The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-02-11

and va feared TO trust their carriage
to any human beings. Dogs hold out
long after mems strength has failed.
Just what. circumstances resolved
Scott to undertake to transport his
own Eledges do not know. However,
his reason must have been good one
for he was an experienced explorer
and had trxversed the snow fields be-
fore.
It was Jan. 8. 1912. when the Terra
Nova party took leave of Scost. Ac-
cording to the diary Scott reached
the pole Jan. is, just fifteen days
later we had discovered the pole
Dec. "a. 1911 only q month and four
days previously.
Immediately upon setting his flag
at the pole and verifying our find
ings, Scott turned back The record
of that returning flight will never be
told. It is beyond the power of man
so 10 do.
Imagine. Here was man who had
reached one Of the poles one OF that
scarce and honored company. The
world was ready to welcome him and
to do him homage as 1t has so gem
erously done homage to me. He was
anxious as his diary shows. to zorro
horate what I had reported on my
own word.
He started up from the end of the
world towards-home. Towards civil
| lization, warmth, friends. glory. chill
dren and wife, And then-across
this bright horizon of hope and long
ing, Just across the lowest corner.
the shadow OF defeat. indeed. per-
, haps, Death. appeared.
1t was horrible and of course a
brave spirit like that of SCOTS would
not for a second tolerate the presence
of such vision. He brushed this
aside as he had brushed o.her en-
croacling perils aside many times
! before But the black shadow kept
sweeping up over that bright horizon
/ ahead.
First of all. as I picture it, the
scurvy-that most horrible of all dis
eases, began to attack the returning
yictors. They had been cutting down
ION food because they had perhaps not
taken adequate supplies in the first
I place. owing to the fact that they
themselves were dragging the loaded
/ sledges. This lack of sufficient nour-
iishment. coupled with the expected
hardships of trekking through an ice
bound land, reduced their resistance
and quite naturally the scurvy follow
ed. suggest this because Captain
Evans of the Terra Nova party was
attacked By the scurvy a few days af-
I ter his return This showed that the
germs were present. Starved ccnstitu-
lions we're all that were necessary to
give this Roadway.
The scurvy. the to-be-conceired
of cold and low provisions began their
deadly work. The scurvy slackens
the circulation The blood. heavy
with poison, did not do its work. and
1.-The cold penetrated right through
One of the men finally fell exhausted
i There were no dogs to pull him on
4 the now empty sledges. The other
four men, themselves all suffering
terribly from disease, from cold and
from hunger. attempted to save theil
companion by drawing him across the
snow The burden was almost toe
much, but they were brave men ant
they staggered on. They must reacf
i their provision depot. There the,
would find raiment enough and t
spare. and they would pitch theil
tents and regain their strength ans
ithen-homei
On, and on they staggered over thu
binding glare of eternal ice and snow
looking. looking. always looking foi
that provision depot. that life saver
But it never came. At last the trutl
must have flashed upon them
They had missed it.
But still they went on.
I am conservative when say tina
lit must have been the most horribl,
tragedy that has ever taken place |,
a region where tragedies are almos
commonplace.
And then one day when 1t seeme'
help must come--a great blizzar,
.came. The most terrible blizzard tina
Scott, to whom billiards. as genera
4 thing were little more than verna
zephyrs, had ever encountered.
was too much for those tempest-tried
disease-eaten, freezing starving men
So they pitched their little tent in thu
, middle of the blizzard-to die!
And there they found them--hud
died together, frozen, starved ant
sickened to death.
But their deaths are more triumph
ant than most OF our lives. For the.
left Captain Scott left rec
ord for honesty, for sincerity, TO
bravery, for everything that makes ;
~ e. ha va,