Norwich bulletin., 1909-09-21
Exploring Party Begins to Collect
 Food and Clothes. DR. COOKS WINTER QUARTERS.
How the Long Arctic Night Sp.nt in Preparing for His Great Final Effort-More than Forty Thousand Pounds of Food and Fuel Provded-Game in Abund- ancs-At Annootok the Sun Sets at Midday on Octo. Der "A and Rises Again on February 20.
THIRD INSTALMENT. THE CONQUEST OF THE POLE.
By Dr.. Frederick A. Cook.

By pr. Frederick A. Cook.
 Copyright, 1909. by the New York | Herald CO Registered in Canada in | accordance with the Copyright Act.
 Copyright in Mexico under the laws of the Republic of Mexico. All Rights
 Reserved.)
 I With a nasty farewell to Mir. Brad. | ley and the officers, and encouraged with cheer from all on board, we | left the motherly yacht for our new | home and mission. The yacht stood | off to avoid drifting ice and await the return of the motor obat. When we were set ashore, we sat | down and watched with saddened eyes | the departure of our friends and the | severing of the bond which had held | us to the known world of life and hap | piness
 The village of Annootok is placed | in small bay just inside of Cape In- | gleheld. Its population changes much | from year to year, according to the | known luck of the chase or the ann bition of men to obtain new bearskin | trousers.
 Scattered about it were twelve seal l skin tents, which served as a summer 1 shelter for an equal number of vigor- | ous families. In other places near the
 
 these the work of reconstruction for l winter shelter had already begun. In the immediate vicinity there were | some turf and moss. but everywhere | else within a few hundred feet of the sea the land rose abruptly in steep l slopes of barren rtk.
 To the westward across Smith sound 1 in blue haze was seen Cape Sabine Bache peninsula and some Of the land beyond which we hoped to cross in our prospective venture
 The construction of winter house l and workshop called for immediate att 1 tention after the wind subsded. Men,
 women and children offered strong l hands to gather the stones strewn
 along tffe shore.
 When the cargo is packed in this manner the things can be quickly toss ! ed on deck and transported to floating | ice or land. Later it is possible. with l packing boxes of uniform size as l building material to erect sufficient shelter wherein the calamities of Are
 tic disaster can be avoided. | Building Winter Quarters. l This precaution against ultimate l mishap now served a yery. useful pur- pose. Enclosing a space thirteen by l sixteen feet. the cases were quickly piled in. The walls were held together by strips of wood and the joints seal l ed with pasted paper with the addi- l tion of a few long boards. A really good roof was made by | using the covers of the boxes as shin | gles A blanket of turf over this con- 1 fined the heat and permitted at the | same time healthful circulation of air. | We slept under our own roof at the | end of the first day and our new house ] had the very great advantage of con %nfw At,s
 sessions within easy reach at all | times.
 Meat and BIubber Stored in Large
 Quantities.
 | As the winter advanced with it's stormy ferocity and frightful darkness | it was not necessary to venture out | of snow drift. Meat and blubber were
 stored in large quantities about the 1 camp.
 l But our expedition was in need of ] skins and furs. Furthermore. as men | engaged for the northern venture would be away during the spring months. the best hunting season of | provision for house needs later. There was therefore much work before us, l for we had not only to prepare our | equipment, but to provide for the fam | flies of the workers
 In the polar cycle of the seasons | there are peculiar conditions which Lapply to circumstances and move I ments. AS the word seasons is ordi- narily understood, there are but two, | winter season and a summer sea- son-a winter season of nine months | and summer of three months. | But for more convenient division
 of the yearly periods, it is best to re- l tain the usual cycle of four seasons. Eskimos call the winter ookiah, | mer sonsah. Days are sleeps" The 1 months are moons and the periods are named in accord with the move ments of various creatures of the | chase.
 In early September at Annootok the
 sun dips considerably under the north | ern horizon. There is no night. At | sunset and at sunrise storm clouds | hide the bursts of color .1lich are the | glory of twilight. and the electric aft erglow is generally lost in the dull l gray which bespeaks the torment of ] the storms of the setting sun. | The gloom of the coming winter | night now dickens The splendor of | thcs summer day has gone. day of | six months and a night of six months | is often ascribed to the polar regions
 as whole. but this is only true of a | very small area about the pole. l As we come south the sun slips un- l der the horizon for an ever-increasing
 part of each twenty four hours. Rre- l ceding and following the night as we
 come from the pole there is a period | of day and night which lengthens with i the descent of latitude.
 | 1t is this period which enables us | to retain the names of the usual sea
 sons-summer for the double days. fall i for the period Inf the setting sun. l This season begins when the sun first | dips under the ice at midnight for a | few moments.
 The Arctic Night. These moments increase rapidly, yet
 one hardly appreciates that the sun
 is departing uptil day and night are of equal length. for the night remains l light, though not. cheerful Then the
 day rapidly shortens and darkens and the sun sinks until at least there is | but a mere slinImer of the glory of Winter is limited to the long night
 and spring applies to the days of the I rising sun period corresponding to l the autumn days Of the setting sum- | Al Annootok the midnight sun is first seen over the sea horizon on April | 23s It dips in the sea on August ls It sthHs encircles the horizon, giving
 summer and continuous day for 11s ! days. 1t sets at midday on October