Evening star., 1933-06-01

for the hardships of the Arctic
Il wastes Is very dear to Evelyn
Briggs Baldwin at II, but the
! government he has served seems to
| have forgotten him, for there is no
hand for the former explorer In the
new deal"
Baldwin, who has been subsisting on
| a minor clerkship at the Navy Depart
ment in his latter days, was dealt out"
Yesterday when the cold hand of gov
ernmental economy brushed him aside
and left him, an elderly man with no
personal resources to fall back on.
Governmental economy has forgotten
that it was Capt. Baldwin, who, in the
troubled days Of 1915, revealed the
efforts of German officials in this coun-
try to smuggle secret messages to their
war leaders.
It has forgotten that Capt. Baldwin,
under the American flag, trudged into
the bitter blasts of the North Polar
regions and added another heroic Amer
icap episode to the effort to conquer
the Arctic that Is written in the hero
ism of his friends, Greeley, Peary,
Brainerd and Byrd.
But the Government has not forgot
ten that it must cut expenses, and
the $135-a-mouth clerkship he has held
in the Navy Department yesterday was
| 4AA1AC a paw "a oAAes SAN'
Life Savings Tied Up.
And this comes with Capt. Baldwin's
| life savings tied up In the recent bank
| failures
How he will fare In the future de-
| pends upon his friends, and he has a
wealth of them, fortunately--some in
high places.
There Is a movement on now among
| his friends throughout the country to
raise a $4,000 trust fund to insure
him an income of $125 a north for
| life. The temporary chairman Of the
movement is B. w. J. Fox, 165 Broad
way, New York, and the Westchester
County National Bank will act as treas
urer Of the fund.
| Meanwhile, many of his friends have
made appeals in his behalf, among
them Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn
Byrd, retired, famed polar explorer;
| Mai. Gen. A. w. Greeley, who led a
| celebrated dash into the Arctic; Maj.
Gen. D. L. Brainerd, also Of Arctic
exploration fame; Senators Millard
Tydings, Arthur Capper, Bronson Cut
ting, Harry F. Byrd, David I. Walsh,
James Couzens, Royal S. Copeland,
tional legislators; Grand Comdr. John
H. Cowles of the Scottish Rite, Secre-
| tary j. w Crabtree of the National
Education Association, Secretary Frank
| B. Steele of the National Sons of the
American Revolution, Mrs. Lowell
Fletcher Hobart, past president gen.
eral Of the Daughters Of the American
/ Revolution; Mrs. w. w. Badgley, pres1-
dent of the District League of Pen
Women. and host Of others.
Appeal to the President.
Their appeals have been made directly
TO the President, to Secretary OF the
| Navy Swanson and to Assistant Secre-
! tary Of the Navy Henry L. Roosevelt
but there still Is no hand in the new
deal" for Capt. Baldwin. He goes.
Today he is jobless and his funds are
inadequate for an uncertain future.
The incident of the German mes
sages in 1915 has just been brought to
light by Capt Baldwin. He has always
been willing to talk about his Arctic
explorations, which brought him much
fame, but he has been very modest
about that other incident.
| 1t occurred when he was preparing to
sail for Belgium as an official Of the
Commission for the Relief of Belgium
In order to get into Belgium safely he
contacted officials Of the German gov
eminent, and received from them a
letter of introduction to Gen. Won
Bissing. military commander Of the
German forces in Belgium. The letter
was given Capt Baldwin on the condi-
ton that he carry it and other mes
sages on a neutral vessel.
| About that time James F. ]. Archi-
bald, a newspaper man, was found to
have in his possession a package of
correspondence from German and Aus
trian officials In the United States to
Austrian and German officials in
Europe. Capt Baldwin read the news
and Immediately came to Washington
and notified the White House of the
messages he had been intrusted with.
Following his disclosures, the Gov
eminent started an investigation which
resulted in its requesting the recall of
pr. Dernberg and Capts. Boy-Ed and
Won Papen. Later during the war he
was with the Ordnance Department as
munitions inspector
Capt. Baldwin spent his early years
as a school teacher in the Middle West
after graduating from Northwestern
College, now North Central College, at
Naperville, Ill. He never married
He varied his school duties with woJk
as an observer for the Weather Bureau
Accompanies Peary.
His first taste Of the Arctic came ir
1893, When ne got perrin IN the Sec
ond expedition of the then Lieut. Rob.
ert E. Peary He left his school work
and because of his knowledge Of me.
teorology was taken on by Peary. Tht
expedition, however, after cntting fal
into the North, was forced Ito return
without making the dash to the Pole.
In 1897, Capt Baldwin prepared t.
, accompany the Frenchman Andree OF
his Inflated balloon trip 10 the Pole
Capt. Baldwin went to Sp6tzbergen, bu
arrived too late to accompany the party
the balloon already hakng taken of
The expedition ended Ing disaster. Thir,
ty-three years afterwi{rd the myster,
surrounding the fate Of Andree and hi
men was solved. In 1880, the skeletons
of the members Of the party were fount
amid abundant provisions. How the,
met their death probably will never b
, known. Capt. Batldwin believes the,
I were killed by polar bears.
In the followingrtwo years Capt. Bald
! win again ventured into the Arctic, thi
} time as meteorslogist and second u
command of the Walter Wellman ex