The Mena weekly star., 1909-10-21

cold
 All nature was false. We seemed 10 lc nearing the chilled flame of a new hades. In our hard life there was nothing genuinely warm. The congen- ial appearances were all deception. but deat'i offered only cold comfort. There was no advantage In suicide.
 We should have enjoyed this curious experience. but with endless bodily dis comforts. combined in aching muscles and an oyerbearing languor. there could be no real joys from the glories of na- ture. The pleasure was reserved for a later retrospect
 We now changed our working hours from day to night. beginning usually at 10 and ending at3 The big march es and prolonged hours of travel with which fortune favored us earlier we're no longer possible. Weather condi- tions were more important sn deter mining the days run than the hands of the chronomcters.
 When the storms threatened the start was delayed. and in strong blows the march was shortened, but in one way or another we usually found a few hours in each turn of the dial dur. ing which march could be forced be- tween winds. IL mattered little wheth. CT we travelled night or day-all hours and all days were alike to us- for we had no accustomed time of rest no Sundays. no holiday. no landmarks or inileposts 10 pass To advance and ex- pend the energy accumulated. during one sleep at the cost of our pound of pemmican was the one sole aIm fin life.
 Tie observations oi April II gave lar,ude sT degrees 20 minutes. longi- tude N5 minutes ly seconds. The pack disturbance of Bradley Land was less and less noted in the northward move ment The fields became heavier lar ger and less creyassed.
 l We bad now passed the highest reaches of all our predecessors and had gained the inspiration of the far thest north for ourselves. The time was at hand. however. to consider seri- ousIy the necessity of an early return.
 Nearly half of the food allowance had been used In ths long marches { supplies had been more lberaily used | than anticipated. aud now our dog teams were much reduced iii numbers. A hard necessity had forced the cruel law Of the survival of the fttest. for l the less useful dogs were fed 10 the eteady working survivors. Owing to the food limits aud the advancing sea. son we could not prudenfly continue the outward march q fortnight longer 1 We had dragged ourselves 300 miles over the polar sea in twenty-four days Including delays and detours. this gave an average ef nearly thirteen miles daily on an air line in our course. There remained an unknown line of ! l,U mites before our ambitions could ] be saiIsued. The same average ad- vance which we had made oil the pack would take us to tue pole in thirteen days. There were food and fuel enough to risk this adventure.
 In the diary Of the succeeding days | doings there appear numerous tabu- latious of work and observations. In the new cracks the thickness of tho | ice was rrir1.suTctl. The water was ex- amlned for life. Atmospheric, surface | water and ice temperatures were talk en. the barometer was noted. the cloud formations. weather conditions and ice drifts were ,abulated.
 | watched daily for possible signs of dangerous failure in strength. for serious disability now meant q fatal termination.
 A disabled man could neither con tinue nor return. but every examina- tion gave auother reusoll to push hu- man endurance 10 the limit of the strain of every fiber and cell The hard work which folIOwed, under an I occasional burst of burning sunbeams, brought intense thirst
 l Forcing tue habit of the camel. we ,uanaeed to take epough water before starring to keep sufficient liquid 'a the veins for tue days march. but t was difficult to await tue melting of she lee at camping time.
 In two SittingS-eNenlnB anu thoth Ing-each took an average of three ulnrts of water daily. This included inc tea and also the luxury of an oc- casionai soup. There was water aboHR eyer rwhere m heaps but il was iii crystals. and before the thirst could be uuenched several ounces of pre- rious fuel. which had been earFled thousands of miles. must be used Anu stlll this water. SD expensive and So necessary 10 sls. ultimately became the createst bane to comfort It escapeu I through tue pores of the skin. satu- ratcd fine boots. forced band oI ice under the knee and belt of ffost .,.,. ,ha waisi. while the face wass np,lrly always incascd n iiiasA v ;cicIes from the breatii-a necessary ns,t .f our hard lot in life. and We | learned to take the torture phiiosoph'
 caly. .
 From the eighty-seyenth to the e,obty eighth parallel we passed iof two days over old ice without pressure liues ar hummocks There was no us @arn,hle line of demarcation for the as,as and fl was quite impossible 'o datermlne if we were on land or ssa ,.a The barometer indicated ID s'e xat,on hut he lee had the hafat ""'. ,ns surface of glacial ice. win oh,s superticiai crevasses, me "a,ss '.. q, |