The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-13
Heat of the Sun Is a Sham
and It's Light a Torment
to the Three StruggLerS
With Weary Nerves and Compass in Hand, Dr. Cook
Pods Ahead of the Sedges, Tracking the Route
to Home and Food, Heat and Rest

| 1000 enough TO TGdCn lduus Willie GNCA
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 to per
suade ourselves that conditions might be
worse.
The eighty-seventh was crossed. the
eighty-sixth was neared. but there came
a 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 precious day was lost. while the at
lmospheric 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-
lgrees Of frost. but with hardened skins
and insensible nerve flaments 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 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.
TriviaIities Food for Thought.
In my wakefuI watches to get a peep
of the sun at just the right moment
was kept awake during much Of the rest
ing period. and for pastime my eyes
wandered from snorting dogs to snoring
men. During one of these idle moments
there came a solution of the utility of the
dogs tail topic with which 7 had been
at play for several days. It is quoted
here at the risk of censure. because it is ,
typical phase of our lives which cannot
he illustrated otherwise. Seeming triv- >
ialities were seized upon as food for q
thought Why has the dog a tail at all?
The bear. the musk OK. the caribou and ?
the hare each in its own way succeeds
very well with but dwarfed stub. Why d
does nature in the dog expend its best eff q
fort in growing the finest fur over SEEM Ii
ingly useless line of tail bones? The '
thing is distinctive. and one could hardly r
conceive the creature without this aces
sorv. but nature in the Arctic does not i
often waste energy to display beauties d
and temperament. This tail must have v
an important use. otherwise it would soon t
fall under the knife of frost and time. S
Yes! 1t was imported into the Arctic a
by the wolf progenitor of the dog from t
warmer lands. where its swing served c
useful purpose in fly time. A nose made /
to breathe warm air requires some pro- y
lection in the Far North. No animal
feels this shortcoming as much as man. Il
The dog supplied the need with his tail s.
At the time when l made this discovery o
a cold wind charged with cutting crystals c
brushed the pack. Each dog had his back n
arched to the wind and his face yelled b
with an effective curl of his tail de was
comfortably shielded from icy torment
by an appendage adapted to that very il
purpose. II
Heavy SnOwstOrm. e
On May 6 we were stopped at six A M. 3
nv the coming of the gloom of an I'M y
usual gale. The wind had been steady
and strong all night. but we did not heed a.
its threatening increase of force until too te
late. 1t came from the west, as usual.
driving coarse snow with needle points. 81
The ice about was old and hummocky, III
offering a difficult line of march, but some
shelter. In the strongest blasts we threw ID
over the sled behind hummocks IL
md gathered new breath to force few "
niles more. .
Finally when no longer able to force Vi
he dogs through the binding drift we III
H., loo IF an unlifted hIock of ice. ~
Here suitable snow was found for snow
house and a few blocks were cut and III
Jet. but the wind swept them away like 10
.bips The tent was tried, but it could la
lot be made to stand in the rush of the W.
caring tumult. In sheer despair we 10
rept into the tent without erecting the
,oIe. Creeping into the bags, we then sI'
flowed the mapping silk to be buried by pr
Inc. drifting snow Soon the noise ana ru
iscomfort of the storm were lost and we an
nioyed the comfort of an icy grave. An sex
.ts1;,,,+ breathing hole was KENT omen and av
he wind was strong enough to sweep off
he weight of dangerous drift new We
.sson was thus learned in lighting the loI
attic of life which was afterward useful.
Several days of icy despair now fol- a
WED each other in rapid succession. The - .
ind did not rise to the full force of hir
form, but it was too strong and too cold
, travel. The food supply was noticeabiy W
ecreasing. The daily advance was re- sn'
uced With such weather starvation feS
eemed inevitable. Gee
Camp was moved nearly every day, but Wa
nbition sank to the lowest ebb. To the wa