New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-05-02

sv CHARLES HENRY DoRR.

Y
Ma region Of vast fields of snow and ice,
where gigantic icebergs form and drift
through the waters of Melville Bay,
where the aurora boreals flashes rays of
,,5-eolored lights in the skies, and the Storm
v;ns RACES in blasts OF whirling billiards, DON
aid B. Macmillan, American explorer and
,,,der Of the Croker Land exploration party,
!. nsrooned with those who accompanied him
:, daring trip of adventure in quest Of an
,,known contnent-Croeker Land, If 1t proved
"a exist. otherwise only mirage.
rs Croker Land inhabited by a strange race
Il neoplep Has II different geological for
-,,t;on2 Does IL contain fields OF minerals,
,ch deposits, perhaps7 And how is 1t bound
ID, These were problems TO be solved by the
explorers Of the Crocker Land expedition.
Plans we're formulated by Macmillan 10
make one hundred and twenty-five mile dash
s.awsrd over the ice in quest of Croker Land
from Cape Thomas Hubbard. Before making
!, he consulted other explorers who had in
vsded the wilds Of Alaska and the Arctic re-
giors with a view to taking advantage of their
experience In building his deg sleds for much
DEFENDS upon the staying qualities Of sledges
us.d IN Arctic travel If sledge gives out
travel is impeded, and sometimes trips Of ex-
,loration must be abandoned in consequence.
Macmillan was we'll equipped with dogs and
s,anch sledges for his dash over the ice fields
Of the far north.
FOR TWO DAYS THEY THOUGHT
THEY HAD FOUND 1T.
Things received from members Of the expe-
diton last November were to the effect that
Macmillan, accompanied by Ensign Fitzhugh
Green, U. S. ~, had journeyed one hundred
and twenty-five miles northwest from Cape
Thomas Hubbard across the ice, searching
with powerful glasses for the land which Ad-
uirsl Peary thought he sighted from an ele-
vation OF l,40O feet on the summit OF Cape
Thomas Hubbard in July, 1906. The explora-
ton OF Crocker Land easily takes first rank
among problems demanding exploration now
that the poles have been reached" said Peary,
"snd should it prove to be land Of large ex-
tent the possibilities will be most alluring."
For two days Messrs. Macmillan and Green
were highly elated in the later stages of their
one hundred and twenty-five mile dash over
the ice fields, for they thought they saw land in
the distance But they found it was only
mirage and that Crocker Land does not exist;
at least not within the boundaries ascribed to
if By Peary Crocker Land, if it ever existed,
has either melted or hoated away somewhere
in the polar seas.
Such was the news forwarded by w. Elmer
Ekblaw, geologst of the expedition, who had
journeyed southwark on hunting trip with
two companions in the power launch George
Borup. named after the late George Borup,
former associate Of Macmillan.
NEWS SENT FORWARD BY MEDIUM
OF SYMPATHETIC DANES.
Ekblaw and his companions were compelled
TO seek refuge at Cape Alexander after being
buFeted by a severe storm which swept the
Greenland coast. They could not return to
Ekh owing to the tempestuous weather and
heavy sea running, but they succeeded in
reaching the camp of Knud Rasmussen, Dan
ish explorer, who relayed the news OF the
Croker Land expedition to DR.. Edmund Otis
Hovey chairman of the exploration commit
tee, at the American Museum of Natural His
toy in this city.
Knud Rasmussen is a well known explorer
and for several years he has represented the
Danish government in Greenland. Thus far all
OF the mail and news relating to the Crocker
Land expedition has been forwarded by the