PEARY 



4544 



PEAT 



Greenland is an island. Other expeditions in 

 1893-1895, 1896 and 1897 resulted in important 

 gains for science, and an account of all the 

 journeys was published in 1898 in Xorthward 

 Over the Great Ice. In the same year he set 

 out on a voyage 

 with the avowed 

 intention of dis- 

 covering the 

 North Pole. He 

 was absent for 

 four years, and 

 while not success- 

 ful in his main 

 quest, made im- 

 portant discover- 

 ies. The northern 

 coast of Green- 

 land was sur- 

 veyed, and a lati- 

 tude of 84 17' 



REAR-ADMIRAL PEARY 



On April 6, 1909, he reached 

 the most northerly point in 

 , the world, from which, in 

 27 was reached, whatever direction he looked, 



the highest till he faced south ' 



then ever attained in the western hemisphere. 



In 1905 Peary set out in the Roosevelt, a 

 ship built for the purpose, which he left on the 

 north coast of Grant Land while he pushed on 

 northward with sledges. He reached latitude 

 87 6', thus establishing a new "farthest north" 

 record, but was forced by privations to turn 

 back. Nearest the Pole, published in 1907, 

 tells of this journey. A second expedition in 

 the Roosevelt was undertaken in 1908. Again 

 the ship was left in Grant Land, while Peary 

 and his companions went on over the ice. One 

 after another of his companions turned back 

 because of a shortage of supplies, and only four 

 Eskimos and one negro servant were with Peary 

 when, on April 6, 1909, he reached the Pole, the 

 goal of many ambitions. From soundings taken 

 he proved that the sea about the Pole is not a 

 shallow body of water, as had always been held. 



Peary's great news was not accorded the en- 

 thusiastic reception due it, because Dr. Freder- 

 ick A. Cook, another American explorer, had 

 announced one week in advance of Peary's re- 

 turn that he had reached the Pole in April, 1908. 

 Careful scientific investigation, however, proved 

 Dr. Cook's claims to be false and left the honor 

 where it belongs with Peary. Many honors 

 were conferred upon the successful explorer, 

 who was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral 

 and given the thanks of Congress. 



In May, 1917, after the declaration by the 

 United States of a state of war with Germany, 

 the rear-admiral was made chairman of the 



National Aerial Patrol Commission, organized 

 under control of the Navy Department. See 

 COOK, FREDERICK A.; POLAR EXPLORATION. 



Consult Peary's Nearest the Pole and The 

 North Pole. 



PEASANT, pcz'ant, WAR, a name given to 

 the rising of the peasants in Central and South- 

 ern Germany in 1524-1525, sometimes called 

 the GREAT PEASANT WAR, to distinguish it from 

 other struggles of similar character which pre- 

 ceded it. The cause of these various risings was 

 the desperate condition of the lower classes, 

 who were oppressed in every possible way by 

 their overlords and were allowed practically no 

 rights; but the immediate occasion for the 

 breaking out of the revolt was the Reforma- 

 tion, and the religious aspect was prominent 

 throughout the struggle. The peasants felt cer- 

 tain that Luther would approve of their de- 

 mands and that with his help they might easily 

 win. But he was determined not to allow the 

 religious movement to become involved with 

 political struggles, and he saw, too, that though 

 the demands of the peasants were for the most 

 part reasonable, their methods of enforcing 

 them were far from moderate. He used his in- 

 fluence, therefore, rather on the other side. 



The peasant forces were without leaders or or- 

 ganization; irregular bands gathered and went 

 afynit pillaging, burning castles and convents, 

 murdering and committing many other excesses. 

 As soon as they were set upon by a regular 

 army they were reduced to submission and the 

 revenge which was taken on them was as fright- 

 ful as their own earlier cruelties had been. Ac- 

 cording to authentic accounts, about 100,000 per- 

 sons were killed in this struggle, and the con- 

 dition of the peasants afterward was worse 

 than it had been before. 



PEAT, peet. As stated in these volumes in 

 the article COAL, peat is merely coal in the mak- 

 ing. Both are valuable fuels produced by the 

 decay of vegetable matter, and their formation 

 illustrates one of the numerous ways in which 

 Nature has made our planet a suitable habita- 

 tion for mankind. The plants which formed the 

 peat beds of the world grew in bogs where there 

 was standing water, and their development be- 

 gan in ages long past. As these plants branched 

 and intertwined they formed a thick mat on 

 the surface of the marsh, causing the lower 

 portions of the stems to die. The decaying 

 vegetation sank lower and lower as the surface 

 growth continued, forming a compact mass that 

 would have turned into coal if there had been 

 sufficient heat and pressure. Peat is thus the 



