The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-07-17
NHYBARTLETTD DID
NOT GET TO POLE
Peary Had to Send Him Back
With Last OF Supporting
Parties.
-----------------
HENSON COULDN'T COMMAND.
.--
And in Case of Disaster Whole
Expedition Might Have
Gore to Pieces.
HENSON COULDN'T COMMAND

Commander Robert E. Peary In his
story of the discovery of the North
Pole, to appear in the forthcoming Au-
gust number of Hampton's Magazine,
\ gives for the first time hts reasons for
taking Matthew Henson. negro. with
him to the pole instead al Captain
Bartlett. the last other white man left
with the advance party.
Many have criticized Commander
Peary for not sharing his triumph with
his white companions, but he has re-
: fused until now TO state his reasons for
his course. He now seeks to show that
the necessarily limited number of his
party demanded the selection of every
capable member to take charge of the
return supporting parties, the last and
most difficult of which was directed by
Bartlett. Commander Peary declares
further that because of rectal lack of
daring and Initiative. Henson would
profanity have persisted had such a
task been assigned him.
Commander Peary adds:
Though 1 would naturally have been
glad - taEf Bartlett with me to the
end of the teurney, it was impossible.
AS l have already noted the support
'itng party had to be sent back in this
stage of our progress, and Bartlett was
the only man with me at that time who
1.-THE supporting party to land.
II had given Bartlett the post OF
honor in command of my last support
ing party for three reasons: First, be-
cause of his magnificent handling OF
the Roosevelt; second, because he had
cheerfully and gladly stood between mo
and every possible minor annoyance
from the start of the expedition to thar
day; third, because 1t had seemed to
,J,a IN Vic of q
work of Great Britain in'Arctic explo-
ration, British subject should, next
ITO an American, be able to say that
he had stood nearest to the North Pole.
Bartlett had been invaluable TO me,
Circumstances had thrust upon him
the brunt of the pioneering, instead OF
its being divided among several. and
he had borne it nobly.
with the departure of Captain Bart
lett the main party now consisted o.
my own division and Hensons. M!
men were Sigloo and E-gingwah; Hen
sons men We're Oo-tah and oo-que-ah
We had five sledges and forty dogs
1.-THE pick of l40 with which we had lef
the ship. We were ready now for tn
final dash.
in taking Henson with me to tn
pole did just as have done on all m
expeditions for the last fifteen year:
where he had been with me at my potn
.farthest north. Henson was the hes
man had with me for this kind o
work, with the exception OF the Eski
mos, who, with their racial inheritanc
of Ice technics, and their ability I
handle sIedges and dogs, We're NOR
necessary 10 me as members of IN
own Individual party than any whit
man could have been.
Henson, with his years of Arcti
experience, Was almost as skilful a
this work as an Eskimo. He coul,
handle dogs and sledges. He was
part of the travelling machine. Ha,
L taken another member of the ex
petition, he would have been a pas
senger, necessitating the carrying o
extra rations and other minor I'M
pediments. 1t would have amounte,
to an additional load on the sledges
while the taking of Henson was II
the interest of economy of weight.
The second reason was that
wished TO give Henson some return
for his many years of faithful servic
10 me, and this was the best thing
had to give him.
The third reason was that Will
Henson was more useful to me thai
any other member of my expedition
when it came TO travelling with M
i-last party over the polar ice, he woul
not have hsen SO competent as TIL
least experitnced .'of my white com
panions in getting himself and hi
party back TO the land.
IF Henson had been sent back wit
one of the supporting parties from
distance far out OH the ice. and If h
had struck conditions similar to thos
d which we had to face on the retur
Journey in 1906, he and his part
would never have reached the lant
While faithful to me, and when wit
me more effective in covering distanc
with a sledg than any of the others, h
had not as a racial inheritance TIL
daring and Initiative of my Anglo
Saxon friends / owed it to him no
TO subject him to dangers and re
sponsibilities with which he was TEN
peramentally unequal to cope"