Willmar tribune., 1909-09-22

SIe080 all the way from Cape Columbia,
and with his enthusiasm and the powers
and physique Of the trained athlete
had confidence in him for at least the
S6th parallel. but there was no alterna-
tive.
The best sledges and dogs were select
ed and the sledge loads brought up to
the standard. The sounding gave .
depth of 325 fathoms.
We were over the continual shelf, and.
as had surmised. the successive leads
crossed in the fifth and sixth marches
composed the big lead and marked the
continual shelf.
On leaving the camp the expedition
comprised is men, II sledges and 100 dogs.
The next march was satisfactory as re-
CARDS distance and the character of tho
going. In the latter part there were
pronounced movements in the ice, both
visible and audible.
Some leads were crossed, In one Of
which Borup and his team took bath,
and we were finally stopped by an i'm
practicable lead opening in front of US.
We camped In temperature Of so de-
grees below.
At the end Of two short marches we
came upon Hansen and his party in
camp. mending their sledges. We de-
voted the remainder of the day to over
hauling and mending sledges and break
ing up our damaged ones for material.
Make Forced Marchoe.
The next morning I put Marvin in the
lead to pioneer the trail, with instruc-
tions to make two forced marches to
bring up our average which had been
cut down by the last two short ones.
Marvin carried out his instructions i'm
plicitly. A considerable amount Of young
ice assisted in this.
At the end of the tenth march, latitude
1928. Borup turned back in command Of
the second supporting party. having trav-
eled distance equivalent to Nansen's
distance from this far to his favthest
north.
1 was sorry to lose this young Yale
runner, with his enthusiasm and pluck.
He had led his heavy sledge over the
f1oes in way that commanded every
ones admiration and would have made
his fathers eyes glisten.
Changes His Plan.
From this point the expedition COM
prised 20 men, 10 sledges, and 70 dogs. It
was necessary for Marvin to take
sledge from here, and I put Bartlett
and his division in advance to pioneer
the trail.
The continual daylight enabled me to
make moderation here that brought my
advance and main parties closer together
and reduced the likelihood Of their be-
ing separated by open leads.
After Bartlett left camp with Hender-
son and their division, Marvin and re-
mained with our division 20 hours long
er and then followed. When we reached
Bartlett's camp he broke out and went
on and we turned in. BY this arrange
ment the advance party was travelling
while the main party was asleep. and
vice versa. and I was in touch with my
advance party every "a hours.
Moves Expeditiously.
I had no reason to complain OF tho
going for the next two marches, though
for less experienced party. less adapt
able sledges. or less perfect equipment it
would have been an impossibility.
At our position at the end of the Sec
| ond march. Marvin obtained q satisfac-
tory sight for latitude In clear weather,
| which placed us at S5.48 The result
agreed satisfactorily with the dead reck-
| oning of Marvin. Bartlett and myself.
Up to this time. the slight altitude Of
the sun had made it not worth while to
waste time In observations.
On the next two marches the going i'm
proved. and we covered good distances.
In one Of these marches a lead delayed
US a few hours. We finally ferried across
| the Ice cakes.
Makes Record Run.
The next day Bartlett let himself out,
evidently, for a record, and reeled of 20
| miles. Here Marvin obtained anothe,
the position as S6.3S Cor beyond the farth.
| est north Of Nansen and AbruzzD. and
| showed that we had covered 80 minutes
| of latitude In three marches.
In these three marches we had passed
! the Norwegian record of 1914, by Nam
sen, and the Italian record Of s6.s4, by
Cagni.
From this point Marvin turned back in
command of the third supporting party.
| My last words to him were: BE care
full of the leads, my boy"
The party from this point comprised
| nine men. seven sledges. and 60 dogs
| The conditions at this camp and the an
ice In every direction reminded me Of
Cagni's description of his farthest north
Danger 10 Encountered.
But I was not deceived by the appar-
emily favorable outlook, for available
conditions never continue for any dis
tance or any length Of time in the arc
tic regions.
The next march was over good rc-
ing. but for the first time since leaving
land we experienced that condition. fre-
quent over these ice fields Of a hazy at
mosphere, in which the light is equal
everywhere. All relief il destroyed, and
1t Is impossible to see for any distance
We were obliged in this march to make
| a detour around an open lead. In the
and deepest snow of the journey. through
thick. smothering mantle lying in tho
depressions of heavy rubble ice.
Temporarily Discouraged.
ca,ne upon Bartlett and his party.
tagged out and temporarily discouraged
by the heartracking work of making
| road
I knew what was the matter with
them. They were simply spoiled by the
good going on the previous marches. I
rallied them bit, lightened their sledges
| and sent them on encouraged again.
During the next march we travelled
through thick haze drifting over the
| Ice before a biting air from tho north
east. At the end of the march we came
upon the captain camped beside a wide
open lead with a dense black water sky
northwest. north and northeast.
Has Marrow Escape.
We built our igloos and turned in, but
before had fallen asleep I was reused
out by a movement of the ice and found
startling condition of affairs-a rapid
ly-widening road Of black water ran
] only few feet from our igloos.
One OF the teams of dogs had escaped
by only few feet from being dragged
by the movement of the ice into the wa
ter.
Another team had an equally narrow
escape from being crushed by the ice
blocks piled over them. The ice on the
north side OF the lead was moving around
| eastward. The small floor on which
were the captains igloos was drifting
eastward in the open water, and the side
OF our tgloos threatened to follow suit
Saved by Quick Dash.
Kicking out the door Of the igloos
called to the captains men to pack
their sledges and be ready for a quick
dash when a favorable chance arrived.
We hurried our things on our sledges.