Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-25

Fort Conger. at Lady Franklin bay, where
expedition had wintered In 1881 and
1882, ere attempting the famous retreat TO
Cape Sabine, which ended so disastrousiy'
From the fateful 9Th Of August, 1883, when
Greedy and his men left II, no human foot
had crossed It's threshold, and Peary
counted on finding in good repair the
wooden house which had sheltered then
and an ample supply Of stores available
for his W purposes, because Greedy had
been unable to bring away any more thar
two boatloads when they left.
Two of His Serious
In this new project Peary again met with
q check, the most serious setback of his
whole Arctic career. When entering Nc
Cormack bay in 1891, on his first eXpedi'
ton, the wheel chain of his steamship, tht
Kite. snapped in a collision with an ice
mass, and, whipping across the deck
struck his leg Just below the knee, break.
ing both bones. Although helpless fol
three months, he recovered use OF his LED
again, and as early as the next spring wal
making his great Journey across theG Green.
land ice cap. as already told.
In his advance toward Fort Conger, In
the last week OF 1898, a stil greater mis-.
fortune befell him, when, crossing the floC
at Baird Inlet to avoid the longer Journey
involved in skirting the shore, he was over
whelmed by a driving blizzard and this
party lost it's way. Peary, Dederick and
Henson were scouting ahead with on
sledge, the Eskimos following with sup.
plies. The two parties were separated
and the natives retreRted to the and
Peary and his two companions sought
shelter in a cavity OF an icebsrg, wherS
they were storm-bound for thiTty-six hours
and a to kill q dog TO stave off starva'
ton.
UnseIfishness As Heavy Cost.
The doctor complaining OF his feet be,
coming frozen, Peary offered him his owr
reserve pair Of "kameks," elder duck skin:
made into stockings, the native footweal
Of the region. This u-nselfishness, Will,
saving the doctors feet, probably cos
Peary his own. His toes were affected a.
the hours worn on, and when he realized
that there was something wrong, II wal
too late to repair the mischief The storm
over, they made their way TO Fort Conger
Peary, already helpless, was drawn along
by his companions. In the gloom OF tbs
polar midnight they staggered across tn,
threshold of the house, u~ntenGnted fl
more than fifteen years, and CROPPED bllndll
about for the materials 10 produce a ligh
and make a fire. This done, attention wa.
turned to Peary, who was found to hav,
his feet so badly frosted that seven toe
required immediate RmputatiOn, a task sue
cessfuIly accomplished with the all-inade
quate appliances at DIT. Dederiek's dis
posal.
here the three stayed for six months
communication being renewed with tn
Eskimos and the ship until Peary was SUI
Iciently recovered TO be removed south 4
the Windward. where a second operation
Was performed, which incapacitated hin
again for a time. OF course, this unfor
tunate affair put IL out Of the question {
attempt anything further In the way o
exploring then. but 1t is characteristic o
the man thai while he lay III abed at For
Conger he was having his comrades re
pair the structure so as TO make Il habit
able for some years. Il had suffered from
the storms. but by ~dismantsling the out