Evening journal., 1909-10-09
DR. COOK IN LAST CHAPTER OF STORY OF DASH TO POLE,
in FORCED MARCHES OF RETURN TRIP FROM TOP OF EART
Heat of the Sun Is a Sham
and It's Light a Torment
to the Three StruggzerS
With Weary Nerves and Compass in Hand, DR.. Cook
Pods Ahead of the Sledges, Tracking the Route
to Home and Food Heat and Rest.

food enough to reach land, while even
short delays might easily jeopardize our
return. We could not, therefore, do 9TH
erwise than TO force ourselves against
the wind and drift with all possible speed
closing the eye to unavoidable suffering
With no alternative, we tried 10 per
lsuade ourselves that conditions might be
worse.
The eighty-seventh was crossed, the
eighty-sixth was neared. but there came
time when both mind and body wearied
Of the whole problem Of forced resolu-
ton.
/ The hard work of igloo building was
now a thing of the past--only one had
been built since leaving the pole, and in
/ it a precious day was lost, while the at
mospheric fury changed the face Of the
endless expanse of desolation The little
silk tent now housed US sufficiently from
/ the icy airs. There were still fifty de.
grees Of frost, but with hardened skins
and insensible nerve filaments the torture
was not so keenly felt.
The steady diet OF pemmican and tea
and biscuits was now entirely satisfac-
tory. We longed for enough TO give a
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 a change in shelter. from
the snow house to the tent, and our bed
was moved from the soft snow shelf OF
the igloo to the hard. wind swept crust.
TrivinIities Food for Thought.
In my wakeful watches to get a peer
lof the sun at just the right moment
was kept awake during much of the rest
ling period. and for pastime my eye,
WANDERED from suorting dogs to snoring
men. During one of these idle moment,
there came a solution of the utility of tn,
dogs tail. topic with which I had beer
lat play for several days. It is quoted
here at the risk of censure, because it /.
a typical phase of our lives which cannot
lbe illustrated otherwise. Seeming triv
ialities were seized upon as food fol
thought. Why has the dog a tail at all
The bear, the musk OK, the caribou anc
the hare, each in its own way succeed.
very we'll with hut q dwarfed stub. Why
does nature in the dog expend its best eff
fort in growing the finest fur over a seem
ingly useless line of tail bones? Tho
thing is distinctive, and one could hardly
conceive the creature without this acces
sorry, but nature in The Arctic does moi
often waste energy to display beauties
and temperament. This tail must have
an important use, otherwise il would sooT
fall under the knife Of frost and time
Yesl It was imported into the Arcti,
by the wolf progenitor Of the dog from
warmer lands. where its swing served q
useful purpose in fly time. A nose made
to breathe warm air requires some pro
ltection 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
larched to the wind and his face veiled
with an effective curl of his tail. He was
comfortably shielded from icy torment
by an appendage adapted TO that very
purpose.
4 Henvy snowstorin.
On May we we're stopped at six A. NJ.
lby the coming of the gloom of an un-
usual gale. The wind had been steady
and strong all night, but we did not heed
lite threatening increase of force until too
late. Ii came from the west, as usual,
driving coarse snow with needle points.
rhe 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
land gathered new breath 70 force a few
miles more.
j 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 a few blocks were cut and
set, but the wind swept them away like
lchips. The tent was tried, but it could
not be made TO stand in the rush Of the
roaring tumult. In sheer despair we
lcrept into the tent without erecting the
pole Creeping into the bags, we then
allowed the tapping silk TO be buried by
the drifting snow. Soon the noise and
discomfort of the storm were lost and VIC
lenjoyed the comfort Of an icy grave. An
efficient breathing hole was kept open and
the wind was strong enough 10 sweep of
the weight of a dangerous drift. A new
lesson was thus learned in fighting the
battle of life which was afterward 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
torn, but it was too strong and too cold
to travel. The food supply was noticeably
decreasing. The daily advance was re-
luced. With such weather starvation
eemed inevitable.
Camp was moved nearly every day. but
ambition sank to the lowest ebb. To the