ton.
! The hard work OF ieloo building was
now thing Of the past-only one had
been built since leaving the pole. and in
I L precious day was lost. while the at
nospherc fury changed the face Of the
endless eNpanse of desolation The little
] silk tent now housed us sufficiently from
the icy airs. There were still City dc.
Grces Of frost. but with hardened skins
and insensible nerve tilaments the torture
was not so keenly felt.
Tho steady diet of pemmican and tea
and biscuits was now entirely satisfac.
tory. We longed for enough to give q
| real filing sense. but the ration was
slightly reduced rather than increased.
The change in life from winter to sum.
mer. which should take place at about
this time of the year. was in our case
marked only by change in shelter. from
the snow house 20 the tent. and our bed
was moved from the soft snow shelf of
the igloo to the hard. wind swept crust
Trivialitics Food tor Thought.
! In my wnkeful watches 20 get peep
| of the sun at just the right moment
| was kept awake during much of the rest
ing period, and for pastime my eyes
wandered from snorting dogs TO snoring
men. During one of these idle moments
there came a solution Of the utility Of The
dogs tail. n topic with which had been
at play for several days. II is quoted
here at the risk of censure. because il is
n typical phase of our lives which cannot
be illustrated otherwise. Seeming triv.
ialities were seized upon as food for
The bear, the musk OK. the caribou and
the hare, each in its own way succeeds
very we'll with but dwarfed stub. Why
does nature in the dog expend its best ef-
fort in growing the finest fur over seem
ingly useless line of tail bones? The
thing is distinctive. and one could hardly
conceive the creature without this acces.
s,. IL nt
often waste energy to display beauties
and temperament. This tail must have
an important Use, otherwise 1t would soon
fall under the knife Of frost and time.
Yes! 1t was imported into the Arctic
by the wolf progenitor of the dog from
warmer lands, where its swing served n
useful purpose in fly time. A nose made
to breathe warm mir requires some pro-
lection in the Far North. No animal
feels this shortcoming as much as man.
The dog supplied the need with his tail.
At the time when | made this discovery
a cold wind charged with cutting crystals
brushed the pack. Each dog had his back
arched 20 the wind and his face vei!ed
with an effective curl Of his tnil. He was
comfortably shielded from icy torment
by an appendage adapted to that very
purpose.
4 Heavy SnowstornI.
On May G we were stopped at six A. NJ.
by the coming Of the gloom Of "n un-
usual gale. The wind had been steady
and strong all night, but we did not heed
ITS threatening increase of force until too
late. 1t came from the west, as usual,
driving coarse snow with needle points.
The ice about was old and hummocky,
offering difficult line of march, but some
shelter. In the strongest blasts we threw
ourselves over the sled behind hummocks
and gathered new breath to force u few
miles more.
Finally when no longer able to force
the dogs through the binding drift We
sought the lee of an uplifted block of ice.
Here suitable snow was found for snow
house and n few blocks were cut and
set, but the wind swept them away like
chips. The tent was tried, but 1t could
not be made to stand in the rush Of the
roaring tumult. In sheer despair we
crept into the tent without erecting the
pole. Creeping into the bags, We then
allowed the Tapping silk to be buried by
ne drifting SNOW Soon the noise and
discomfort Of the storm were lost and we
enjoyed the comfort Of an icy grave. An
efficient breathing hole was kept open aud
the wind was strong enough to sweep of
the weight of dangerous drift. A new
lesson was thus learned in lighting the
battle of life which was aftcrward useful.
Several days Of icy despair now fol-
lowed each other in rapid succession. The
wind did not rise to the full force of a
storm. but it was too strong and too cold
to travel. The food supply was noticeably
decreasing, The daily advance was re-
duced. With such weather starvation
seemed inevitable.
Camp was moved nearly every day, but
s"hi'op sank to the lowest ebb. To the