Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1909-09-25

yet
Showing turiousIy now-pienty OF II
From Littleton island and Sabine north
all depends on ice conditions beyond
Have good supply OF Eskimo dogs and
walrus meat All well on board EXPECT
10 steam north some time tonight
PEARY.
Left Etah Aug. II.
y second dispatch. forwarded by the
same route. also received by Secretary
Bridgman from Captain Samuel w.
Bartlett. told OF the steamer Erik hav-
ing collided with an iceberg and hav-
ing Sustained serious damage. Cap
tain Bartlett in the same message also
reported that Peary's steamer. the
Roosevelt. left Etah Aug. Il. His dis
patch follows:
Collided iceberg Monday night Dam
age serious Proceeding along shore
Roosevelt left Etah Aug. II. Prospects OF
success good.
What Peary Feared Most.
Peary went prepared to encounter
much open water. That was a haudi-
cap he greatly feared. as dogs and
sledges cannot cross aud have to make
long detours around the open water
after the vessel is left behind.
On his present expedition Mr.. Peary
announced that he would take a route
from Grant Land more 20 the west and
not so directly north as that of his
former attempt. heading almost as far
as the cightieth meridian OF longitude
and thus CompenSating for the east
ward ice drift He planned TO cStab-
fish his last base on newly found is.
land northwest of Grant Land Pearv
based great hopes on the results Co be-
obtained by following the arctic cur
rents
The advantage OF this route is that i,
allows a base Of supplies approximate
~ a hundred miles nearer the goa
than the Spitzbergen base. which o.:
been its chief rival
Pcary's friends for several woo
past had been eXprcsSiu- "a l,'ic, O..
he had already reached his roJi
Before he set out Sofne one ass
Peary what the discovery OF The D..
would mean He gave with chara,
tcriStic enthusiasm this answer:
1T is To- open up 3O10O0O squar
miles OF absolutely unknown regions
The race Is both sentimental an,
moral. and 81 we win we will be vic
toriouS Ia the greatest contest ever en-
gagged in 10y nations wherein Their,
was mo- jealousy"
ALTHOUGH the figures given by Dr
Cook make hiS discovery ot The nole
antedate thar Of pcury by nearly n
year. apparently Commander Peary
will be the first 10 land ON American
soil and receive The plaudns OF his
country II the commander comes
ON at once he should reach New York
10y rail from sydney In n few days
Or Cook does not plan 90 sail from
Copenhagen ill sept. %. He viii in
that case not reach New York un
nearly a month after his rival
Career Of Commander Peary.
Commander Peary has made several
arduous trips into the arctic ice.
He was born AT Cresson Springs. Pa.
In May. 1876. He entered the navy In
1881. His first polar experience was
acquired In 1856, when he made a rec
onnoissance Of the Greenland inland
fee. In June. 1891. he sailed from New
York on the Kite and. making his
lAt.tNN AaAltAS at MtOoIkulCh DAY. on
the west coast OF Greenland. penetrat-
ed as far north as latitude 50. In
1S04-5 he reached the seventy-eighth
parallel on the west Greenland coast.
In 1889 he went 10 between the sew
enty-ninth and eightieth parallels Oh
the east coast OF Eliesmere Land In
1900 he reached the eighty-second par
allel on the east coast of Griunrll
Land In 1866 he skirted ''a NORTH
coast OF Grinnell Land Az ID an
attack on the pole from ,... 80 Moss
This was the expedition which rta he'd
what was at that time fart hess
north" 81 degrees g minutes.
He reached that point on April 81
Comparatively smooth travelling he
then found until he reached latitude
50 degrees II minutes There he en-
countered a terrific storm, which held
him prisoner. while the ice drift car
ried him seventy miles TO the east
These handicaps and the constantly
widening lanes of water and increas-
ing roughness Of the ice. together with
a threatened failure Of supplies, forced
Peary TO turn back Oh April 81.