Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1930-10-11

This is the story OIL Negro
who accomplished a task at
which the human race had
been striving in vain for more
than 1000 years.
The first ever to attempt that feat
was Pytheas, a Gree, in 325 BIC,
but he perished in the ice with
his companions. Since then the roll
of brave men who tried it has been
a long one. Frobisher, Perry, Rose,
Rae, Ingefield, Kane, Greedy, Nam
sen, -Amundsen. Among those to lose
his life with all his companions was
the gallant Sir John Franklin.
OF course, the greater part OF the
credit for the discovery of the North
Pole belongs to Admiral Peary, but
had there been no Henson, there
might also have been no Peary, ana
the voyage to the Pole might nave
ended as scores of others had done.
On Henson developed the duty OF
attending to details. These were so
difficult, unusual, and intricate that
neglect of the slightest one might
have meant disaster, and perhaps
death for all.
AS it was, the goal was reached
only after twenty years of the most
gruelling labor.
Peary and Henson! The names
are inseparably linked. Peary was
the right hand; Henson the left.
Matthew Alexander Henson was
born in Charles County, Md, August
8, 1866, of poor parents, and belongs
to that hardy race of adventures
who have made civilization what it
is today While others stayed ease
fully at home, they went out across
uncharted seas and deserts, or into
primeval forests and unknown lands,
risking their lives among wild and
savage people and undergoing a
thousand dangers more often than
not for the sheer love of it, thereby
increasing the sum Of human know
ledge.
An Early Adventurer
From the first, Henson showed
the stuff of which he is made. At II
he shipped as a cabin-boy on ship
bound for China. The next voyage
he sailed as an able seaman, grade
usually reached only after several
years of apprenticeship.
At 81 he attracted the attention or
Peary, then only lieutenant in the
United States Naval Service. Peary
himself, one Of the greatest men of
all time, at once recognized his
worth, and took him on as his body
servant 1t was in this capacity that
he went with Peary on the expedi-
ton to Nicaragua, but Henson rose
until he was second in command of
the expedition Vhen it left America
for the North Pole in 1908.
In 1891 he started with Peary for
his first taste Of the ice. The Pole
was not reached until 1909. In the
intervening years, Henson lived for
the greater part of the time, life
of hardship of which the average
human being can have but the faint
est comprehension.
Think of the discomfort of an I'M
heated apartment when it is but 20
degrees above, and then try to
imagine, if you can, what it must be
like travelling for months and months
with the thermometer at from 20 to
IS below, sometimes in raging bliz
yards and sleeping in ice-huts, the
floors of which are eternally cold
For food, no nice juicy steaks but
pressed beef, hard as plug tobacco,
stale biscuits, and the steak of tough
dogs or the sickening fat Of seals.
No arctic clothing that as ever
been devised can keep out the cold
and there is the ever-present danger
of frozen extremities. Freezing of the
nose and the whole of the face is IN
ordinary occurrence, for there are GER
tain parts of the face that cannot
be covered Try to do this and your
breath, congeahng on the covering,
will freeze the covering on to your
face, taking the skin off when you
attempt to remove it.
Lost Eye and Toes
Sometimes you put your hand to
your face and find it covered with