Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1909-07-22
AN ANTARCTIC : STORM ! ! i |
Braying the PeriIs Of a South
Polar Winters Night.
FIERCE FURY OF THE GALE.

FIERCE FURY OF THE GALE.
Adventures Of Party of Explorers In
Journey Over tl.s Broken Pacl
lce-The Solid Wal! Of Wind Tha,
Fianled a Friendly Iceberg.
The arctic explorer has always had
hardship and danger enough, but the
antarctic discoycrcr has far more ter.
rible conditions to meet. Luckily he
meets them with all the equipment
and method that arctic exploration has
taught mankind. Yet they are most
dangerous, as The story of those who
have lived through the south polar
winter night can testify. One of the
experiences of Bernacchi ON the cruise
OF the Southern Cross some years
ago shows what nn antarctic gale
means.
He and a comradc, Ellifsen, started
out on Il short sledge journey to carry
provisions from one camp TO another
IT was i'll September, aud the broken
Ice pack over which they must travel
was but n foot and Il half thick and
likely TO break III pieces afresh or pile
up IN deadly masses at the mercy OF
the sea and wind. The two men had
three sledges and eighteen dogs. They
had hardly started before the wind
rose and n gale threatened. Halfway
to their destination There was an ice.
berg imbeddcd in the pack ice, and
they FASTENED to reach this before the
storm should break.
For five hours they toilcd over the
Ice, the wind gradually rising. The
gale broke in fury just as they reach
cd the iceberg, under whose lee they
pitched a tiny silk tent, into which
they crawled after having fed their
dogs as best they could. Hour after
hour the wind ragged, and the thcr-
noinetor went to 8 degrees below zero.
The snow drifted over and into the
tent. Sleep was impossible.
The explorers. who had met tvploops
IN the China seas and cyclones i'm the
tropics, found by the aneroid as we'll
MS by their own sensations that this
gale surpassed them all. Worst of all
1t seemed as If the ice was beginnin,
TO crack They knew we'll that the
Iceberg which protected them from the
full force OF the storm was the most
dangerous place possible in other
ways. as the Ice was sure to separate
lirst Immediately round the berg.
throwing tent, men and dogs into the
Icy seas. The cracking Of ice was now
to be heard above the roar Of the
wind. They dared not stay In thcil
shelter.
A little to the east, Ee1nacchi re.
membercd, was a cave In the body Of
the iceberg. Once in tlllt. they woul,l
not Mt least be prcei1,itatcd into the
sea. even II they were carried away,
iceberg a,.d all. II was so dark that
the wall Of the berg could not be seen
even when the hands touched ii. The
two explorers sropcd rs best they
could along the slippery walls, both
hands on the fee and their bodies
pressed against it, Halfway around
they left tl!c lee side and met the
salc. 1t came like solid thing, bear,
inc thea back and dcwn. Not one
inch eculd they move against 1t, and
further exposure flaant death. They
CROPPED back, blinded deafcned and
almost paralyzed with cold to shelter
Then they commenced toilsome hunt
for foothold on the lee side some
where. Toward morning they found a
low spur or projection, upon which,
they scrambled and lay down perfect
ly exhausted in the snowdrifts, which
grew each moment. To this they owed
their lives, for the snow soon covered
them and kept in the warmth Of their
bodies
They dared not sleep for fear Of
never waking, so they reused each
other alternately. AT last day broke,
hnd the gale abatcd. Crawling over
The snow, their garments frozen stiff
rs boards, their boards solid Jumps Of
Ice, they managed to reach their tent.
The ice had not broken, though it was
cracked here and there They took
food, slept, fed their dogs, who were
deep In the drifts. but alive, and then
couragcously went ahead, mot caring
to be BEATEN" as Bernacchi expressed
1t. II was o'clock at night before
they reached camp, but the next day
they were exploring and taking photo.
graphs and observations just as usual
Man may seem puny against nature.
-
the antarctic by his unconqucrable
soul. : William Rittenhouse In For.
ward.
A Clever Barber.
"By heck, Cynthia" drawlcd Ole
FARMER Hardapple after his visit t.