Evening star., 1933-10-26

TNHE broken body of Evelyn B.
Baldwin lay at the District
Morgue today-an inglorious
/ climax to an adventurous career
which had led him precariously
close to numerous pitfalls Of death en-
countered in the frozen North by less
fortunate comrades of polar exploration.
An automobile bearing down upon the
71-year-old veteran of several Arctic
expeditions brought sudden death to
him last night as he sought to cross
busy Connecticut avenue near California
street. en- route to dinner engagement
Tomorrow a coroner's jury will view
the body at the morgue and, at an
inquest, attempt to decide responsibility
for the accident. Edward H. Lloyd, 20,
of 3736 Kanawha street. driver OF the
automobile which struck Baldwin, was
arrested, but released to appear at the
inquest.
Virtually Destitute.
Life was glamorous for the one-time
Weather Bureau meteorologist during
the early days of feverish quest for the
then elusive North Pole, but 1t brought
only ignominy and disappointment foc
him toward the end. Forced out OF his
lob at the Navy Department flVe
months ago . by an unsentimental
economy program, Baldwin had been
virtually destitute since that time
compelled to accept the charity OF MS
friends.
Apparently there will be no formal
funeral rites here for the venerable eX-
plorer, as there have been for some
of his associates, including Peary. Bald
win had no relatives here and no home
of his own. For the past six years
he had roomed with kind friends, Lieut..
Oscar Letterman of the Police Depart
ment, and Mrs Letterman. Under
present plans the body will be taken
to the home of sister, Mrs. o. w.
after the inquest. A telegram author
izing Lieut.. Letterman to make these
arrangements was received from Mrs.
Ball today.
Failed to Reach Pole.
Probably the greatest disappointment
of Baldwin's eventful life was his fail
ure to reach the North Pole. From
early youth he had dreamed Of stand
ing some day on the top of the world
and returning to civilization amid the
plaudits of an admiring world. He
derived meager satisfaction from the
fact that it was one of his companions
on a Greenland expedition, Peary, who
finally planted the American Flag at
the pole.
Baldwin's first opportunity to pene-
trate beyond the Arctic Circle came in
1893, when Peary appointed him as a
meteorologist with the second expedi-
ton which Peary made to Greenland.
Peary, the previous year. had ventured
far across the Greenland ice cap and
found what he termed "a royal road to
the pole" The ice was smooth and the
way at last seemed open to his goal.
The 1893 expedition planned to follow
this royal road" direct to the pole, by
ing independence Bay, however. Peary
discovered that his smooth pathway led
to drifting pack ice that would have
carried MN far from his objective, and
the expedition returned.
Suggested Successful Route.
Baldwin suggested to Peary that
better path to the pole lay through
Kane Basin and Kennedy Channel and
along the northern coast of GrinneH
Land. Peary decided it would be ad-
visable to attempt the different passage
at that time, but several years later he
followed Baldwin's proposed route and
succeeded in reaching the pole.
Only a change in weather and
slow ship prevented Baldwin from shar-
ing the tragic fate OF the Andree pal,
loon expedition in 1897. Baldwin had
signed up as a member of the aerial
party and was en- route to the take
off site at Spitzbergen when Andree.
suddenly favored by good weather. de-
cided to take-off without awaiting ar
rival next day of Baldwin's ship. That
was on July IL, 1897. The fate of the
expedition remained locked in the ice
of the north until 1890, when the skel-
etons of Andree and his companions
were found by Norwegian explorers.
Andree's diary told grim story of the
balloons futile struggle to keep aloft
and of days Of agonizing tramping
across floating ice in an effort to reach
land. The diary did not reveal the
actual cause OF death OF the men, Dut
Baldwin advanced the theory that polar
bears were responsible. He recalled
that polar bears had sought to enter a
snow-covered wooden shack in which
he and some comrades had taken refuge
in that region years before, but had
failed to dig through the snow to the
hut. Andree's party, however, had
nothing but a canvas tent to shelter
them.
Discovered New Land.
The disappearance of Andree did not
cool Baldwin's ambition to be the first
to reach the North Pole. The very next
year he struck out for the Arctic again,
this time as second in command Of the
wellman expedition. The party. al
though inadequately equipped, managed
to reach latitude Of 81 degrees and
30 seconds. The trip to the pole was
abandoned. but Baldwin set off with
several other members of the Wellman
group toward Crown Prince Rudolph
Land in an effort to find new land. He
was successful in this search. and he
named his discovery Graham Bell Land
Baldwin's supreme attempt to reach
the pole was made in 1901, when he
organized and commanded his own
party-the Baldwin Ziegler expedition.
Drawing On lessons of his previous ex.