The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-04-19


had convinced Pcary. if possible.
more firmly than before. that the
only way of surmountinG TINS last
and most formidable barrier was
to adopt the manner of lite. the
food. the snowshocs. and the clo'
ing Of the EskimoS. who by centu-
ries of experience had learned the
most effective method of combating
the rigors of arctic weather; to
utilize the game of the northiand
the reindeer. musk OK. etc. "hich
his explorations had proved COM
| paratively abundant. thus with
fresh meat keeping his men ut
and goodtempered through the de-
pressing winter night; ard lastly
to train the Eskimo to become his
sledgins crew.
In his first north polar eXpedl-
ton. which lasted for four years
1S9S-1902. Peary failed to get near
er than 343 mites to the pole Each
successive wear dense packs Of zee
blocked his passage 10 the polar
ocean. compelling him 10 nal h.s
base approximately 700 miles fton
the pole. or 200 miles south OF the
Headquarters Of Mares. too Sreaf
distance from the Pole to De
overcome in one short season.
During this trying period, by
sledging fcats which in distance
and physical obstacles overcome
exceeded the extraordinary records
made in Greenland. he explored
and mapped hundreds OF miles OF
coast line of Greenland and OF the
! islands west and north of Green
land.
on the next attempt, Peary m
sured reaching the polar ocean Wy
designing and constructing
Roosevelt. whose resistlesSs frame
crushed its way to the desired nav
en- on the shores Of the polar sea.
From here he made that wonderful
I march of 1906 to 81 degrees NM
utcs. new worlds record. Winds
| of unusual fury. by opening Dig
leads. robbed him OF the Pole ana
nearly of his life.
The last Peary expedition 1903
! 1903 resulted in the discovery OIL
the Pole and of the deep ocean sur
rounding it. The 396 miles from
/ Greely'S farther had been vanqulsa-
ed as follows: 1900. 30 miles;
1902, 23 miles; 1906, 1863 miles;
1909. ia miles.
No better proof of the minute
care with which every campaign
was prearranged can be given than
the fact that. though Peary has
taken hundreds of men north with
! him on his various expeditions. he
has brought them all back. and IN
good health. with the exception ol
two. who lost their lives III acc1-
dents for which the leader was IN
no wise responsible. What con-
trast this record is TO the long list
of fatalities from disease, frost,
shipwrcck. and starvation which In
! the popular mind has made the
i word arctic Synonymous with tfag-
edy and death.
! Thus Robert f. Peary crowned
/ life devoted to the exploration OF
the icy north and to the advance
! mcnt of science by the hard-won
discovery Of the North Pole. The
! prize OF four centuries CT STRIVING
Welded at last to the most persis-
/ tent and scientific attack ever
waged against it. Pearys success
was made possible by Ions eX-
perience. which gave him thor
ough knowledge of the difficulties
! to be overcome. and by an unusu-
| al combination Of mental and phy-
siCal power = q reSourcefulneSS
which enabled him 70 find way
to surmount all obstacles. a ten
acity and courage which knew no
defeat. and physical endowment
such as nature gives to few men.
1t has been we'll said that the
glory of Pcary'S achievement be
! longs to the world and is shared
i by all mankind Eut we. his fel-
! low countrylnen, who have known
f! how he struggled thes" many years
against discouragemcnt and scoiilng
! and how he persevcred under finan-
cial burdens that would have caus-
ed less Stalwart shoulders TO quit.
! specially rejoice that he made good
at last, and that an American has
{ become the peer Of Hudson. Ma
sellan and Columbus,
Peary's first address to the Ma
tional Geographic Society Was in
/ the fall of 1888, when the Society
; was only few months old. he
then described an expedition which
! he had led across Nicaragua. He
has been actively associated with
its work ever since those carly day$
and on his return from aech Of MS
exr ..jtions to the far north. his
public address was TO the National
Geographic Society. His last pub
&c appearance was on the platform
Of the National Geographic Socie-
~ when IN January 1919. he intro
duced StefanSSon. who had just re-
turned from tho Canadian North.
In 1907. he WAS presented the
Hubbard Cold Medal OF The Society
by President Roosevelt. and in
1909 a Special Gold Medal for his