Evening star., 1922-10-29

as the gun was pointed into the har-
Dor. "A polar bears nose ID tremen-
dously effective ut long range. Not
much, however. can be said In praise
Of his eyes, upon which he depends
but little comparatively for his daily
bread.
He saw us or heard our oars when
distant about 100 yards and desisted
from paving away the snow under
the muzzle of the gun, undecided for
the moment whether to stand his
ground or run. Small might have
shot him from our position, but hesi-
tated, fearing that II wounded the
bear might get away. The bear lum-
bered away rapidly toward the OBJ
servatory and was soon lost to sight
among the rocks on g. neighboring
hill. landed Small and Broomfield
and urged them to follow as rapidly
as possible.
In the meantime the late risers had
tumbled out Of their hunks and stood
on deck in various nondescript sleep
ing garments. Upon seeing the
quarry escaping, Whitehouse could
contain himself no longer. He hastily
dressed, launched our other dory.
sprang into her and pulled for dear
life for the beach.
A polar bear when scenting danger
will always take to the water or sea
ice, his natural element. Scarcely had
he proceeded a quarter mile when he
turned at right angles and plunged
into the ha bc Here Whi enc =
met him and finished him with bull
let, the first bear of the expedition.
nY October 81 the harbor ice was
ID firm enough to bear the men who
were walking back and forth to the
shore. The Bowdoin was well frozen
in the ice fifty yards from the beach,
her bow pointing due north. her stern
held in by our kedge anchor and
strongest manila line. On he 2S:h.
with axes. We cut rectangular sec
tion astern of the Bowdoin and
warped her nearer the beach. in order
to connect the electric lights of the
observatory by cable with those on
the ship.
We considered now that we were
snug for the winter and need have no
further fear of drift ice or dragging
ashore, as the Gjoa did on October l,
! 1903. at GjoahaVen. But probably
nowhere in the world are ones plans
SO completely upset and in SO short
q time as in the arctic. On the night
of the 29th the wind whipped around
to the southwark and blew SO hard
off the land that feared our quarter
=,
Our stx-inch manila cut completely
hrough Il wo-b!-iour t"ist lasn. ii o
the side of the bit supporting the base
Of the thermometer. Upon throwing
off the line she jumped ahead into her
old berth of the day before.
Locked in as the harbor Ice was
by small islands and lodges, its move
ment seemed impossible. yet on the
morning of the 2sth the whole mass
started seaward. Under the terrific
strain the Bowdoin dragged her big
anchor and eighty fathoms of chain
dangerously close to a bad, rocky bot
tom and there she held, humming and
vibrating under the strain of her
, sc.ei chain bursting up through and
clearing the field as 1t swept down
past US on its way to the harbor en-
trance. Within few hours almost
every vestige OF newly formed ice
had disappeared. At low water we
had two feet only under our keel, in a
lee shore with strong wind and snow.
A fiat calm on the 31st enabled US
to hoist in our chain and heavy an
chor and return to our old position
of the observatory. where we again
picked up our stern line.
On November 2 our plant was send
ing electricity through a double insu-
lated wire to the observatory 120
yards distant on the land. the light
to be used in the self-registering
magnetic variation apparatus.
| This observatory was really dark
room containing three instruments
mounted upon cement piers, each hav-
ing a powerful magnetic needle, two
Of which were suspended by quartz
threads and the third permitted to
swing upon delicate bearings.
Mirrors attached to these needles
reflected q beam Of light upon a drum
covered with sensitized paper and re-
volved by clockwork once in twenty
four hours. The slightest detection
of the needle caused the ray of light
to strike the drum at varying heights.
which upon development and meas
urement, with reference to hori-
zontal line, revealed the local mag
netic intensity.
On the 7th the wind came strong
from the north, bringing brash Ice.
sludge and snow slush to the lee
shore and packing US In. On the sth
we were frozen in for the winter.
The 10th. my birthday. almost
paralleled Thanksgiving in the elab-
orateness Of its dinner menu-tomato
soup, roast elder ducks, grape jelly,
boiled new potatoes, plum pudding.
nuts, figs, raisins, chocolates, coffee
and cigars.
Robinson, who planned our meals,
never permitted q birthday to slip by
without due recognition, really the
only reason for regretting that our
personnel did not consist Of 100 men,
as of old, instead of eight
r 1NDER tho new conditions we now
~ settled down to the regular rou-
tine of winter. To supplement our
chemical fire extinguisher, we opened
a fire hole in the harbor ice, that we
might have an abundant supply Of
water in case Of emergency. tidal
rauKe was established with a system
of pulleys along the starboard side of
the Bowdoin to measure the rise and
fall. Watches were detailed for this.
also for supplying US with fresh
water from Goddard lake, beautiful
80 <ha ouraaf vafer one. .fourth h