Evening star., 1934-03-18

Then you are nearly always drifting,
but most Of the time as little aware
of 1t as you are that the earth ro-
tates. You can, however, find out the
motion of the ice by some delicate
test. say watching quicksilver in a
bowl and seeing it quiver-which
means the grinding of your foe edge
against another miles away.
When you come to where the foes
meet, perhaps after walk of few
miles, you see the differential mo-
tion-yours may seem to be moving
west at. say, half a mile an hour; but
the reality of that is not easily set
tied. 1t may be that both foes are
moving west, yours half mile faster
than the other, and there are several
more possibilities. The foes may be
separated by a little open water or
lot; they may be sort Of kissing each
other or there may be that insistent
stress which breaks off chunks, crushes
them and tumbles them about. Cracks
may radiate into your foe, widening
and narrowing. In that case you had
better keep half mile or SO from the
edge till things quiet down.
Ferry Is Needed.
II the contact of the foes is gentle,
or if they are separated by water so
narrow that you and the dogs can
| Jump it. then you simply travel on. II
the water is too wide for that. but not
more than, say. half a mile, we used
| to spread oiled tarpaulins on the ice,
place our sledges on top. wrap up the
/ sides and, with these improvised boats,
/ ferry across. This can be done even
at 40 below zero, which is about as
| cold as it ever gets on the polar sea.
But you will find perhaps thousand
pounds of ice clinging to your tarpau-
! lin when the ferTying Is over. Unlash
the canvas, spread 1t on the ice, walk
upon it-and the ice cracks off.
| The outstanding case of deliberate
/ exploratory drift was on my third ex-
pedition-the party under Storkerson,
my then second in command-wlth
/ four companions. Gumaer. Klllian,
Knight and Mask. Shortly after Mid
winter, 1918. they Travelled with dog
teams 200 miles north from Alaska,
selected a good stout foe several miles
! in area, camped on it and. securing
both food and fuel by hunting, drlfted
with 1t $50 miles during six months.
They were more or less planning 10
drift a year and half, but Storkerson
developed a severe case OF asthma "a
disease not known to have any con-
nection with their climate or clrcum-
stances) and so they decided TO move
ashore.
Reporting TO me as commander OF
the expedition. Storkerson told in sew
eral hundred pages what scientinc
and other things related to the sledg-
| ing and drift he considered impor-
tant. His account Of the journey
ashore was. however. less than 70
words: I'VE started from a point
little over 200 miles from shore on
october 9 and reached land November
without accident or hardship" Il
seemed like that to Storkerson.
Classic Drift.
The classic involuntary drift was
/ that of Capt. George E. Tyson with
II other men, 2 women and .
children. which began 600 miles north
of the Arctic Circle, between Green
( land and Ellesmere Island in October,
| 1872, when they were accidentally
separated from the United States ex-
ploring ship Polaris Of Halls ex-
pedition.
/ At the beginning of drift that was
/ TO be 1900 miles, the Tyson party
| had provisions for. say, three months.
But they wisely killed seals and polar
bears whenever possible. They were
| fairly comfortable during the Mid
winter for the drift was sluggish, the
snow dry and their camp reasonably
warma ed by burning the fat of the
! animals they secured. The skins Of
| these animals made good flooring and
/ could have been used for garments
and other purposes If there had been
need.
Toward Spring. however, things got
worse The snow, no longer dry with
| the cold, began to dampen their
| clothing; later rain and sleet made
them soaking wet. With the thaw
their foe weakened and several times
they had to move to stronger ones.
Through what was In those days
looked upon as a special Intervention
Of Providence. they we're picked up
by the Tigress. Newfoundland
sealer. on April 80. This was the
second vessel they had seen. but the
! first which had seen them. There
was no one looking for them, Of
course, for no one suspected either
the loss of the Polaris or the situa-
tion Of her crew.
Entire Party Safe.
This drift of 1900 miles had lasted
more than half year. The party
numbered 10 in October, 1872: they
numbered 20 on April 80, 1873. Every
man, woman and child had lived
through in good health, including the
twentieth member-born on the foe
There have been many cases OF
shipwreck in the Arctic and the drift
Of crews without lives being lost, but
obviously there is greater risk fol-
lowing shipwreck than when drifts are
undertaken by set plan. Curious to
the layman, but natural when you
understand the conditions, is the fact
that the losses usually occur, not at
the time when a ship Is crushed, nor
yet on the Winter pack, but on a
Summer pack, or when land is ap-
preached or reached.
In the wreck of the Jeanette, with
her 80 men, it was urgent to leave
the ship after she was crushed, be-
cause her foe was drifting away from
land. In the case of Karluk, with
q men, Q women and child, the
reverse was true, for the days were
short (January I'D and travelling
would be better when they heightened.
So they pitched tents, made camp
snug, and lived with considerable
jollity until the time came to move
ashore.
There was loss Of life in the jean
nette party, but none until they had
traversed several hundred miles OF
pack ice and had launched three
boats in open water near the Siberian
coast. In the Karluk crew there was
loss also. Four men secured permis-
sion to leave the main party and, pn-
skilled in travel, were lost probably
on the sea ice. -Four, after reaching
Herald Island, died of carbon monox-
ide poisoning, much as did the young
|