The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1909-09-14
Double Use For Boxes.

VISIONS ana supplies enough TO last 1oT
three years.
Double Use For Boxes.
DR.. Cook and had our supplies put
up in big boxes, about three feet
square, with tin inside, and the outside
them filed, SO that we could use the
wood for building the winter house
and then have the stuff inside the
tin in good shape. left him plenty of
coal and plenty of gasoline. etc. You
see, we did not want to carry lot of
wood up there. The use Of wood
around the tin boxes was to save space
and to build the house.
DR.. Cook spent the winter occupied
with preparations and planned to start
northwest in February over the ice Of
Smith sound and over Ellesmere Land
In order to reach the sea at about 83
degrees north latitude. He arranged
to take with him several families of
Eskimos and a canvas boat. If all
went we'll / was sure he would reach
the pole and get back to Kennedy
channel within three months. He fed
the dogs on musk OK, of which there
| Is plenty He had Eskimos at five
points in Ellesmere Land to cover his
retreat, as It were, and when he made
his final dash he Travelled light. with
| only two sleds and two Eskimos.
The success of his now historic trip
was due largely to favorable weather.
Left Eskimo Families Along Route.
DR.. Cooks plan to leave groups of
| families of Eskimos at different points
along his route was undoubtedly an
| other big aid to his success on his
dash to the pole. His route lay more
to the westward than that of many
| others.
| His object In going to the far west
| was to get away from the sea drift Of
| the Ice so that the drift of ice to the
east would not interfere with him on
| the return. The natives Travelled to
| the east again to cover his retreat
when he came back from the pole and
struck land again He figured it would
| take 100 to 100 days on the ice. In
his winter house he had a drying
which he wound around his room so
that he could dry all the Walrus ! kill
| ed when | was up there, which he was
| to carry for bis dogs. OF course they
had plenty of meat and everything
1 else for ali hands for three years, so
that even if he did not get musk oxen
| he had plenty of other food. If he
could get musk oxen, so much the bet
ter, and he could keep the other, as it
keeps indefinitely AS he lightened up
on his dash to the pole DR.. Cook
| abandoned one sled and killed his
weak dogs to feed them to the strong
/ ones, so that he could make fast time
/ Planted Two Flags at Pole.
| DR.. Cook told me he would plant two
flags at the pole IL he reached it, one
the American stars and stripes and the
other the little green and white emblem
known as the Bradley arctic expedi-
tion flag.
! ! may say that I had to forego in
surance on my yacht during this trip,
| as the insurance companies told us
arctic exploration was too perilous to
permit of the vessel being accepted as
/ good risk. No one need fear illness
up there in those regions, for, as every
arctic traveller has testified, sanitary
conditions are ideal.
On the return trip on the John R.
Bradley after leaving DR.. Cook we en-
countered fierce gales and came near
| going down in the awful gale of Sept
is or Labrador, in which seventy ships
were lost. The John r. Bradley had
/ to be reftted at North Sydney and
! had to wait for wind to take her to
Gloucester, as her engine was disabled.
DR.. Cook couldn't wait long at the
pole. as he had to get back off the ice.
He had to be gone two years from the
time he left America. He could not
get back any sooner. You can't go up
one year and go on to the pole. You
must use one year to go up as far
north as possible with your vessel.
For instance, Peary got up with the
Roosevelt a little farther north than
we did and put his vessel up for the
| winter. He built his sleds then and
did everything necessary for the time
to come TO make his dash. 1t is total
darkness all this time, but they do
have beautiful moonlit nights. DR.
Cook arranged to start in January,
when it is dark. The sun begins to
come out every day little lighter, and
In July and August you have the mid
| night sun and no darkness Mhafever.