Gilpin observer., 1917-09-20
American Explorer In FRI Y
North Makes Important
Discoveries.
DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE I
Party Was Cut OF From Civil
World for Four Years-Rssoss
? Ship Appeared When Food
Ran Very Low.

explorer, brings TO Succeosful 10
one Of the most remarkable star
the ice of the roof Of the globe re- oI
ed in the annals Of Arctic exploras ut
! Unusual good and unusual bad lu
marked the expeditions history.
less than fve ships were used To- (
the party into northern Greenland, a
on the two unsuccessful and one 81
cessful attempts to bring MacA9 Ill
back home again. but not q d NJ
person involved lost his life. a
there was no more serious caSu "a
than the loss of frozen toes. IN !s
a unique record for an Arctic aQ )e
ton lasting four years.
Although the enterprise cost a., be
$250,000 and was one Of the mot It,
not the most, costly ever known 8
entists Of the American Museu1 1
Natural History here are frankly 4
lighted today with the wealth OF N
information and the specimens o6 m
erals and the fauna and fora Of
frozen North which Macmillan hi In
back.
Worked All the Time.
Most uninitated persons thinl (
Arctic expedition consists of PEI cio
Of intense labor interspersed with lol
aggravating waits in absolute idle ne
while the weather prevents trav eli
far.
But this Is a mistake. MacM Ill
was working all the time. Even WI
forced to stay near his main bal ,e
Etah, he kept busy, very busy. n al
why, says Macmillan, he found the Il
four years the shortest of his II
Many times he went SO to 40 J ,Ol
without sleep, pursuing his sciei ut
studies. And he had considerable ii
to devote to these studies, for ~ ctl
exploring can only be done in hi
months out Of the twelve.
Macmillan is eager to return to t
bleak but interesting region Of
north pole and will undoubtedly 10
as soon as he can find sufficient G nj
cial backing.
VIII Fly Over Ice.
His next trip will be something :;
tirely novel in Arctic exploration
he proposes to use an airplane tow il
his radius of action. II expect b
as much in day with an airplan e
can do in 20 days with the dogs, +"
explained.
Macmillan was greatly pleasei
learn of the progress in avis t
which has taken place on accoun t
the great war during his stay "
from the world. He thinks airp Ii
construction has now been carrie
a point Of perfection where he {
rely on certain types of flyers as u
as he does on his "huskies" and
snowshoes.
Macmillan left Sydney, N. s., abb n
the Diana in July, 1913. The ship v
wrecked Off Barge Point, Labrador,
was finally pulled off and taken to
Johns, where the supplies were tn l
ferred to the Erik.
Three Rescue Attempts.
In the second ship the party reac
Etah, on the west Greenland CO {
August 20.
1t was more than two years agot
the first relief expedition was sent
Doctor Grenfells Labrador mission
schooner, the George b. Cluett, star
in July, 1915 for Etah. but was una
to go through the heavy foes of ice
cOuntered.
DIR. Edmund o. Hovey of the Am
can museum then fitted out the ID
mark, but this ship failed also, and
believed to be still frozen in the
off the Greenland coast. 1t was Ca
Robert Bartlett, companion of Pei
on the trip when he reached the nol
pole, who finally succeeded where
others had failed. He used the staup
sealing steamer Neptune, and by
feat he adds considerably to the rel
tation he made ON his several voyae
with Peary. Bartlett says the Ice
this trip was the heaviest he had ev
met. Macmillan was also one
Peary's lieutenants on the polar tr
Many of the things Macmillan h
accomplished in the far North will
appreciated only by the scientii
world. But even the layman can
derstand his work in mapping n gre
stretch of the coast of Ellesme
Land, across Smiths sound to Il
west of Greenland; discovering Il
second biggest glacier in the northei
neUnSDHeTe, ioCitiuS tWo heW isiuuS
and disproving the existence of tw
more, showing that Crocker Land, see
by Peary from the summit of an In
mense cliff, is only u mirage. and pen,
trating many miles over the froze
ocean beyond the point where Crocke
Land was supposed to begin.
Reached Just In Time.
When rescued by Bartlett ut Etah
Macmillan and the members of his
party were living on dog biscuit and
ducks eggs, but were In good health.
They would probably have endured
severe hardships next winter. however,
II they had not been reached in time.
Macmillan crossed Smiths sound
once every year he spent in the North,