Part 55 (1/2)
EXPLORATION OF ALASKA.
Attention was so generally directed toward Alaska, our recent purchase from Russia, that an exploring expedition visited that country in 1883, under the command of Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka. It should be stated that the party, which was a small one, went thither without authority from the government, its departure from Portland, Oregon, May 22d, being secret. It was gone for several months, and brought back interesting and valuable information. One bit of knowledge was new. The explorers learned that the length of the great river Yukon is 2,044 miles, which makes it the third in length in the United States, the fourth in North America, the seventh in the western hemisphere, and the seventeenth in the world. The area drained by this immense stream is 200,000 square miles.
THE YORKTOWN CENTENNIAL.
We have learned of the centennial celebration of the birth of our republic in Philadelphia. Many other celebrations of important events were held in different parts of the country, the most important of which was the commemoration of the great victory at Yorktown, which brought the Revolution to a close and secured the independence of our country.
As was befitting, preparations were made on a grand scale for this celebration. Thousands journeyed thither days before the exercises opened. President Arthur arrived at ten o'clock on the morning of October 18, 1881, in a government steamer, his approach being announced by salute after salute, each of twenty-one guns, from the different s.h.i.+ps of the fleet.
The exercises were opened with prayer by Rev. Robert Nelson, grandson of Governor Nelson, who commanded the Virginia militia at Yorktown and directed the fire so as to destroy his own home, in which Cornwallis had his headquarters, after which Governor Holliday, of Virginia, made the address. At its conclusion, the sword was held up to view which was presented to the horseman who rode at high speed to Philadelphia with the news of the surrender of Cornwallis. Another interesting fact was that W.W. Henry, the grandson of Patrick Henry, was sitting at that moment on the platform.
The corner-stone of the monument was laid with Masonic ceremonies. The chair in which the Grand Master for the occasion sat was one that had been used by Was.h.i.+ngton when he was Grand Master of the Virginia Masons.
The sash and ap.r.o.n were presented to him at Mount Vernon in 1784, and had been worked by Mrs. Lafayette. The gavel was made from a portion of the quarter-deck of the United States frigate _Lawrence_, flags.h.i.+p of Commodore Perry, when he won his great victory on Lake Erie in September, 1813. s.p.a.ce cannot be given to enumerate the notables who were present nor the eloquent addresses that were made. Among the guests were descendants of Rochambeau, Steuben, and many German and French friends. The centennial ode was written by Paul H. Hayne, the Southern poet (who died in 1886), and the oration of the day was by Robert C.
Winthrop.
It was a graceful tribute to the friendly course of England, when Secretary Blaine, at the reception which followed the ceremonies, read the following order:
”In recognition of the friendly relations so long and so happily existing between Great Britain and the United States, in the trust and confidence of peace and good-will between the two countries for all centuries to come, and especially as a mark of the profound respect entertained by the American people for the ill.u.s.trious sovereign and gracious lady who sits upon the British throne, it is hereby ordered that at the close of these services, commemorative of the valor and success of our forefathers in their patriotic struggle for independence, the British flag shall be saluted by the forces of the army and navy of the United States now at Yorktown. The secretary of war and the secretary of the navy will give orders accordingly.
”CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
”By the PRESIDENT.
”JAMES G. BLAINE, Secretary of State.”
The final ceremonies of Yorktown occurred on the 20th of October, at which time 9,000 sailors, regulars, and militia made an impressive spectacle. They were under the command of General Hanc.o.c.k, and represented all of the thirteen original States, including a number of others. They pa.s.sed in review before the President, both branches of Congress, governors of the States and their staffs, and the French and German guests of the government.
ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE NORTH POLE.
One of these days the North Pole will be reached, but no one can say when. For hundreds of years the attempt has been made again and again, and daring navigators have penetrated far into those icy regions, where the temperature for months at a time registers forty, fifty, and sixty degrees below zero, only to perish or be turned back disappointed.
The first American expedition into the Arctic regions was conducted by Dr. Elisha Kent Kane. He sailed from New York in the steamer _Advance_, May 30, 1853. He reached Smith Strait, as far as Cape George Russell, and then returned to Van Rensselaer Harbor for the winter. A number of excursions were made from that point, and 125 miles of coast were traced to the north and east. Two of the men penetrated to Was.h.i.+ngton Land in lat.i.tude 82 27', and discovered an open channel, which they named Kennedy. Kane came home in 1855, having been further north than any other explorer. He was obliged to abandon his s.h.i.+p and proceed overland to the Danish settlements in the south, where he was met by a relief party.
One of the members of this expedition was Dr. Isaac I. Hayes, who, in 1860, attained 81 35' north lat.i.tude, when he was forced to return without having accomplished anything of importance. Sir John Franklin, an English navigator, had been lost in the Arctic regions a number of years before, and several expeditions had been sent in search of him, but all failed to secure any definite information. In 1860, Dr. Charles F. Hall, of Connecticut, led an expedition in quest of the lost explorer. He was unfortunate enough to lose his boat and was obliged to return. The most interesting discoveries made by Dr. Hall were a number of relics of Frobisher's expedition to those dismal regions fully 300 years before. A second party, under Hall, found the same year several relics of Franklin, and dissipated all possible hope that he or any of his men were still living.
Dr. Hall was an enthusiastic explorer of those inhospitable regions and spent five years among the Eskemos. Coming home, he organized a third party, for, cheerless and dismal as are those frozen solitudes, they seemed to hold a resistless fascination to all who have visited them.
This expedition reached 80 north lat.i.tude, where Hall died.
THE GREELY EXPEDITION.
In 1880, the proposal was made by an international polar commission that the leading countries should unite in establis.h.i.+ng meteorological stations in the polar region. This was with no intention of helping explorations toward the North Pole, but to permit the study of weather phenomena and the actions of the magnetic needle, respecting which much remains to be learned.
Congress appropriated funds with which to establish a scientific colony for Americans, one at Point Barrow in Alaska and the other at Lady Franklin Bay in Grinnell Land. These stations were to be occupied for periods varying from one to three years.
The party designed for Lady Franklin Bay consisted of First Lieutenant Adolphus W. Greely, U.S.A., Commander; Lieutenants F.S. Kislingbury and James B. Lockwood, U.S.A., as a.s.sistants; and Dr. O. Pavy as surgeon and naturalist. In addition, there were twenty-two sergeants, corporals, and privates, all belonging to the army, and two Eskemos. All the other attempts to establish circ.u.mpolar stations, numbering about a dozen, were successful.
The steamer _Proteus_ conveyed the expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, the start being made from the harbor of St. John's, Newfoundland. It would seem that every needed precaution had been taken to avert disaster.
Since the expedition had an attainable point fixed upon as its destination, it would seem that it had only to establish a base, where the government would deposit abundant supplies, to which Greely could return when he chose or when he found himself compelled to retreat. Then he could carry forward supplies on his sleds and leave them at different points along his route, so that he would be sure of finding them on his return. This scheme is so simple that it would seem that there was no possible, or at least probable, way of going wrong. Yet misfortune has been the fate of most of the Arctic expeditions.