Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-11-02
North of Bradley Land.
Amazing Sensations Of
DR.. Cook and His Two
Companions - -
NINTH ARTICLEl


was at hand, however, to consider seri.
ously the necessity Of an early return.
Nearly half Of the food allowance
had been used. In the long marches
supplies had been more literally used
than anticipated, and now our dog
teams were much reduced in numbers.
A hard necessity had forced the cruel
law Of the survival Of the fittest, for
the less useful dogs were fed to the
steady working survivors. Owing to
the food limits and the advancing sea-
son we could not prudently continue
the outward march fortnight longer.
We had dragged ourselves 300 miles
over the polar sea In twenty-four days.
Including delays and detours, this gave
an average of nearly thirteen miles
daily on an air line in our course.
There remained an unknown line Of
100 miles before our ambitions could
be satisfied. The same average ad-
vance which we had made on the pack
would take us to the pole in thirteen
days. There were food and fuel enough
to risk this adventure.
Work and Observations.
In the diary of the succeeding days
doings there appear numerous tabu-
lations Of work and observations. In
the new cracks the thickness Of the
ice was measured. The water was ex-
amined for life. The technical details
for the making and breaking Of ice
were studied, and some attention was
given to the altitude Of uplifted and
submerged Irregularities.
Atmospheric, surface water and ice
temperatures were taken. the barome-
ter was noted, the cloud formations,
weather conditions and ice drifts were
tabulated. There was a continuous
routine of work which does not appear
here. 1t belongs to the specific details
Of the history of the exploration,
which will appear in the later publica-
tion Of scientific data.
This work. like the effort Of the foot
in the daily drive of duty, became
more or less automatic and does not
at any time enter as an active part of
the story. AS we now run along over
seemingly endless fields Of ice the
physical appearances come under a
careful scrutiny. / watched daily for
possible signs of dangerous failure In
strength, for serious disability now
| AokoI kor,,otp ftnn
A disabled man could neither con.
tinue nor return. but every examina-
ton gave another reason to push hT-'
man endurance to the limit Of the
strain of every fiber and cell. The
hard work which followed. under an
occasional burst of burning sunbeams,
brought intense thirst.
Soup q Luxury.
Forcing the habit Of the. camel, we
managed to take enough water before
starting to keep sufficient liquid in the
veins for the days march, but it was
difficult to await the melting of the Ice
at camping time.
In two sittings-evening and morn
ing-each took an average Of three
quarts Of water daily. This included
the tea and also the luxury Of an oc-
casional soup. There was water about
everywhere in heaps, but 1t was In
crystals, and before the thirst could
be quenched several ounces Of pre-
cious fuel. which had been carried
thousands of miles. must be used. And
still this water, so expensive and so
necessary to US. ultimately became the
greatest bane to comfort. 1t escaped
through the pores Of the skin. satu-
rated the boots. formed band Of ice
under the knee and belt Of frost
about the waist. while the face was
nearly always incased In mask Of
icicles from the breath-a necessary
part Of our hard lot in life. and we
learned to take the torture philoso-
phically. "From ice 1t comes, to ice
1t goes" like the other elements Of
the body, when the good preacher pro-
nounces the last words "from dust to
dust"
From the eighty-seventh to the
eighty-eighth parallel we passed for
two days over old ice without pressure
lines or hummocks. There was no dis
cernible line Of demarcation for the
fields, and 1t was quite impossible to
determine II we were on land or sea
ice. The barometer indicated no ele-
walton, but the ice had the hard. wav-
ing surface of glacial ice, with only
superficial crevasses. The water OBJ
tained from this was not salty, but all
of the upper surface Of the ice Of the
polar sea makes similar water. The
nautical observations did not seem to
indicate a drift, but nevertheless the
combined tabulations do not warrant
the positive assertion Of either land or
sea for this area.
An Air Line Course.
This Ice gave cheering prospect. A
plain of purple and blue ran in easy
undulations to the limits Of vision
without the usual barriers Of uplifted
blocks. Over 1t a direct air line course
was possible. Progress. however, was
quite as difficult as over the irregular
pack. The snow was crusted with
large crystals. An increased friction
reduced the speed, while the surface,
too hard for snowshoes, was also too
weak to give a secure footing. The
loneliness, the monotony, the hardship
of steady, unrelieved travel were now
keenly felt.
It is not often that mans horsepow-
er is put to the test as ours was. We
were compelled to develop working
energy to the limit of animal capacity.
Day after day we had pushed along
at the same steady pace over plains of
frost and through q mental desert.
AS the eye opened at the end of an
lev slumber the fire was lighted little
by little, the stomach was filled with
liquids and solids, mostly cold-enough
to last for the day. for there could be
no halt or waste Of fuel for midday
feeding. We next got into harness
and paced off the days pull under the