The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-11-01

was given to the altitude Of uplifted and
submerged regularities.
Atmospheric, surface water and ice
ter peratures were taken. the barometer
was noted, the cloud formations, weather
conditions and ice drifts were tabulnted.
There was continuous routine of work
which does not appear bere. 1t belongs to
the specific details of the history Of the
exploration, which will appear in the
later publication Of scientific data.
This work, like the effort Of the foot in
the daily drive of duty, became more or
less automatic, and does not at am tine
enter as an active part of the story. As
we now ran along over seemingly endless
fields of ice the physical arnearances
came under careful SCRUTINY. l watched
daily for possible signs of dangerous
failure in strength, for serious disability
now meant fatal termination.
"A disabled mar could neither continue
nor return, out every examination gave
aAofner reason TO push human endurance
90 the limit Of the strain of every fibre
ard cell. The hard work which followed,
dAuer an occasional burst of burning sun
oeRns, brought intense thirst.
Forcing tbe habit of the camel, we man
aged to take enough water before start
lag to keep sufficient liquid in the veins
.of the Gays march. but it was difficult
20 await the melting Of the ice at camp
ing time.
In two sittings evening and moraiag--
each took an average OF three quarts Of
water daily. This included the tea and
also the luxury of an occasional soup.
There was water aoout everywhere in
heaps, but it was in crystals, spd before
the thirst could oe quenched several
ounces Of precious fuel, which had beeu
carried thousands OF miles, Lust be used
And still this water, so expensive and SO
.ecessagy to US, ultimately became the
greatest bane IN comfort. 1t escaLed
through the pores of the skin, saturated
knee and belt Of frost about the waist,
while the face was nearly always encaseG
in n Llask of icicles from the breath-a
necessary part of our hard lot in life, and
we learned to take the torture philosOphi-
caly. "Brom ice il comes, to ice 1t goes, +"
like the other elements of the body, when
the good preacher pronouuces the last
words from DUST TO dust"
From the eighty.seventh to the eighty
eighth parallel we passed for two days
over old ice without pressure lines or
hummocks. There was no discerDible line
of demarkation for the fields. and it was
quite impossible to determine if we were
on land or sea ice. The barometer indi-
Gated no elevation, but the ice had the
hard, waving surface Of glacial ice. with
only superficial crevasses The water
obtained from this was not salty, but all
of the upper surface of the ice of the
polar sea makes similar water. The
nautical observations did not seem to in
dicate drift, but nevertheless the com
bined tabulations do not warrant the posi-
tive assertion of either land or sea for
this area.
An AIR Line Course.
This ice gave cheering prospect a
plain purple and blue rtE in easy undula-
tons to the limits Of vision without the
usual barriers of uplifted blocks. Over
It a direct air line course was possible
Progress. however. was quite as difiicuIt
las over the irregular pack. The snow
Twas crusted with large crystals An In
creased friction reduced the speed, while