Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1909-10-18
Final Dash For the Pole.
The big Nail Reached at
Last and "Old Glory Un-
furled - Endless Fields of
Purple Shows - 10 North,
No East, No West o. %

1t seemed that something must han.
! pen, some line must cross our horizon.
to mark the important area into which
we were pressing
/ When the sun was low the eve ran
over moving plains in brilliant waves
of color to dancing horizons The mi
RACES turned things topsy furry. In
! verified lands and queer objects ever
rose and fell in shroudS OF mystery,
| but all of this WAS due To the Atmos-
! phcric magic Of the midnight sun
| With Il lucky series of daily aStro-
nomical observations our position was
now accurately fixed for each Stace of
progress. AS we nearcd the pole the
imagination quickened. and Il restless.
almost hysteric excitement came over
us. The boys fancied they saw beaver
and seals. and | had new land under
observation frequently. but with II
change in the direction of light or an
altered trend in our temperament the
| horizon cleared and we became eager
only to push farther into the mystery.
! From the cighty-eighth to the eighty
ninth the ice was in very large fields
and the surface was less irregular, but
| in other respects ii was about the
same as below til" eighty We
, noticed here also an extension of the
range of vision We seemed to see
longer distances and the ice along the
= horizon had Il less angular outline.
The color of the sky and the ice also
changed to deeper purple blues. We
had no way Of checking these impress
sions by other observations. The ca
gerncss to'find something unusual may
/ have fired the Imagination, but since
| the earth is fattrned ut the pole per
haps q widened horizon should be de-
! tected.
At o'clock on the morning of April
! 10 we camped on picturesque old
/ field with convenient hummOcks, to
which v'o could crsily rise for thn fro
ouent outlook which we now maintain.
( ed. The tent was pitched. The dogs
i wern silenccd by blocks Of pemmicnn.
, In us new enthusiasm was aroused by
4 liberal pot of poa soup ana few
bathed in life giving sunhoamS. screen
| ed from the piercing mir by silk
strands II was a beautiful daT. and
! had our sense of appreciation not been
! Hunted by accumulated FATIGUE we
would have greatly enjoyed the play
Of light and color in the ever changing
scene OF sparkle
Tf,f. IL In n
found sleep. the only comfort in their
hard lives but remained awake, as
, had been my habit on succeeding days.
| to get nautical observations. The lon
Crude calculations lined us at OF de-
grees 3 minutes. At noon the suns al
/ titude was carefully set on the seXtant.
and the latitude quickly reduced gave
miles from the pole
My heart jumped for Joy. and the I'M
| conscious commotion which was Gre
ating awakened Etukishuk. told him
that in two average marches we would
| reach the 'tigi shu" dhe big naiD.
! Ahwpah was awakened with kick.
/ and together they went out to hum
mock and through glasses sought for
a mark to locate so important place
as the terrestrial axis. If but one
Sleep beyond it must be seen.
tried to explain that the pole was
not visible to the eye; that its position
was located only by a repeated use OF
the various Instruments. This entirely
! satisfied their curiosity. and they burst
out in hurralls of joy. For two hours
/ they chantcu and danced the passions
/ Of wild life.
IT was lie first real sign Of pleasure
1 or rational emotion which they, had
shown for several weeks. For some
I time I had entertained the fear that
we no Longer possessed the strength to
return to land. but the unbridled flow
Of vigor dispolled that idea.
More sleep was quite impossible. We
brewed an extra pot of tea. prepared Il
! favoritc broth # pcmmican, du" ur "a
surprise Of fancy biscuits and filed IN
on good thin; to the limit of the NJ
lovance for T." final feast days. The
dogs. which I'D Joined the chorus OF
gladneSs, y - given an extra lump or
pemmican \ few hours more We're
agrecably spent in the tent, and then
we started with new spirit for the
uttermost north.
! We We're excited to Il fever heat
| The feet Wcrr light on this run. Even
the dogs CAUGHT the infections enthuSi-
asm and rushed along at Il pace which
made it difficult for me to keep suiil
cient advance to set q good course.
| The horizon was still searched for
something To mark the approaching
boreal center, but nothing unusual was
seen. l, was the same eXpanse of
moving seas of ice on which we had
lived for 200 miles.
But looking through Claddened eyes.
| the scene assumed a new glory. There
were plains Of gold fenced in purple
walls. with gilded crests. 1t was one
Of the few days on the stormy pack
when all nature smiled with cheering
tights,
As the day advanced and the splen-
| dor of summer night was run into the