Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1910-04-07

may go down in that direction next
year on a scientific expedition to chart
the coast line. and SO on. but unless
captain Scott reports that he has fail
ed to find the pole. which l think will
he unlikely. shall not try for it again.
Scott is Il very clever man and
good organizer. He will go not better
equipped than was. but more largely.
For instance. his vessel will be of $50
tons. while mine was only 227. Then
he will have about fifty men, of whom
twenty-five or thirty will be scientists.
He will have sixteen on his polar jour-
ney, while had only four. or course
it all comes down to the human ele-
ment. There is nothing that will bet
ter bring out what is in man than
work like that. A distinguished pro.
fessor with us used to wash dishes
with pride.
Found a Snow Flea.
There has been vegetation down
there, but there is now no plant life
of any description, except If you look
| y
in 800 miles of the north pole there
are 100 Towering plants. There Is no
vegetation at all within $50 miles Of
the south pole. Anything alive: Well.
the only thing l discovered was the
colombia. That. in plain English. is a
snow flea. 1t doesn't bite
In answer to question as to the
| a 30 81 l:a...
tered in expeditions to the arctic and
antarctic the explorer said that the
base OF supplies was much nearer to
the north pole than to the south. there
was more animal and plant life, and
the climate was not so windy or 50
cold as 1t was going south. On the
other hand, the disadvantages of go
ing to the north pole We're that the
travelling was much rougner over great
hummocks of ice, and it was impOs-
sible to make any depot or pitch tent
on the ice, as 1t would float away.
| ION our expedition" Sir Ernest went
on to say, 1--WE lost all signs of animal
or plant life five miles after leaving
the coast line. We were entirely cut
/
had been wrecked we should have new
err got back. as no vessels penetrate
those seas. The wind was a draw
back, as 1t blew with great force in
our faces, carrying the fine ice drift
with 1t. For three days we had
wind Of from fifty to seventy miles
velocity an hour. and in gusts it attain
nd nf1 A |
do was to lie covered up in our sleep
ing bags until the gale had moderated
| TO have exposed ourselves to the wind
would have meant certain death.
Marched 1,755 Miles.
| "The prevailing wind was south and
| southeast. The distance we Travelled
on foot as the crow flies was only $50
miles, but with back marches and re-
| lays we really covered 1855 miles.
| Sometimes we marched six miles to
make three forward and even more to
avoid bad places, as 1t was hard work
hauling our equipment. The Manchu-
rian ponies were of great service to us.
as we used them until they We're worn
out and then shot the animals and
dined on the steaks. The rest of the
meat was frozen and carried on. The
mean temperature taken at the base
of supplies was below zero summer
and winter. but with Il wind blowing
IL was much colder. We had the sun
night and day, as it was midsummer
in the antarctic, but there was no
warmth in its rays.
Il
of north polar and south polar explora-
ton work are pretty evenly matched.
| Against the disadvantages of arctic
work, which have been pictured, you
have the blizZards in the south, the
frequent falling over lodges and the
pulling away at traps all the time.
We did not have much difficulty about
crevices, as We could generally bridge
them with sled, but there was one
night when we had to retreat for half
| a mile before we found place where
we could pitch our tent in safety. 1t
was over one Of these lodges that we
lost our last pony. 1t was at 3 o'clock
! in the afternoon Of Dec. 3. We heard
q shout and looked behind to find the
rear man Of the party clinging by his
elbows to a ledge. The pony was gone,
dropped 1000 feet below.
sour party was very fortunate in
having fourteen days continuously
fine weather, which was purely luck.
Weather conditions enter largely into
the success of an expedition to the
south pole
The explorer explained that the ice
in the south was land ice and that it
had been shown that there was con-
tinent of some 100000 miles of land
there.
ROYAL BED FOR ROOSEVELT.