Rocky Ford enterprise., 1909-09-17


ature was 60 below zero.
The following morning, March Is. sent
Hansen with his division north to pio-
neer. q trail for five marches. and DR..
Goodsell. according to the program. start
ed back to Cape Columbia.
Mcmillan Turns Back.
At night Marvin and Borup came spin
ming In with their men and dogs steam
ing in the bitter air like q squadron of
battleships. Their arrival relieved me
Of all anxiety as to our oil supply.
= In-the morning discovered that Mac
Millans foot was badly frost bitten. The
mishap had occurred two or three days
before. but MACMILLAN had said nothing
about 1t in the hope that it would come
out all right.
A glance at the injury showed me that
the only thing was to send him back to
Cape Columbia at once The arrival of
Marvin and Borup enabled me to spare
SUFFICIENT men and dogs to go back with
him.
Loss Is Serious One.
This early loss of Macmillan was seri-
ously disappointing to me. He had .
sledge all the way from Cape Columbia,
and with his enthusiasm and the powers
and physique OF the trained athlete l
had confidence in him for at least the
sSth parallel. but there was no siterna-
tive.
The best sledges and dogs werc select
ed and the sledge loads brought up to
the standard. The sounding gave a
oepth OF S2o fathoms.
We were over the continual shelf. and.
as I had surmised, the successive leads
crossed in the NTH and sixth marches
composed the big lead and marked the
continual shelf.
On leaving the camp the expedition
comprised l6 men. II sledges and 100 dogs.
The next march was satisfactory rs re-
CARDS distance and the character OF the
going. In the latter part there were
pronounced movements in the ice, both
visible and audible.
Some leads were crossed. in one of
which Borup and his team took u bath.
and we were finally stopped by an i'm
practicable lead opening in front of US.
We camped In q temperature Of 30 de-
Erees below.
Al the end Of two short marches We
came upon Hansen and his party in
camp. mendinE their siedges. We de-
voted the remainder Of the day to over
hauling and mending sledSes and break
ing up our damaged ones for material.
Make Forced Marches.
The next morning put Marvin In the
lead to pioneer the trail. with instruc-
tions to make two forced marches to
bring up our average which had been
cut down by the last two short ones.
Marvin carried out his instructions i'm
piicitiy. A considerable amount OF young
Ice assisted In this.
At the end of the tenth march. latitude
S.c3. Borup turned back In command of
the second supporting party. having trav-
eled a distance equivalent to Nansen's
distance from this far to his farthest
north.
l was sorry to lose this young Yale
runner. with his enthusiasm and pluck.
He hnd led his heavy siedge over the
foes In . way that commanded every
ones admiration and would have made
his fathers eyes giisten.
Changes His Plan.
From this point the expedition COM
priscd % men. 10 riedges. and 20 dogs. II
was necessary for Marvin to take a
slcdge from here. and l put Bartlett
and his division In advance to pioneer
the trail.
The continual daylight enabled me to
max. n moderation here that brought my
advance and main parties closer together
and reduced the likelihood of their be-
Ing separated by open leads-
After Bartlett left camp with Hender-
son and their division. Marvin and re-
mained with our division 30 hours long
cr and then followed. When We reached
Bartictt's camp he broke out and went
on and We turned In. BY this arrange
ment the advance party was travelling
while the main party was asleep. and
vice versa. and ! was In touch with my
advance party every q hours.
Moves ExpeditiousIy.
had no reason to complain of the
going for the next two marches. though
for n less experienced party. less adapt
able sledgcs. or less perfect equipment II
would have been m impossibllity.
At our position at the end of the sec
ond march. Marvin obtained n satisfac-
tory sight for latitude in clear weather.
which placed at SIS The result
agreed satisfactorily with the dead reck-
onIng of Marvin. Bartlett and myself.
Up to this time. the slight altitude of
III. sun had made Il not worth while to
waste time In observations.
On the next two marches the going i'm
proved. and we covered good distances
In one of these marches n lead delayed
US a few hours We finally ferried across
the Ice cakes.
Makes Record Run.
The next day Bartlett let himself out.
evidently. for q record. and reeied on y
miles. Here Marvin obtained another
satisfactory sight on latitude. which CAV.
est north of Nansen and AbrurzD. and
showed that We had covered 50 minutes
of latitude In three marches.
In these three marches we had passed
sen. and the Italian record Of ss.5. by
Cagni.
From this point Marvin turned back In
command of the third supporting party.
My last words to him were: BE care
full of the leads. my boy"
The party from this point comprised
nine men. seven siedges. and 60 dogs
The conditions at this camp and the ap-
parentiy unbroken expanse of fairly level
ice In every direction reminded me of
Cagni's description of his farthest north.
Danger 10 Encountered.
But l was not deceived by the appar-
emily favorable outlook. for available
conditions never continue for any dis
tance or any length of time In the nrc-
Ic regions
The next march was over good GO
ing. but for the FIRST time since leaving
land we experienced that condition. fire.
Iuent over these ice fields. of n hazy at
mosphere. In which the light Is equal
everywhere. All relief Is destroyed. and
II Is impossible TO see for any distance.
We were Obliged In this march to make
n detour around an open lead. In the
next march we encountered the heaviest
and deepest snow Of the journey. through