The Ordway new era., 1909-09-17
Goal of Centuries Reached By Marvelously Swift
Travel, Smooth Ice and Mild Weather
Helping g---Sensations of Intrepid
Commander at Climax of
His Life Work.

the distance. but II was only momen-
tary. My work was still ahead. not In
tho rear.
Bartlett had done good work and had
been great help to me- Circumstances
had thrust the brunt of the pioneering
upon him instead of dividing IL among
several. as had planned.
He had reason to take pride In the
tact that he had bettered the Italian
record by n degree and a quarter and
had covered a distance equal to tho
entire distance of the Italian expedi-
tion from Franz Josefs land to CaEnI's
fArthest north.
had given Bartlett this position and
post Of honor in command OF my
fourth and last supporting party. and
Tor two reasons: hrst. because OF his
magnificent handling of the Roosevelt:
second. because he had cheerfulIy stood
between me and many trininK annoy
ances on the expeditions.
Then there was n 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 u British subject who
could boast that. noxt to an American,
he had been nearest the pole.
Ready for Final Effort.
turned to the problem before me- This
wns that for which l had worked for ].
years. for which had lived tho simple
life: for which I had conserved all my
energy on the upward trip: for which
I had trained myself rs for u race crush
Ing down every worry about success.
In spite OF my years. I felt In trim
nt for tho demands of the coming days
and eaKer to be on the trail.
As for my party. my equipment. and
my supplies. was In shape beyond my
most sanEuins dreams OF earliest Year,,
NV might he ri baA
ideal. which had now come to realization
as loyal and responsive to my will a.
the fingers OF my right hand.
Men All Tried and True.
Four OF them possess the technique Of
dogs. sledges. ice. and cold a. their heri-
taGe. Two OF them. Hansen and Ootam.
were my companions to the farthest point
three years before. Two others. Eginwuk
and Sigloo, were in Clark's division
which had such a narrow escape at that
time. and now were willing to 20 any
where with my immediate party, and
willing to risk themselves again In any
supporting party.
never served before in any expedition,
but who was. II possible. even more
willing and eager than the others for
the princely gifts-a boat. . rife. shot
gun, ammunition. knives. ETC.. which
had promised to each of them who
that these riches would enable him to
wrest from a stubborn father the girl
whose image filled his hot young heart.
All Followed Him BlindIy.
All had blind confidence 10 long a.
I was with them. and gave no thought
for the morrow. sure that whatever hap
pened I should somehow get them back
to land. But dealt with the party
equally. l recognized that all its i'm
cenferAd I'm and that vvh IN atova
pace l Bet 1t would make good. II any
one played out. would stop for short
time.
I had no fault to nnd with the condi-
tions. My dogs were the best. the pick
OF 122 with which we left Columbia. AL
most all were powerful males. hard az
nails. In good flesh. but without a super
tiuous ounce. and, what was better yet,
they were all in good spirits.
My sledges. now that the repairs were
completed. were in good condition. My
supplies were ample for 10 days and.
with the reserve represented by the dogs
themselves. could be made to last 60
At a little after midnight of April !.
after a few hours of sound sleep. I hit
the trail. leaving the others to, break
up camp and follow.
AS l climbed the pressure ridge back
OF our igloos I set another hole in my
belt, the third since started. Every
man and dog of US was lean and fiat
DellltO III a Dohku nAo ac Hal u.
Fine Morning for Start.
1t was a fine morning. The wind Of
the last two days had subsided. and the
going was the best and most eQuable
OF any 1 had had yet. The foes were
large 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
crevice or up some huge brink. set
n good pace for about ten hours.
Twenty-Five miles took me we'll be-
yond the eighty-eighth parallel.
While was building my igloos a
long lead forward by the east and
southwest Of US at q distance Of a few
miles.
Few Handicaps Are Faced.
A few hours sleep and we were on
the trail again. AS the going was now
practically horizontal, we were un-
hampered and could travel as long as
we pleased and sleep as little as we
wished. se.E :. as.t.ge ..f AZ
The weather was fne and the going
like that of the previous day. except
at the beginning. when pickaxes were
required. This and a brief stop at an
other lead cut down our distance. But
we had made 20 miles in ten hours and
were half way to the eighty-ninth