The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1909-09-17

When he left I felt for a ome
pangs OF regret as he disappeared in
the distance, sui il was only ONE
tary. My work was stiN ahead. not in
the rear.
Bartlett had done good work and had
been a great help to me. Circumstances
had thrust the brunt of the pioneering
upon him instead OF dividing it among
several, as I had planned.
he had reason to take pride in the
fact that he had bettered the Italian
record by a degree and a quarter and
had covered q distance equal to the
entire distance OF the Italian expedi-
ton from Frans Josef's lane to Cagni's
farthest north.
l had given Bartlett THE position and
post Of honor in command Of my
fourth and last supporting party. and
for two reasons first. because of his
magnificent handling OF the Roosevelt;
second, because he had ch%eerfully stood
between me and many trihing annoy
ances on the expeditions.
Then there was a third reason. 1t
seemed to me appropriate in view of
the magnificent British record Of arc
tic work, covering three centuries, that
it should be a British subject who
could boast that, next to an American,
he had been nearest the pole.
Last Struggle at Hand.
With the disappearance of Bartlett /
turned to the problem before me. This
was that for which l had worked for So
years. for which l had lived the simple
life; for which l had conserved all my
energy on the upward trip; for which
I had trained myself a. for a race, crush
ing down every worry about success.
In spite OF my years, / felt in trim
At for the demands OF the coming DAYS
and eager to be on the trail.
As for my party. my equipment. and
supplies, l was in shape beyond my
most sanguine dreams OF earliest years.
My party might be regarded as an
ideal, which had now come to realization
as loyal and responsive to my will as
the fingers of my right hand.
Party Ideal for Effort.
Four Of them possess the technique Of
dogs. sledges, ice, and cold as their heri-
tage. Two OF them, Hansen and Ootam,
were my companions to the farthest point
three years before. Two others, Eginwuk
which had such a narrow escape at that
time, and now were willing to go any
where with my immediate party, and
willing to risk themselves again in any
supporting party.
The fifth was q young man who mad
never served before in any expedition,
but who was, il possible, even more
All III eager lHdn lne OtneT0 Tor
the princely gifts-a boat, a rife, a shot
gum, ammunition, knives. etc, which
had promised to each Of them who
reached the pole with me: for he knew
that these riches would enable him to
wrest from a stubborn father the girl
whose image filled his hot young heart.
Had Confidence in Him.
All had blind confidence SO long as
I was with them, and gave no thought
for the morrow, sure that whatever hap
pened I should somehow get them pack
to land. But l dealt with the party
equally. l recognized that all its i'm
petus centered in me, and that whatever
I set it would make good. II any
one played out, I would stop for a short
time.
had no fault to And with the condi-
tons. My dogs were the best. the pick
of 122 with which we left Columbia. AL
most all were powerful males. hard as
nails, in good flesh, but without a super
fiuous ounce, and. what was better yet,
they We're all in good spirits.
My sledges. now that the repairs were
were in good condition. My
supplies were ample for 40 days, and,
with the reserve represented by the logs
themselves, could be made to last SO.
His Program Planned.
Pacing back and forth in tn ice Of the
f>'SNh "a NAlSbS AIS Wtie
built. while my men got their loads
ready for the next marches, / settled on
my program. l decided l should strain
every nerve to make five marches OF Is
each, crowding these marches in
such a way AS to bring us to the end OF
the fifth long enough before noon to per-
NIT the immediate taking of an observa-
ton for latitude.
Weather and leads permitting. l be-
lieved l could do this. II my proposed
were cut down by any chance
l had two means in reserve for making
the deficit:
First-To make the last march a forced
one, stopping to make tea and rest the
but not to sleep.
Second-At the end Of the NTH march
to make a forced march with a light
a double team OF dogs, and one
or two OF the party, leaving the rest in
Sees Danger in Gale.
Underlying all these calculations was q
recognition of the ever present neighbor-
o of open leads and impossible water.
and the knowledge that a 24-hour gale
knock all my plans INTO a cooked
hat, and even put us In imminent peril.
At a little after midnight OF April l.
after a few hours OF souHd sleep. hit
the trail. leaving the others to break
up camp and follow.
AS i CllmOeu the pressure rage DACk
OF our igloos l set another hole in my
belt. the third since I started. Every
man and dog OF us was lean and Nat
bellied as a board and as hard.
Conditions All Favorable.
1t was a fine morning. The wind of
the last two days had subsidized. and the
going was the best and most eQuable
Of any I a had yet. The noes were
and old, and clear. and were sur
rounded by pressure ridges. some Of
which were almost stupendous.
The biggest of them, however, were
easily negotiated, either through some
.revice or up some huge brink. I set
a good pace for about ten hours.
twenty-five miles took me well be-
yond the eighty-eighth parallel.
While I was building my igloos a
long lead forward by the east and
of US at a distance Of q few
Travel MAJ Easy.
A few hours sleep and we were on
the trail again. AS the going was now
practically horizontal. we were un-
hampered n could travel as long as
we pleased n sleep as little as we
Wished.
The weather was fine and the going
ike that OF the previous day, except