The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-04-19
Peary's Explorations
In the Far North
BY Gilbert GrOsvenOr
President of the National Geo
graphic SiCicty

| President of the National Geo
graphic Sicicty
1t was my privilege to know Ad-
miral Pcary intimately for twenty
years. and I find it difficult to ex-
press my admiration and affection
for his personal qualities. the big
ness of his heart and personality.
his loyal devotion to his friends.
his rugged integrity and his love
for everything American.
The struggle for the North Pole
began one hundred years before the
landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at
Plymouth Rock. being inaugurated
! G52D by that king Of many dis
tinctions, Hery VIII of England.
Scores of hardy navigators.
British, French. Dutch. German.
Scandinavian and Russian. follow
ed Davis. ali seeking to hew across
the Pole the much coveted route
! to China and the Indies. The ii
valry was keen and costly in lives.
ships and treasures. but from the
time of Henry VIII for three and
one-half centuries. Or until 1882
! with the exception of 1594-16o6.
! when. through VIM. Barents, the
Dutch held the record.) Great
Britain's flag was always waving
nearest the top of the globe.
Immense treasures of money and
lives were expended by the nations
to explore the northern ice world
and to attain the apex of the earth.
But all efforts to reach the Pole
had failed. notwithstanding theSun-
limited sacrifice Of gold and ener-
sv and blood which had been pour
ed out without stint for nearly
four centuries.
a brief summer excursion to
Greenland in 1886 aroused Robert
E. Pcary, civil engineer in the
United States Navy, to an interest
in the polar problem. Peary a
| few years previously had been
graduated from Bowdoir, college Sc
cond in his class. u position which
means unusual mental vigor in an
institution which is noted for the
fine scholarship and intellect Of It's
alumni. He realized at once that
the goal which had cluded 50
many hundreds Of ambitious and
dauntleSs men could be won only by
a new method of attack.
The first arctic problem WITH
which Peary grappled was consld
cred at that time in importance Sc
cond only to the conquest of the
Pole: namely. to determine the lr-
sularity Of Greenland and the ex-
tent Of it's projection northwa!d
! At the very beginning of his flrse
expedition to Greenland. in 1891,
he suffered an accident which
Serely taxed his patience as well
! az his body. and which is mention
ed here as it illustrates the grit
ard stamina Of his moral and ply
.sical makeup. AS his chip, the
Kite. was working its way through
the ice fields off the Greenland
shore, u cake of ice became wedged
! in the rudder, causing the wheel
10 reverse One of the spokes OF
wheel jammed Peary's leg against
easement, making it impossible to
cxtricate himself until both bones
of the leg were broken. The party
urged him to return to the United
| States for the winter and to re-
sumo his exploration the following
year. But Peary insisted on beng
landed as originally planned at Nc
Cormick Bay, stating that the mon
ey of his friends had been invested
in the project and that he must
make good to them. The aSslduous
nursing of Mrs. Peary. aided by the
bracing air, so speedily restored his
strength that at the ensuing Christ
mas festivities which were arranged
for the Eskimos, he OUTRAGED on
snowshoeS all the natives and his
own men.
in the following May, with one
companion. Astrup, he aScended to
the summit of the great ice cap
which covers the interior OF Green,
| la nd. 5000 TO 5000 feet in elevation
and pushed northward for 500 miles
over a region where the foot OF
man had never trod before. in tenn
peratures ranging from 10 degrees
to 80 degrees below zero. Imagine
| his surprise on descending from
| the tableland to enter little val
ley radiant with gorgeous flowers
and alive with murmuring bees
where musk oxen were lazily
browsing.
This shedding Journey. which he
duplicated by another equally re-
markable crossing Of the ice car
three years later. defined the north
ern extension of Greenland and con
clusively proved that it is an is
land instead Of u continent en-
tending to the Pole. In bOldness
of conception and brilliancy of re-
suits these two crossings Of Green
land are unsurpassed in arctic his
tory. The magnitude of Peary'S
feat is better appreciated when ii
is recalled that Nansen's historic
crossing OF the island was below
the Arctic circle. 1000 miles south
of Peary's latitude. where Green
land is some $50 miles wide.
Peary now turned his attention
to the Pole which lay $96 geo
graphical miles farther north thar
any man had penetrated on the
western hemisphere To get there