Evening star., 1909-09-05

able vessel ! wrote to Barring Brothers
OF st. Johns. ". F., knowing that in the
summer the sealers are idle and vessels
are chartered then for hunting and Ash
ing trips. A large sum was asked for
the use Of . vessel. I did not object to
that. but they wanted me to be put
under the command Of q captain, and
this did not want. We didn't have
time to build. 30 we decided to buy. We
looked over vessels at New London first
then went to Gloucester where we found
q dshinE schooner named the George Luf-
kin. Of Ill tons. built at Essex. We
her. and On nsly bousht %Se hsr Sas' oven.
hauled her completely. cleaned her out.
braced her fore and aft, put in new rig
gtng and sails, sheathed her with steel
plates on bow and stern. put In gaso
short. after repainting her white and gold
and rechristening her the John r. Brad
ley, transformed her into practically n
new craft. stanch enough for the trip
to Etah. Capt Moses Bartlett. whom
engaged to command her. said he'd just
as soon be in her as any vessel he'd
ever sailed In.
She had cabins like a yacht-a cabin
for Dr. Cook: an aft cabin for officers
and galley. Everything essential in
the way Of equipment was as perfect as
one would have on a private yacht.
We had 5000 gallons of gasoline. pro-
visions for two years in case OF ship
wreck. and. everything necessary for
shooting and navigation in the Arctic.
When all these preparations were COM
plete. and about four weeks before sail
Ing: Or; Cook Go ana I were !ynchins one
for the pole?"
to try for it?''
Polar Trip Quietly Planned.
He said: There's nothing that
would rather do: It's the ambition OF my
life" He thought 1t would cost only
about $4,000 or $4,000 more to furnish
an equipment for this purpose. and we
figured It out. Finally said: "WeN
At this expedition for the pole and say
nothing about It," We did not want the
newspapers to get at 1t. Peary was
waiting to 90, and We did not want him
to beat US into Etah and get all the
dogs; morever. l wanted to shoot on the
way up and did not want to be In any
We atted the ship according to the doc
tors ideas. He believed In making the
dash with as light q burden ss possible.
took north with him. weighed nine
pounds; eur stove weighed two and half
pounds.
Everything else was cut down the same
way. At the same time we had every
thing that was needed for the doctors
preliminary work Of preparation. his
camping equipment. provisions. tools. ma
teriai for sleds-every necessary detail
was carefully thought out and provided
for. We figured this way: In case we
got up to Etah and found the natives
were not well. or the dogs scarce, or any
other conditions unfavorabie, we would
call 1t hunting trip and return quietly
homo.
We sailed from Gloucester July l.
1907. Everything went we'll. We put In
at Sydney and Battle harbor. Labrador.
and after going a few hundred miles up
the Labrador coast we crossed Davis
strait to the south end Of Greenland to
escape the ice. reaching the Greenland
coast near Godhaven. We encountered
rough weather here, but the boat stond
it splendidly. After crossing we ran
into considerable ice. which bent blade
Of our propeller and disabled the screw.
compelling us TO beach the ship 1T Disko
to make repairs; then we linked" out
for the north again. At arst we found