Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1909-09-18

"A few hours sleep and we were on
the trail again. AS the going was now
practically horizontal. we were unham
pered and could travel as long as we
pleased and sleep as little as we
wished. We had made twenty miles
in ten hours and were half way to the
S9th parallel
Ice Grinding Audibly.
THE ice was grinding audibly in
every direction, but no motion was
visible. Evidently il was settling back
into equilibrium and probably sagging
due northward with its release from
the wind pressure.
Again there was a few hours stop,
and we hit the trail before midnight.
The weather and going were even bet.
ter. The surface, except as interrupt
ed by %infrequent ridges, was as level
az the glacial fringe from Hecla to
Columbia and harder.
Eve marched something over ten
hours. the dogs being often IN the trot
and made twenty miles. Near the end
of the march we rushed across a lead
100 yards wide, which buckled under
our sledges and finally broke as the
last sledge left It.
1--WE stopped in sight of the seth
parallel, in q temperature of 40 de-
grees below. Again a scant sleep and
we were on our way once more and
across the seth parallel.
1--WE made twenty-five miles or more
the air, the sky, and the bitter wind
burning the face till it cracked. It
was like the great interior ice cap of
Greenland. Even the natives complain
ed of the bitter cir. 1t was as keen as
frozen steel.
"a little longer sleep than the pre-
vious ones had to be taken here. as
we we're all in need of it. Then on
again.
Before ! turned in ] took an obser.
walton which indicated our position as
1925. A dense, ~lifeless pail hung over
head. The horizon was black and the
ice beneath was a CHASTITY, chalky
white. with no relief-a striking con.
trast to the glimmering. sunlit fields of
it over which we had been travelling
for the previous -four days.
"A rise in temperature to Is below
reduced the friction of the sledges and
gave the dogs the appearance of hav-
ing caught the spirits of the party.
The more sprightly ones, as they went
along with tightly curled tails, fire
~quently tossed their heads with short,
sharp barks and yelps.
"In twelve hours we made forty
miles. There was no sign of a lead in
the march.
The Pole at Lastl
81 had now made my five marches
and was in time for a hasty noon OBJ.
servation through a temporary break
in the clouds, which indicated our pc.
sition as 1857. l quote an entry from
my journal some hours later:
1.-The pole at last! The prize of
three centuries. my dream and goal
for twenty years, mine at last / can
not bring myself to realize IT.
cit all seems SO simple and com
monplace. AS Bartlett said when turn.
ing back, when speaking of his being
in these exclusive regions which no
mortal had ever penetrated before:
at is just like every day!'
"Of course I had many sensations
that made sleep impossible for hours,
despite my utter ~fatigue-the sensa-
tons of a lifetime; but I have no room
for them here.
THE first thirty hours at the pole
were spent in taking observations; In
going some ten miles beyond N camp
and some eight miles to the right of
it: in taking photographs. planting my
flags. depositing my records, studying
the horizon with my telescope for pos
sible land, and searching for a prac-
ticable place to make a sounding.
"Ten hours after our arrival the
clouds cleared before a light breeze
from our left, and from that time un-
til our departure in the afternoon Of
April z the weather was cloudless and
fawless. The minimum temperature
during the thirty hours was S3 below,
the maximum ~.
I'VE had reached the goal, but the
return vas still before us. 1t was es-
sential that we reach land before the
next spring tide. and we must strain
every nerve to do this"
The party travelled several hours,
slept an hour OF two, ate and went
ahead. This they did day and night
Peary did not make any ocean sound
Ing until he returned to the S7th par
allel. He dropped a line 5000 feet and
found no bottom. Then the line snap
ped. A few marches brought Peary
to the spot where he had dropped Cap
tain Bartlett. and, with the exception
of a few stretches OF open water and
one storm, the return was simple,