Evening star., 1920-02-20
lEARY'S DISCOVER OF POLE
AND OTHER FEATS DESCRIBED
Unusual Mental and Physical Power and
Resourcefulness Enabled Him to Out
distance All, Says G. H. Grosvenor.
BY GILBERT GROsyENOR.

SA~O AAAAS 10Y
a NJ GILBERT GROsvENOR,
psiaent Of the National Geographic
Society.
has been my privilege to know
miral Peary intimately for twenty
mrs, and fnd it difficult to express
admiration and affection for his
eaonal qualities. the bigness Of his
art and personality. his loyal devo-
N 10 his friends. his rugged integ-
~: and hia love for everything
hericap.-
3he struggle for the north pole be-
i nearly one hundred years before
Z landing OF the Pilgrim Fathers at
Smouth Rock. being inaugurateG
S2z) by that king of many dis
kctiona. Henry VIII Of England.
cores of hardy navigatOrs, British.
ench. Dutch, German. Scandinavian
- Russian. followed Davis. all seek
= to hew across the pole the much
goted short route to China and the
HES. The rivalry was keen and
htly in lives. ships and treasure. but
IN the time of Henry VIII for three
y one-half centuries. or until 1852
l1th the exception of 15S4-1606,
Son, through William Barents. the
Itch held the record), Great Britain's
y was always waving nearest the
sof the globe.
immense treasures Of money and
Ioa were expended by the nations to
D1nrA the northern ice world and TO
ntn the apex of the earth. but all
prts to reach the pole had failed.
)eWithstanding the unlimited sacri-
Of gold and energy ana D!ooo.
G1eh had been poured out without
nt for nearly four centuries.
AruuseA Peary to Action.
7 brief summer excursion to Green
= in 1885 aroused Robert e. Peary.
Evil engineer in the United States
Wy. to an interest in the polar
b6iem. Peary q few years pre-
5usly had been graduated from
wdoin College. second in his class,
oeition which means unusual men
yiRor In an institution which Is
ked Tor the fine scholarship and in
Eoct OF its alumni. He realized at
- that the goal which had eluded
1 many hundreds Of ambitious and
nneless men could be won only by
noW method Of attack.
ho 0rSt arctic problem with which
nfy grappled was considered at that
'he In importance second only to the
|Sauest Of the pole: namely, to de-
mime the insularity of Greenland
II the extent Of its projection north
1P0. At the very beginning Of his
e expedition to Greenland. in 1891,
! suffered an accident which soreiy
ked his patience as well as his
u, and which IL mentioned here. as
illustrates the grit and stamina OF
moral and physical makeup. AS
ship, the Kite. was working it's
y through the ice fields OF the
&oen1and shore, q cake of ice be-
me wedged in the rudder. causing
wheel to reverse. One OF the
pkes jammed Peary's leg against
easement. making It impossible to
rfcAte himself until both bones OF
leg were broken. The party urged
= to return to the United States
Z the winter and to resume his ex-
DSation the following year. But
hry insisted on being landed as
DEinally planned at Mccormick bay,
kfng that the money Of his friends
been invested in the project and
>t he must make good" to them.
ID by the bracing air. SO speedily
tored his strength that at the en-
ng Christmas festivities which
lfo arranged for the Eskimos he
Traced on snowshoes all the natives
his own men.
p the following May, with one Com
nton. Astrup, he ascended to the
nmit Of the great ice cap which
yer9 the interior Of Greenland, 5000
J q 000 feet IN elevation. and pushed
ethward for 500 miles over q region
here the foot of man had never trod
Tore. In temperatures ranging from
degrees to 50 degrees below zero.
DAgine his surprise on descending
IN the tableland to enter a little
Hey radiant with gorgeous flowers
- alive with murmuring bees, where
2pk-oxen were lazily browsing.
mis- shedding journey. which he du-
cated by another equally remark
y. crossing of the ice cap three
ars later, defined the northern ex-
|oved that it Is an island instead Of
{continent extending to the pole. In
t1dness of conception and brilliancy
results these two crossings OF
eeenland are unsurpassed in arctic
Dtory. The magnitude of Peary's
1T is better appreciated when 1t is
ealled that Nansen's historic cross
Sele. 1000 miles south of Peary's
kitude. where Greenland IN some $50
hes wide.
III TUFns Attention to Pele.
Peary now turned his attention to
y pole. which lay 396 geographical
hes farther north than any man had
8netrated on the western hemisphere.
) ret there by the American route he
1T break . virgin trail every mile
Nth from Greely's SO degrees "a min
-. No one had pioneered SO great
[{distance northward. Markham and
hers had attained enduring fame by
wancing the nag considerably less
nn 100 miles. Parry had pioneered
miles and Nansen 12S miles from
ship.
ljs experiences in Greenland had
hvinced Peary, IL possible. more
ymly than before. that the only way
G surmounting this last and most
D4midable barrier was to adopt the
manner of life. the food. the snow.
Iouses and the clothing Of the Eski-
loa. who by centuries Of experiences
- learned the most effective meth
4 Of combating the rigors Of arctic
voother: to utilize the game Of the
oBfhland. the arctic reindeer. musk
- etc. which his explorations had
gpyod comparatively abundant. thus
- fresh meat keeping his men At
= eood-tsmpered through the de-
eeos)nG wtneog night; and. lastly. 70