The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-05-16
Special to The Washington Herald.

| Special TO The Washington Herald.
| New York, May 1.-Two arctic relief
expeditions will leave the United States
| this summer bent on bringing back ex-
plorers marooned in the frozen polar re-
4 gions
One is quite confident of success and
not a desperate business, as such work
goes. 1t will seek to reach the party Of
Donald B. Macmillan. now believed to be
at Etah, North Greenland. and reported
safe in August of last year.
The second, forlorn hope. will at
| tempt by aeroplane search of the terrible
northern seas to locate stouthearted
Vilhjalmur Stefansson. who a year ago.
with two companions. marched straight
north into the unknown from the Cana
dian coast near the mouth OF the
Mackenzie River.
Macmillan and Stefansson engaged in
what has aptly been described as race
for an unknown continent. There is
great stretch of territory lying north Of
Alaska and Canada and bounded on the
north by the north pole. which has never
been surveyed by human eyes. Admiral
Peary, standing at elevations Of 1000 feet
and later 1900 feet on islands west of
Northern Greenland. believed he saw
mountain peaks of this unknown land far
to the westward.
He dubbed it Croker Land. II il exists
1t is by far the largest area Of solid
earth now UNEMPLOYED. The lure of 1t to
the arctic pioneer is beyond understand
ing to the dweller under Southern skies.
Saw New Land.
Last summer Macmillan pushed across
the strait from Greenland and then
over several large islands to the west
ward until he came to Cape Thomas
Hubbard. the last place from which the
l. .
lieved he caught glimpse Of Croker
Lands mountains.
Here a sketch of frozen ocean present.
ed itself For rs miles Macmillan dash
ed over the ice straight west. Several
times he thought he saw the land he
sought. At last he had to give up and
concluded what Peary had seen was only
mirage 1t is improbable Peary could
have seen land farther than Macmillan
went.
Macmillan nearly lost his life before he
got back to the comparative comfort Of
Etah. This summer he may attempt new
feats, but he will undoubtedly keep In
touch with Etah, or at any rate let his
be known. He will not be
the staring mystery Stefanson has be-
come.
July aboard the schooner George NJ.
Clueet. The vessel IL sent out by the
hackers of the Macmillan expedition. in
the American Museum Of Nat
ural History, the American Geographical
and the University OF Illinois.
All the arrangements are being made
here. Capt. George Conner. of East Had
dam. Conn.,. will serve as ice pilot.
II Stefansson is ever rescued, 1t will be
Burt M. Mcconnell, who bade farewell to
his chief April Z. 1914 No one has seen |
Stefansson or the two men he kept with |
him since then. His vessel. the Karluk.
drifted several hundred miles to the west
ward and was crushed In the Ice. Part |
Of those aboard the Kariuk were rescued |
the perseverance Of Mcconnell. |
Conceived Rescue Plan.
Then Mcconnell came back to the States |
and started his efforts to organize q re-
lief expedition. It was he who evolved |
from his brain the idea Of thu hydro /
leroplane.
The Canadian government IL chided by /
Mcconnell for failing to At out q relief
expedition. a. Stefansson is upon Canad-
ian service. But the great war has In
tervened and monopoliSes Canada's en-
srgies,
II consider It my duty to search forI
Mcconnell said here. As
! survivor Of the expedition. ] shall not
- content to sit idly and in comfort In
civilization until I know that my COM
AIDES are safe. or what has happened to
hem"
Opinions differ as to what has happened
o Stefansson. He may Be drifting on q /,
ield OF Ice somewhere north Of Alaska.
n this event he would reach Siberia, III
till alive. about two years from nov.
Mcconnell thus outlined his plans h&eI
e~s~