The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1909-10-14


a shotgun. ammunition. knives. etc
which ! had promised. for he knew
that these riches would enable him to
wrest from Il stubbor.: father the girl
whose image filled his young heart
He Plans Five Marches.
| | had no fault to find with the con-
ditions. My dogs We're the very best.
the pick of LIP with which we left
Columbia. My sledges. now that the
repairs were completed, were In good
condition. My supplies were ample
for forty days and, with the reserve
represented by the dogs themselves,
could be made to last fifty. / decided
that l should strain every Eerye TO
make five marches Of fifteen miles
each, crowding these marches in such
a way as TO bring. us to the end of
the fifth long enough before noon to
permit the immediate taking of an
observation for latitude.
Weather and leads permitting l be-
lieved could do this II my proposed
| distances were cut down by any
chance 1 had two means in reserve
for making up the deficit:
First, to make the last march a
forced one. stopping to make tea and
rest the dogs, but not to sleep.
| Second, at the end of the fifth march
to make a forced march with a light
sledge, double team Of dogs and one
| or two Of the party, leaving the rest in
| camp
Underlying all these calculations were
| recognition Of the ever present neigh
| borhood of open leads and impossible
| water and the knowledge that TWEEN.
| ty-four hour gale would knock all my
| plans into cooked hat and even put.
us in imminent peril
At little after midnight of April
1, after a few hours Of sound sleep,
| l hit the trail, leaving the others to
! break up camp and follow. 1t was a
| fine morning. The wind of the last
two days had subsidized, and the going
was the best and most equahie of any
l had had yet.
l set good pace for about ten
hours. Twenty-Five miles took me well
beyond tile eighty-eighth parallel
While was building my igloos a long
lead formed by the east and southeast
Of us at distance Of few miles, A
few hours sleep and we were on the
trail again. The weather was fine and
the going like that of the previous day.
except at the beginning, when pick
axes were required. This and brief
stop at another lead cut down our
distance. But we had made twenty
miles in ten hours and were halfway
to the eighty-ninth parallel.
Again there was a few hours stop,
and we hit the trail before midnight
We marched something over ten hours
the dogs being often on the trot. and
made twenty miles. Near the end
of the march we rushed across a lead
100 yards wide, which buckled under
our sledges and finally broke as the
last sledge left it.
We stopped in sight of the eighty
ninth parallel in temperature of 40
degrees below. Again a scant sleep
ana we We're on our way once more
and across the eighty-ninth parallel.
This march duplicated the previous
one as to weather and going The last
occasionally the dogs were galloping.
We made twenty-five miles-or more,
the air, the sky and the bitter wind
burning the face till it cracked. 1t was
like the great interior ice'cap of Green
land. Even the natives complained Of
the bitter air. 1t was as keen as fro
zen Steel
A little longer sleep than the pre-
vious ones had to be taken here, as we
were all in need of it, then on again.
Up to this time, with each successive
march, our fear of an impossible lead
had increased. At every inequality of
the ice found myself hurrying b ,ath-
lessly forward, fearing that it marked
lead, and when arrived at the sum-
NIT would catch my breath with re-
lief, only to find myself hurrying on in
the same 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 it gave me no uneasiness
Before I turned in 1 took an OBJ
as 1926. A dense, hfeiess pail hung
overhead. The horizon was black, and
the ice beneath was a CHASTITY, chalky
white, with no relief A rise in tenn
perature to IS below reduced the fric-
ton of the sledges and gave the dogs
the appearance Of having caught the
spirits of the party. The more spright-
ly ones, as they went along with tight
ly curled tails, frequently tossed their
heads, with short. sharp barks and
yelps. In twelve hours we made forty
miles. There was no sign OF lead in
the march.
1.-THE Pole at Last!n
l had now made my five marches
and was in time for hasty noon OBJ
servation through temporary break
in the clouds, which indicated our po-
sition as 1857. / quote an entry from
my journal some hours later:
1.-THE pole at last-the prize of Zee
centuries, my dream and goal for
twenty years, mine at last. / cannot
bring myself to realize it,"
The first thirty hours at the pole
We're spent in taking observations, iii
| going some ten miles beyond our camp
| and some eight miles to the right of
| 1t, in taking photographs, planting my
| flags, depositing my records, studying
| the horizon with my telescope for pos
| sible land and searching for prac-
| ticable place to make a sounding.
Ten hours after our arrival the clouds
cleared before light breeze from our
| left, and from that time until our de-
| parture in the afternoon of April the
| weather was cloudless and fawless.
| The minimum temperature during the
| thirty hours was 80 below the maxi
| mum IL.
The Return Journey.
| We had reached the goal, but the
| return was still before US. 1t was
| essential that we reach the land before
| the next spring tide, and we must