PERRY'S PLANS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 184, 8 September 1909, Page 2

PERRY'S PLANS.

any other point of the entire periphery of the Arctic Ocean, a long stretch of coast line upo n which to return, and a safe and (to him) well-known line cf retreat in the event of any mishap to . the ship, independently of assistance. Second, the selection of a winter baso which commands a wider range of tho central Polar sea and its surrounding coasts than iiny other possible base in the Arctic regions. Capo Sheridan is practically equi-distant from Croijr Land, from the'remaining unknown portion of the north-east coast of Greenlad, and from his "Nearest the Pole" of 1000.

Third, the use of sledges and Esquimaux dogs. "Man and the Esquimaux dog," Commander Peary observes, "are the only-two machines capable of such adjustment as to meet the wide demands and contingencies of Arctic travel. Airships, motor care, trained Polar bears, etc., are all premature, except as a means of attracting public attention." Fourth, the use of hyperborenn aborigine (the Whale Soun Esquimaux) for the rank and file of the sledge party. "It seems unnecessary," the explorer concludes, "to enlarge upon the faet tha{ the man whose heritage is life and work in that very region must present the best obtainable materia! for the personnel of a serious Arctic party." VALUE OP ESQUIMAUX TAILORESSES.

Speaking of his Esquimaux, Commander Peary said: "I shall pick them up as the Roosevelt passes on her way to Smith Sound and Robeson Channel, along the west coast of Greenland, whbh has come to be known as the American route. Their wives and children go with them, and pass the dark night wi.iter months near the musk-ox grounds in camps along .the northernmost shores. The women are indispensable for making clothes from the furs we get by hunting and far refltSig the sledges'."

Commander Peary, of the I.lni;«d t States navy, in the steamer Roosevelt, i sailed from Sydney, Cape Breton, for tV: I Arctic regions, in, July of 1008, d«lar--1 ing that he would\pcnd three years i» an attempt to reach the North P>l*. Commander Peary held the honor at that time of having approached ne°.rer the North Pole than any other explorers, he having reached, on April 21, 1006, 87deg. flmin. north latitude, thus being within 174 miles of the apex of the earth. The Roosevelt, in which he made hia present venture, was) buiit bv the Peary Arctic Club, in 1904, anj it is claimed that all that American .shipbuilding could devise is embodied in oer and Peary expresses the conviction that she is the best ship ever built for Arctico work. The expenses of the present trip were set down at £20,000. His dash ove' the ice was to be made with the help of 200 dogs. He expected that the trip would bo made in about the same time as the 1905-0 trip, which required 10 months. /

USE OF ESQUIMAUX. In a lecture after his return fro m a previous expedition, Commander Peary said that he was'convinced of the existence of land near the Pole. About 100 miles noth-west of Grant Land he found an open Polar sea, and in it driftwood, apparently from rivers "traversing the unmapped land. In announcing the plans of his present expeditiito, Commander Peary summed them uf as follow: ; First, the utilisation of the! Smith 1 Sound or "American route." {This, he . says, must he accepted to-dajj as the i best of all possible routes, for «■ determined aggressive attack wjiqn t l|e Pole. Jits advantages are «.)and'ba«a,«o mile* t