The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1909-09-17

ssSe8se 80 1.S"S ss~eS - s"e ASSs
Ws stoops1 in sight Of tn. eighty
ninth parallel In . temperature Of 20
degrees below. Again . scant sleep
aa1 vs we're ea our way once more
and across the eighty -nintA Sarallel-
one ~ TO weather and going. The iaet
few hours II Vas on young Ice and oc-
casionally the dogs we're Ealloping.
We nAds twenty-five niles or more.
the air. the sky. and the bitter wind
burning tbs face till II cracked 1t vas
like the great interior ice gap of
Greenland Even the natives COM
plainsA Of the bitter cir. 1t was a.
keen as frossa steel.
A little longer sleep than the prev.
Gus one had to bs taken here. as ws
we're all in need Of IL Then on again.
| march. our fear ef A. impassabls lead
| had increased. AT every inequality Of
the Ice found myself hurTyiAg breath
| lessly forward. fearing that II marked .
lead. and when ! arrived at the summit
would catch my breath with relief-only
| way At the next one.
But on this march. by some strange
shift OF feeling. this fear fell from me
completely. The weather was thick. but
| II gave me no uneasiness.
Before ! turned In l took an observa-
| degrees Is minutes.
| A dense. lifeiess pail hung overhead
| The horizon WAS black and the ice be-
meath was . CHASTITY. chalky white. WITH
no reiief-a striking contrast to the glim.
| mertng. sunlit fields OF II over which we
| days.
Weather Becomes Miider.
The going was even better. and there
was scarcely any snow on the hard
granular. last summers surface OF the
old hoes. dotted with the sapphire Ice
| OF the previous summers lakes
| A rise In temperature to Is degrees be-
low reduced the friction of the sledges
and gave the dogs the appearance Of
having caught the spirits OF the party
The more spriEhtly ones. rs they went
| along with tightly curled tails. frequent
ly tossed their heads. with short. sharp
| barks and yelps.
In Il hours We had made 70 miles
There was no sign Of lead In the
| march.
Arrival at the Pole.
| had now made my nve marches. and
| was In time for = hasty noon observation
through = temporary break in the clouds.
which Indicated our position as sS.57.
| quote un entry from my journal some
| hours later:
The pole At last. The prize Of three
| centuries. my dream and goal for 70
years. mine at last. I cannot bring my
| self to realize II.
It all seems 30 simple and common
| place. As Bartlett said when turning
back. when speaking of his being In
these exclusive regions. which no mortal
has ever penetrated before: 1T 10 just
| like every day"
OF course l had my sensations that
| made sleep impossible for hours. despite
| my utter fatigue-the sensations OF life
time: but have no room for them here.
| The first 80 hours at the pole were
spent In taking observations; In going
some ten miles beyond our camp and
| some eight miles to the right OF II: In
deposting my records. studying the hori-
xon with my telescope for possible land.
and searching for a practicable place to
| make . sounding.
Plan for Return Trip.
Ten hours after our arrival the clouds
cleared before a light breeze from our
| left and from that time until our depar-
ture in the afternoon of April Z the
weather was cloudless and nawless.
The minimum temperature during the
30 hours was % below, the maximum IL.
We had reached the goal but the re-
turn was still before US. 1t was essential
that we reach the land before the next
spring tide. and we must strain every
| nerve to do this
1 had a brief talk with my men. From
now on it was to be a big travel. little
sleep and hustle every minute.
We would try. I told them. to double
march on the return-that IL. to start
and cover one Of our northward
marches make tea and eat our luncheon
| In the igloos. then cover another march.
eat and sleep few hours and repeat
this daily
Speed Nearly Doubled.
As matter Of fact. we nearly did
this. covering regularly on our return
| journey five outward marches in three
| return marches.
Just as long as we could hold the
trail we could double our speed. and
We need waste no time in building
new igloos every day SO that the time
| we gained on the return lessened the
| chances of a gale destroying the track
| Just above the eighty-seventh paral-
| lei was a region some fifty miles wide
which caused me considerable uneasi-
! ness. Twelve hours Of strong easterly
westerly. or aortherly wind would
| make this region an open sea.
In the afternoon Of the 7th we start
ed on our return. having double fed
the dogs. repaired the sledges for the
last time. and discarded all our spare
clothing to tighten the loads.
| Tries to Sound Sea.
Five miles from the pole = narrow
| crack hlled with recent ice. through
| which we were able to work a hole
| with a pickax. enabled me to make a
sounding. All my wire. 1900 fathoms
| was sent down. but there was no bot
tom.
In pulling up the wire parted a few
fathoms from the surface and lead and
| wire went to the bottom. or went reel
and handle. Tightening the sledges still
further. We had no more use for them
now.
Three marches brought US back to
the igloos where the captain turned
back. The last march was in the wild
| sweep OF q northerly gale. with drift
ing snow and the ice rocking under as
| We dashed over it.
Not Delayed by Leads.
South of where Marvin had turned
back we came to where his party had
built several igloos while delayed by
open leads. Still further south we
| found where the captain had been held
up by an open lead and Obliged to
camp.
Fortunately the movement of these
leads was simply open and shut. and il
took considerable water motion to fault
the trail seriously.