Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1909-09-16

lieved me Or All hnKiety y 70 0fn pii
n the morning | discovered that
MacMillan's foot was badly frost BIT
ten. The mishap had occurred two or
three days before, but MACMILLAN had
said nothing about 1t in the hope that
II would come out all right.
A glance at the injury showed me
that the only thing was to send him
back to Cape Columbia at once. The
arrival OF Marvin and Borup enabled
me to spare sufficient men and dogs
to go back with him. az
Loss Of Macmillan Serious.
This early loss Of Macmillan was
seriously disappointing to me. He had
a sledge all the way from Cape Co
lumbia, and with his enthusiasm and
the powers and physique Of the trained
athlete l had confidence In him for at
least the eighty-sixth parallel, but
there was no alternative. f
The best sledges and dogs were
selected and the sledge loads brought
up to the standard. The sounding
gave q depth Of 1926 fathoms. W
we W6Ic UVCI huC COhtthuAA oAGAAt
and, as had surmised, the successive
leads crossed in the fifth and sixth
marches composed the big lead md
marked the continual shelf.
On leaving the camp the expedition
comprised 16 men, IL sledges and 100
dogs. The next march was satisfac-
tory as regards distance and the char
acter Of the 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 a temperature Of
SO degrees 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
overhauling and mending sledges End
breaking up our damaged ones for r1a-
terial.
Marvin Pioneers the Trail.
The next morning / put Marvin in
the lead to pioneer the trail, with in
structions 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 instruc-
lions implicitly. A considerable
amount Of young ice assisted in this.
At the end of the tenth march, lati-
tude 1928, Borup turned back in COM
mand of the second supporting party
having travelled a distance equivalent
to Nansen's distance from this far to
his farthest north.
l was sorry to lose this young Yale
runner, with his enthusiasm and
pluck. He had led his heavy sledge
over the foes in way that command
ed every ones admiration, and would
have made his fathers eyes glisten.
Alternate In Taking Lead.
From this point the expedition com.
prised 20 men, 10 sledges and 10 dogs.
It was necessary. for Marvin. To take q
sledge here, ana kSput Bartlett and
his division IL advance to pioneer the
trail.
The continual daylight. enabled me
10 make moderation here that
brought my advance and main parties
closer Together and reduced the llkeli-
hood Of their being separated by open
leads.
After Bartlett. left camp with Hem
dersOn and their division, Marvin and
remained with our divisions twenty
hours longer and then followed. When
we reached Bartlett's camp he broke
out and went on and we turned in. BY
this arrangement the advance party
was travelling while the main party
was asleep, and vice versa, and / was
In touch with my advance party every
"a hours,
Marches Without Trouble.
/ had no reason to complain of the
going for the next two marches,
though for less experienced party,
less adaptable sledges, or less perfect
equipment 1t would have been an i'm
possibility.
At our position at the end OF the
second march, Marvin obtained a sat
isfactory sight for latitude in clear
weather, which placed us at 85.4S, The
result agreed satisfactorily with the
dead reckoning Of Marvin, Bartlett
and myself.
Up to this time, the slight altitude
Of the sun had made 1t not worth
while to waste time IN observations.
On the next two marches the going
improved, and we covered good dis
tances. In one Of these marches q
lead delayed us a few hours. We final
ly ferTied across the ice cakes
Bartlett Goes Twenty Miles.
The next day Bartlett let himself
out, evidently, for record, and reeled
on 20 miles. Here Marvin obtained
another satisfactory sight on latitude,
which gave the position as 1898 Tor
beyond the farthest north of Nansen
and Abruzzi), and showed that we had
covered so minutes Of latitude in three
marches.
In these three marches we had
passed the Norwegian record OF S6.14,
by hansen, and the Italian record Of
1894, by Cagni
From this point Marvin turned
back In command Of the third sup
porting party. My last words to him
we're: BE careful of the leads, my
boy"
The party from this point comprised
. men, sledges and 60 dogs. The