TO THE NORTH POLE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 314, 29 September 1908, Page 7

TO THE NORTH POLE.

COMMANDER PEARY (dt tklequaph—rasas AssociiTio.v—corritlonT.) (Rec. September 28, 10.30 p.m.) Now York, September 28. Commander Robert E. Peany U.S.N., in the Roo3e'volt, sailed from Etah northwards on August 17. Tho prospects of success are considered good, though Commander Peaiy's food transport has already been injured by the

PEARY'S PLANS With tho samo ship (tho Boosevelt), using the same methods, equipment, aid supplies, and following the same route and programme (except for such variations as Lave been suggested by tho experiences and discoveries of his last expedition into the Arctic regions), Commander Rooert E. Peary, JJ.S.N.,' has again set out in searoh of the North Pole, more than ever confident of tho success of his adventure; and undaunted by the chilling rebuffs he has received frorn .Arctic foveas on his previous journeys north. Thesa journeys number eight:, beginning with his Greenland rcconnaisnnca made in 1886. The routo will be via, Sydney (Cape Breton), tile Straits of Belle Isle, Davis Straits, Baffin Bay, and Smith Sound. On board tho Roosevelt Commander Peary has a minimum number of white men, who will bo supplemented by Lskinios and dogs' when he J wches the Whale Sound region, and ho will- endeavour to force the Roosevelt' to the same, or similar, winter quarters on the north shore of Grant Land that he ( occupied in the. winter of 1905-G. "There is no doubt in m,r mind," says Commander Peary,'"that the *big lead' encountered iu both my upward and return marches in my last expedition, which was i.lso observed by me in 1902—although clcsed at the time—is i:n es sontially permanent feature of this part of tho Arctic Ocean. This lead sxtsnds westward from Cape Morris Jesup, the most northern point of Greenland, in tho general neighbourhood of the eighty-fonrth ..parallel, towards Crocker land, and forms tlie line of demarcation between the heavy, rough, nearly motionless ice embayed in the great bight between Capo Jesup and Crocker Land,: and ,the less heavy, more mobile ico of the central polar sea, moving steadily from the ice-encilmboi'Sd areas north of Behring Strait, :nd across (ho Pole toward the North Atlantic in a broad stream between Cape Morris Jesup and the northern point of Franz Josef Land. Commander Peary has littlo doubt of his ability to make this lead (that, is, from the Rdth parallel) instead of from the :north coast of Grant Land (83 degrees North latitude), his point of departure, with p ully loaded sledges If this is dono, it will shorten the route by nearly 100 miles, and distinctly - simplify his task. The main features ot his programme Commander Peary sums up as follow:— First, the utilisation of the Smith Sound or "American Route." This, he says, must be accepted to-day as tho best of all possible routes for a determined..aggressive attack upon the Pole. Its advantages .ire a land base 100 miles nearer the Pole than is to be found at any other point of the entire periphery of the Arctic Ocean, a long' stretch of coast line upon which to return, and a safe and (to him) wellknown line of retreat in the eveht of any mishap to the ship, independently of assistance. Second, the selection of a winter base which commands a wider range of the central polar sea and its surrounding coasts than any otlicr possible base iu the Arctic regions. Cape Sheridan is practically 'rom Crocker Land, from tho remaining unknown portion of tho north-east coast of Greenland, and from his "Nearest the Pole" of 1906. Third, the use of sledges and Esquimaux dogs. "Man and tho Esquimaux dog, Commander Peary obsorvos, "are the only two machines capable of such adjustment as to meet the wide demands and contingencies of' Arctio travel. Airships, motor cars, trained Polar bears, etc., are all premature, except as a means of attract, ing public attention." Fourth, tho use of hyperborean aborigine (the Whale Sound Esquimaux) for the rank' and file of the sledge party;- "It seems unnecessary," the explorer concludes, "to enlarge upon tho fact that the man whose heritage is life and work in that very region must present the best obtainable material for the personnel of a serious Arctic party."