Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1910-07-27
AT THE POLE.
Peary's Own Story Of His Observa-
lions There.

Peary's Own Story of His Observa.
lions There.
Commander Robert e. Peary, in making
public the manner in which he took OBJ
servations by which he established his
presence at the North Pole, April 8, 1905
furnishes an interesting chapter to polar
search history through the medium OF the
August number Of Hampton's Magazine.
The explorer refused to submit this data
have violated his contract with Hamp-
toms publication, to which he gave the
right to first publish the matter.
Notwithstanding the backwardness OF
Congress in granting recognition to the
explorer, medals were presented to him by
the National geographic society Of Amer
lea, the Royal geographical society of
London, the Imperial German geogrsphi-
cal society and the Royal Italian geo.
GRAPHICAL society, their action being based
on the calculations as described by Mr..
Peary.
According to the story as related by
Pesry, observations by himself and Capt.
BARTLETT showed that they were within
200 miles OF the Pole, and it was at this
point that Bartlett turned back and
Peary, with picked men and dogs, set out
to cover the distance OF Ave forced
marches. The succeeding events are de-
scribed as follows by Commander Peary:
About 10 o'clock in the forenoon OF
April | called q halt. / had now made
were in the immediate neighborhood OF
our goal, and at local noon, on the CO.
lumbia meridian, made my first observa-
ton at our polar camp, named the
Morris K. Jessup camp, which indi-
Gated our position as SO degrees 81 minutes.
Though now at the end of the last
long march of the upward journey, and
with the Pole in sight, was too weary
with the accumulated WEAKNESS OF days
OF forced marches and nights Of insuffici-
ent sleep to realize just yet that / had
practically achieved my life's purpose.
When our two igloos were completed and
we had eaten our dinner, the dogs were
and the Eskimo unloaded the sledges and
got them in readiness for necessary re-
pairs, turned in for few hours OF abb
solutely fatigue compelled sleep.
When arose few hours later, wrote
in my diary: 1.-THE Pole at last. The
prize OF three centuries. My dream and
goal for twenty years. Mine at last! 1t
all seems SO simple and commonplace"
/ had turned out to be in readiness for
an observation at p. M, Columbia
meridian time, in case the sky should
be clear. Unfortunately, it was overcast,
but as there were indications that it would
be clear before long, started out with
my two men. E-ging-wah and Si-gloo,
and light sledge, carrying only my
instruments and tin OF pemmican,
drawn by double team OF dogs, and
went on, an estimated distance of ten
miles. 1t had cleared while we were
travelling, and at end Of the journey was
able to get satisfactory series OF obser-
vations at Columbia meridian midnight,
which observations indicated our position
as being beyond the pole.
1t seemed strange to me, even then, when
everything was too strange to be realized,
that in a march OF few hours I had
passed from the western to the eastern
hemisphere and had verified my position
on the summit Of the world.
1t seemed hard to realize that on the
first miles Of this brief march l had been
going north and on the last, though still
going ahead in the same direction, / was
travelling south; that in order to return
to my camp l must turn and go north
again, and then, still keeping on in a
straight line, go south.
Going back along the trail tried to
realize my position; tried to realize that
from every point of the horizon, the circle
of which was in both hemispheres, the
spirits Of those whose bones lay around
the Arctic circle were looking at me; that
East, West and North had disappeared for
me, and that every direction was south;
that every breeze which could blow upon
me, no matter from what point of the
horizon, was a south wind; that a day and
a night were a year, and that hundred
days were a century; that two steps only
separated me from astronomical noon or
from astronomical midnight; that had 1
stood there during the six months Arctic
winter night instead Of during the six
months summer day, 1 would have seen
every star in the northern celestial hemis-
phere circling the sky at the same dis
lance from the horizon, with Polaris prac-
tically in the zenith overhead.
When l had taken my observation at
Camp Jessup in the western hemisphere,
at noon of April 8, Columbia meridian
time, the sun had been in the south.
When l had taken my observations at
midnight between the 9th and 7th, at the
end of my ten-mile march, in the eastern
hemisphere, the sun was in the south at
that point, but to those at the camp on the
other side of the world, only ten miles
away, it was in the north.
returned to the camp again in time for
O final and satiafaetorv seriea NJ ohaerya-