The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1910-02-22
PeARY's FIGHT AGAINST ARC
TIC ICE,

iustallment OF his wonderful narrauFe
In rho March issue OF Hampton's Mag
azine deals with The Battle With the
Ice from Etah 10 Cape sheridan. tor
the first time In all that has been
written about Polar research does the
average man get an Idea OF the ire
mendous difficulties OF sailing ship
Ia the Polar seas. This battle oil the
Roosevelt with tumbling lcebergs and
grinding ice foes literally hanging
over the rail ready TO smash the boat
10 pieces reveals 10 the quiet reader
sitting by his fiTeside a vivid and me-
morable picture OF the continual peril
Of such work, and shows that, though
Hampton's paid $4,000 for Comman-
dear Pearys story, the commander
has earned every cent OF it-and
more.
1T is hard for a layman TO under
stand the character OF the ice through
which the Roosevelt fought her way,
snys Peary. Most persons imagine
that the Ice of the Aruc regions has
been formed by direct freezing of the
sea water But in summer time very
little OF the floating Ice is OF thal
character. 1t is composed OF huge
sheets broken off from the glaclal
fringe Of North Grant land, broken
up by contact with other foes ana
with the land, and driven south under
| the impetus Of the violent flood tides.
Il is not unusual 10 see ice there De-
tween eighty and one hundred ieet
thick. AS seven-eights Of these heavy
| foes are under water, one does not
realize how thick they are until one
sees where q huge mass. by the pres
! sure Of the pack behind 1t. has been
| driven up onto the shore. and stands
there high and dry, eighty or a hun
! dred feet above the water, like silver
| castle guarding the shore OF this eN-
acGernted and icc-clogged Rhine,
sThe navigation Of the narrow aod
aforementioned channels between Etah
and Cane Sheridan was long consid-
! cred an utter impossibillty, and only
I four ships prior TO the Roosevelt have
J succeeded in accomplishing it. or
! these four ships one. the Polaris, was
/ lost. Three. the Alert. the Discovery,
and the Proteus. made the voyage up
and back in safety; but one OF these
! the Protous. was lost in an attempt
| 10 repeat the dash The Roosevelt
had on the expedition OF 1866 made
made the voyage up and back. though
I she was badly smashed on the return
"Of course the steam Is up at all
/ times. ready like ourselves, for any
thing at a moments notice When the
! ice Is not so heavy as to be utterly
| impenctrable, the ship under full
steam moves back and forth contin-
ually, butting and charging the tioos
Sometimes q charge will send the ship
forward half her length, sometimes her
whole length-someumes not an inch
When. with all the steam OF the boil
ers, We can make no headway what
ever. we wait for the ice TO loosen up,
and economic our fuel. We do not
mind using the ship as battering
ram, that is what she was made for.
but beyond Etah coal Is precious. ana
every ounce OF II must yield Its full
return of northwerd Steaming. The
coal at present in our bunkers was all
that VIC should have until our return
the following year. when the Peary
Arctic club would send a ship 10
meet us at Etah.
1T must be remembered that during
all this time We were in the region OF
constant daylight, in the season Of the
midnight sun. Sometimes the weather
was fogey, sometimes cloudy. some
times sunny; but there was no dark
ness. The periods OF day and night
were measured only by our watches
not. during the passage of these chan
Dels. by our sleeping and waking. for
we slept only IN those brief intervals
when there was nothing else TO do
Unresting vigilance was the price we
paid for our passage.
"Often on this last expedition OF the
Roosevelt. as on the former one. have
, | seen a fireman come up from the
bowels of the ship, painting Tor
> breath OF fresh air. take one look al
the shelf OF ice before US, mutter say
agely:
"By God. she's got TO go through
| Then he would drop again into the
stoke hole, and moment later AT
extra puff OF black smoke would rise
from the stack.
During the worst parts of the jour
: ney. Bartlett spent most Of his time
> In the crows nest. the barrel lookout
at the top Of the main mast | would
climb up into the rigging just below
tho crows nest, where I could see
= ahead and talk TO Bartlett, backing
up his opinion With my own. wher
necessary. TO relieve him in the more
dangerous places of too great a weight
. Of responsibility.