Off for the North Pole
By livelyn B. Baldwin, Commander of
the Baldwin-Zcigler Polar Expedition.
(Copyright, by H. II. Baldwin.)
SOLOMBALA, Hussla, July 2S. Ai
laat we aro off! Our faithful olil
pilot has fulllllcd his tnBk and Is
waving us a farewell from the
deck of a light ship off the fur-away
north coast of Nurway. 'l'hreo steamers,
America, FHIhJof ami Belglcu, me dip
ping their liana to the civilized world ho
hlud them, and their crews are listening to
the faint hurrahs from the shore. It is
a gorgeous sunlight night-the Arctic circle
miles to the south of us and we are hound
for the mysterious ami fascinating nalms
of the north, whose secrets so nianv bravo
men havo attempted to discover.
Not without unusual toll and troulde has
utr start been lirought about. Pcihaps In
truth 1 should siy that this little event -our
farewell to the world -l not our ht..rt
at all. We made that many muni lis nun.
when our labors began with selecting our
ships ami their crews, gelling together
the members of the expedition ami pur
chasing equipment aim pimlsions. A r-
Icans already know how these things were
a comj.ll'hcd ami ate pi ami of the fa t
that Ame ban geneioslty has lilted out the
most completely equipped expedition that
has ever failed away to the fro.en north.
And not only to Americans are these things
known, for at every stop in our progress
nlong the northern coast of Norway, even
at little Ilslilng hamlets, we weie gicitcd
with cheers and sped on our way with
good wlBhes for success.
It was at Tromsoe, Norway, that wo
assembled our little licet. Here we took
on catgoes which most Balling masters
would havo hesitated to attempt carry
ing. Indeed, so conlldcnt were many of
the ship owners In Tromsoe that we
should need assistance In transporting our
equipment to Franz Josef Land that they
had steamers ready to olfer me (nt n good
hire) when I arrived. They nil said the
"Frlthjnf" wa& considerably overburdened
and that the stores awaiting shipment on
tho "America" would require another ship
at least. There were fi.000 separate bundles
In tho warehouses nnd tho llrst sight of
them In scattered confusion was somewhat
dlhconrerilng. Hut when we had dispensed
with tho useless crates and packing
bo0our Tour years' supply of food as
sumed such a compact appearance that the
need of another ship was not apparent ami
tho vessel lying at anchor by our side
silently spread her sails and stole away.
Ilesldcs a general cargo of provisions an 1
equipment I had conttacted for ten tons
of dried llsh for our dogs and now that the
extra steamer had set sail the men hunt
from whom tho fish hail been ordered In -came
nlarmed and without waiting to see
whether we could take the fish from his
warehouse, quietly remnrked to mo (taking
JOHN KOTZOFF, PILOT Photo
Hi: LATH Bishop Whipple, In his
autobiography, told this story of
hie first parish. Klou church, Home
N. Y.: ' Llko most young clorgy,
I was overconfident of my theological
attainments and of the houndncss
of my philosophy. Itov. Dr. George
Leeds, my neighbor In Grace church, Utlcu,
had asked mo to preach for him. I selected
the sermon which 1 considered my best.
The following day 1 met Judge Benrdsley,
who had known me from childhood, and,
laying his hand earnestly on my shoulder,
as I supposed to commend my oloquenco of
tho preceding day, ho said: 'Henry, no
matter how long you live, never preach
that Berinon again! I know more phil
osophy than you have learned. You must
not try to preach to tho Judgo, but to tho
tempted, sinful man. Tell him of tho love
jcsus uiiriBi aim ineii you win ueip nun.
My nunt, .Mrs. George Whipple, a nleco of
Daniel Webster, told mo that when Mr.
Webster was visiting in tho country he at
tended tho little church morning nnd oven
Ing. A follow senator said to him, '.Mr.
Webster. I mil surprised that you go twice
on Sunday to bear a plain country preacher
it as a matter of courso that thcro would
bo no room for tho fish on tho "America"):
"Of course, you will bo obliged to pay mo
a commission Tor taking the fish off your
hands."
lie was not a little astonished when I as
sured him that every fish would bo taken
aboard and It was only when bale after
bale of this dog food had been taken away
In large lighters that he gave up the Idea
of an extra gratuity, lly separating the
bales and stowing tho llsh a handful nt a
time between boxes, barrels, tins ami, in
fact, wherever n small space appeared, we
at length solved this most Important prob
lem. Finally there remained but the three
portable houses and the "Frlthjof" took
two of thrne ami the third one was placed
on the "America." This last task waB com
pleteil on Saturday night and the Sunday
following was a day of rest.
Wo were not able to get away with our
heavily loaded ships without accident, how
over. While all hands were at dinner
on our llrst day of rest America began to
drag Us anchor on the starboard side before
a strong southwest wind ami a very swift
sea current. It was being driven rapidly
toward the shore when we dropped tho an
chor on tho port bow and stopped tho vessel
before any damage was done. Strange to
relate, a similar accident occurred to Ant
arctica when, a year or two ago, It lay at
anchor In this same port. Our chapter of
accidents Is mndo complete by tho record
lug of but one other. On the following
Tuesday, the day of our departure from
Tromsoe, ouu of the large whaleboats
dropped or. the foot of one of our seamen
ami an amputation of the little toe was
necessary. The operatinu was quickly and
skillfully douo by our own doctors. The
Injured man pleaded hard that he be nut
left behind, and with such a spirit of course
wo should not have thought of denying him,
oven had ho suffered n greater disability.
Drclllch, tho Injured man, Is a type of the
men who make up our party.
On board our vessels many professions
aro represented, yet evety man does hi
share of the hard manual work. As soon
as we were out at sea on the way around
to Soli mbala, where we took on our dogs
nnd laat lot of equipment- the men busied
thmselven getting our cargo Into better
shape. On the foiemsllo u group was busily
employed In breaking up crates and boxes,
storing the wood in the engine room to
save fuel; another group was willing to
blacken hands ami faces in heaving coil
from between decks Into the bunkers. Here
was an example of the sudden and strange
transformation from the gentler American
life which many of us have Just left behind
- a comparative ease abandoned for what
ever fate or fortune may have In store,
everyone lending n hand us though he ha 1
Copyright, P.tOl by E, B, Baldwin,
Incidents in the Lives of
when you pay little attention to far abler
sermons in Washington. in Washington,'
.Mr. Webster replied, 'they preach to Danlol
Webster, tho statesman, but this man haa
been telling Danlol WebBtor, the sinner, of
Jesus of Nazareth, anil It has been helping
htra.' "
Henry (1. Bryant, "who attempted the
ascent of .Mount Asslnlboino. In the Cana
dian Rockies a few weeks ago, has returned
to his homo In Philadelphia. In company
with Walter Dwight Wilcox, a fellow of
tho Itoyal Geographical soeltly of London,
ho reached an altitude of 11,125 feet, tho
altltudo of tho summit being 12,000 feet.
He hopes to be more successful next time.
In 1S91 ho explored the Grand Falls of
Labrador and was tho first to measuro
them. Tho next year ho was the second In
command of tho Peary relief expedition
to North Greenland and In ISltl wiih lu
command of the Peary auxiliary expedi
tion. Ho also commanded the Mount St.
Ellas Alaska expedition In 1S97. Mr. Wil
cox was graduated from Yale university
In 18!i3 nnd since that time ho 1ms travolcd
and made scientific Investigations, ts
peclally In tho Canadian Rockies and
Hawaiian Islands. Ho was elected a fel
been accustomed to Just such ways ub
these for a lifetime These are tho kind of
men who are facing the dread terrors of
thu north with uuih courageous spirit
niiksim from the mechanical engineer's
i like, Seltz ami Winer from tho practice
of medicine, Flula from the photo engraving
room, Porter fiom the draughtsman's olllcc,
L-dllugwell from the university, Barnard
from biihlmss. Hare from the studio. San
din from the theological seminary, the two
Wilde brothers from tho eleetrlial engi
neering room, Andree from the collcgi . nil
Met from the manual (raining hi lino! and
Viiieyatd fl f)in tho inerenntllo life.
On the afternoon of tho day of our ar
rival nt Solombala, In company with .Mr.
Pauls, British pro-consul, I proceeded to
Archangel to pay n call to his excellency,
Alexander Engelhnrdt. governor of Arch
angel district. For Home months this
inergotlc and affable man had shown a
sympathetic Interest In our expedition,
and upon our arrival Immediately extended
his congratulations upon our apparent go id
prospects and expressed a deslro to see the
dogs and the ponies. No ono was ninro
welcome than tho governor of this great
Russian district to receive and enjoy tho
freedom of the expedition. While the gov
ernors of other districts, particularly those
In Siberia, had prohibited tho gathering
of so many dogs, Governor Engelhnrdt had
personally found Hmo from his olllclal
duties In directing tho nffalrs of a terri
tory Intger than all Germany to bring
the gathering of tho Siberian contingency of
thu expedition to a successful Issue, not
withstanding tho strong opposition of his
colleagues In authority.
Our chief task at Solombala was the
taking on of the dogs and ponies. Four
hundred yelping, wild Siberian dogs, which,
If free, could have torn us all to pieces In
a few minutes, aro not easily handled and
there wcro many exciting hcenes In the
transfer to lighters nnd then to tho dog
quarters on board ship. Tronthclm. who
had gathered the dogs for Nanseti and the
duke of thu Ahriizzl, hud been engaged for
months In collecting these animals for our
party nnd right glad ho was to aco them
safely lodged with us, Tho six young Si
berians who assisted Trontholm wcro taken
on as recruits to our expedition forces
Unablo to speak a word of English they
explained through an Interpreter that they
low of the Itoyal Gi ogniphlciil feoclety in
U'.is. He has written two books on tho
Canaillan Kockles, besides many articles
for the Journal of Geography of tho Hoyal
Geographical society.
It may bo said that the motto "AM work
ami no play makes Jack a dull boy" cannot
be applied literally to Bear Admiral George
W. Melville, tho has been chief of tho
bureau of steam engineering nbout four
teen years. Except for his trip to tho
Pacific coast with President MoKlnley ro
ccntly nnd one week at the Chicago exposi
tion, ho has not had tnoro than a forty
eight hours' leave nt any ono time lu the
fourteen years,
K'f .
Masons at Itichmond, Vn., recalled tho
Initiation of President McKlnloy as a mem
ber of Hiram lodge of MasonB at Win
chester, Vn., and comment on the way In
which ho was token In. Major McKlnley
Joined the lodgo May 1, 1805. Ho had been
In tho valley campaign with tho federal
troops and was greatly struck with tho kind
way In which federal olllcors who were Ma
sons treated confederate prisoners who be
longed to the order This bo Impressed him
TlliST DISTHinUTION OK FOOTGEAR. Photo Copyright
had entrusted all to mu "as to a father,"
and nt this very unusual appeal to mo as
a joung man without family lies I could
scarcely repress n smile. The contracts
were arranged to their complete satisfac
tion. By the time our live stock was aboard thu
keel of thu America wiih ery low in the
water, and 1 decided not to take on the
hay nnd oats required for the ponies until
after passing tho two bars on our wav
down the Dwlnn. Wo thereupon betook
ourselves to what might bo called an In
ternational love feast, a aumptuous icp.i3t
laid by the British pro-consul. .Mr. Pact.,
and participated In by several Russian
unci German nlllelals, as well as bv more
than half of tho members of our expedi
tion. .Many wcro the oxpi easlous of hourly
good will which were exchanged between
autocral and republican, and the governor
of Archangel led us all with his "After all
wo are all brothers!" With the same gen
eioslty of sentiment he voluulailly trans
lated for me a lengthy dispatch published
that day In a Russian gazette detailing the
plans of Admiral .Makaroll. Makarnlf. it
sienis, will llrst circumna Igale Nina '.eni
bta lu his famous ice breaker, Ycrm.ik. and
proceed Ihcnru to Port Dickson on the north
coast of Russia lu order, if possible, to
communicate with Baron Toll's expedition.
Iu addition to Admiral .Makaroff's plans
for exploration In Franz Josef hand, It Is
also his purpose to leave Information nt
Capo Flora, tho proposed Ural rendezvous
of tho America and Frlthjnf.
Till: AMEIllOA AND THIS FIHTHJOF AT
1001, by E. B. Baldwin.
Noted People
that ho applied for membership and was ro
telved. He ami George Washington were
tho only two Virginia Masons who were Il
legally Initiated. McKlnley, because ho had
not been a resilient of the state for a year,
according to the regulations of tho order,
and Washington, who was taken Into tho
lodgo at Fredericksburg, when ho was 20
ycais old, 21 years of age being tho mini
mum limit.
Blch.nd Crokor's visitors at IiIh English
country place, Moat house, give a glowing
account of his public services as a beno
factor of Letcomhc. Not content with
beautifying his own property, ho'ls Improv
ing the village by widening and straight
ening tho public roads, by extending a
picturesque wall mid by placing seats for
villagers in tho meadows under the trees,
lie has also licensed the village boys to
bathe In his now lake it L eertnln hourH and
has promised to provide a fountain near ono
of tho old mills. Ho has furnished employ
ment for a Inrgo force of workmen In im
proving his estate.
As is well known, Admiral Dewey was
unsigned to tho Asiatic squadron at his
HUH. by E, II, Baldwin
Owing to Hie rnru wo had to give to
our overloaded craft It was arranged that
a "pilot extraordinary" should accompany
us down tho river. When we bad passo.l
tho second bar wn no longer needed his
services and our own pilot look charge.
It was no easy matter, however, to tuko
our craft nut Into the open sea, Wo
were obliged to proceed slowly toward the
outer bar, at which point wo arrived nearly
an hour too soon. Wo had lut go the
anchor lu order Hint the ship might not
ill 1ft from ItH position; the two Mnca of
atnkea which mark tho deep water channel
drew closer and closer together until but
u fow rods separated them. That wo were
ery close to the bar wan painfully evl
dent from the sullen thudding of tho pro
poller and Hie trembling of the rigging
To one on the bridge cognizant of the real
state of affnlis It seemed an though thu
next Instant we should stop. Bess than
half of the ship's length Intervened to tho
last stake. Then a few more turns of the
propeller sent the bow beyond the outer
mnrk, the rigging fiu'wanl Hteadlcd Itself
ami Joyously we felt ui.ihcIvch upon the
bosom of the placid deep. The old pilot,
drawing u long breath ami crossing his arum
upon his chest, signified Ills relief from
a moulnl strain which had taxed bis nerves
to the limit. We placed him aboard the
lightship which always lies at anchor at
this place ami iih we got under full speed
ahead ho waved iih a parting signal of
"boll voyage." EVELYN B. BALDWIN.
TltOMSOE, NORWAY- Photo Copyright
own request I lu believed that tin, coufin
Ing desk work as chief of tho Buicau of
Equipments In tho Light House board was
making Inroads upon his health. Ho used
to take his meals at tho Metropolitan club,
corner of Seventeenth ami 11 streets, in
Washington, exactly one block from his
olllcc. The menu was choice, but Dewey
complained to his friends that his digestion
was not tho belt.
"You must eat less," wuh Hie siiggesllon
homo ono volunteered.
"That's Just It," replied the future hero
of Manila, "but you hco I can't dispense
with my evening walk after olllco hours
anil this sharpens my appellle,"
"Shorten your tramp, then," was the
admonition.
"Can't very well," responded Dewey.
"Why so; how much of u walk do vou
take?"
"From my olllco to the club," was
Dewey's reply,
Tho admiral enjoys humor of a unlet
kind. There is nothing boisterous lu his
nature. In courtly grace and In pollto reti
cence ho Is the porsonlllcntlnn of tho well
bred gentleman. lie enjoys tho roro
(Oontlnueil on Eighth Page.)