The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1909-09-15
Goal Of Centuries Reached By Marvelously Swift
Travel, Smooth Ice and Mild Weather
Helping---Sensation. Of Intrepid
Commander at Climax Of
His Life Work.

: Work.
to save ny eyes. but largely to- give
an independent record and determine
ton of our advance.
The observations completed and two
copies made. one for him and the other
for me. Bartlett started on the hack
trail in command Of my fourth sup
porting party. with two Eskimos. one
sisdEe and Is dogs.
Bartlett Did Good Work.
When he left felt for a moment
pa mgr OF regret as he disappeared in
the distance. but it was only momen-
tary. Ny work was still ahead. not in
the rear
Bartlett had done good work and had
baen q great help to me. Circumstances
had thrust the brunt Of the pioneering
upon him instead OF dividing it among
sseeral ssh had piapnsd. =
He had reason to take pride in the
fact that he had bettered the Italian
record by = degree and = quarter aud
had covered \ distance equal to the
entire distance Of the Italian expedi-
ton from Franz Josef's hand to Cagni's
farthest north.
had given Bartlett this position and
post Of honor in command Of my
fourth and last supporting party. and
for two reasons: frst, because Of his
magnificent handling Of the Roosevelt;
second because he had cheerfully stood
between me and many trifiing annoy
ances on the expeditions.
Then there was a third reason. 1t
seemed to me appropriate in view Of
the magnificent British record of arc
tic work. covering three centuries. that
il should be a British subject who
could boast that. next to an American,
he had been nearest the pole.
Ready for Final Effort.
With the disappearance of Bartlett l
turned to the problem before me. This
was that for which l had worked for J:
years. for which l had lived the simple
life: for which l had conserved all my
energy on the upward trip: for which
had trained myself as for a race crush
ing down every worry about success.
In spite of my years, ] felt in trim
At for the demands of the coming days
and eager to be on the trail.
As for my party, my equipment and
my supplies. l was in shape beyond my
most sanSuine dreams of earliest years
Ny party might be regarded as an
ideal. which had now come 10 realization
as loyal and responsive to my will as
the fingers OF my right hand.
Men All Tried and True.
-Four OF them possess the technique Of
dogs sledgss. ice. and cold as their her-
tage Two OF them. Hansen and Ootam.
were my companions to the farthest point
three years before. Two others. Eginwuk
and SiSloo. were in Clark's division.
which had such a narrow escape at that
where with my immediate party. and
supporting party.
The NTH was a young man who had
never served before in any expedition.
but who was. il possible. even more
willing and eager than the others for
the princely xifts-a boat. a rife. a shot
gun. ammunition. knives. etc. which 1
had promised to each Of them who
that these riches would enable him TO
wrest from a stubborn father the girl
whose image filled his hot young heart.
All Followed Him BlindIy.
All had blind confidence SO long as
for the morrow. sure that whatever hap
pened I should somehow get them back
to land. But l dealt with the party
equally. l recognized that all its i'm
petus cen;ered in me. and that whatever
pace 1 set it would make good. II any
one played out. l would stop for a short
time.
/ had no fault to ind with the condi-
,ions. Ny dogs were the best, the pick
most ali were powerful males. hard as
nails. In good flesh. but without a super
fuous ounce. and. what was better yet,
they were all in good spirits.
Ny sledges. now that the repairs were
completed. were IN good condition. My
supplies were ample for 10 days. and.
with the reserve represented by the dogs
themselves. could be made TO last 80.
At little after midnight OF April I.
after a few hours of sound, sleep. 1 hit
the trail. leaving the others to break
up camp and follow.
As ! climbed the pressure ridge back
OF our igloos I set another hole in my
belt. the third since l started. Every
man and dog OF us was lean and fiat
bellied as a board and as hard.
Fine Morning for Start.
1t was a fine morning. The wind Of
the last two days had subsidized and the
going was the best and most equa BILE
of any 1 had had yet The foes were
large and old. and clear. and were sur
rounded by pressure ridges. some of
which were almost stupendous.
The biggest Of them however. were
easily negotiated, either through some
crevice or up some huge brink. set
q good pace for about ten hours.
Twenty-Five miles took me we'll be-
yond the eighty-eiEhth parallel.
While / was building my igloos q
long lead forward by the east and
southwest Of US at q distance of a few
miles.
Few Handicaps Are Faced.
A few hours sleep and we were on
the trail again. As the going was now
practically horizontal we were un-
hampered and could travel as long a.
We pleased and sleep as little as We
wished.
The weather was fine and the going
like that OF the previous day. except
at the beginning. when pickaXes were
required. This and a brief stop at an
other lead cut down our distance. Bet
we had made 90 miles in ten hours and
were half way to the eighty ninth
parallel.
The ice was grinding audibly in every
direction. but no motion was visible
Evidently it was settling back into
equilibrium and probably sagginR due
northward with its release from the
wind pressure.
Going Improves on Way.
Again there was few hours sleep
and we hit the trail before midnight.
The weather and going were even bet
ter The surface. except as interrupted
y Geo si<l