116 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
It has been greatly strengthened by filling in 2% inches oaken plank be- 
~ tween the iron frames, sheathing inside and outside with stout oaken planks, so 
as to make the hull uniformly 15 inches thick. To guard effectually against the 
nip or pinch of the ice, which sometimes crushes in the sides of a vessel as easi- 
ly as an egg shell, the inside of the hull has been braced with extra heavy white 
oak timbers placed horizontally, and from side to side in the various compart- 
ments of the ship, directly on the water line. Inside the prow three heavy 
white oak breast hooks have been placed, and on the outside of the bow, over 
all, isa sheathing 36 of an inch iron armor, extending to feet deep and 14 feet 
aft from the stern. 
Capt. H. C. Chester, formerly of the Polaris expedition, who is an experi- 
enced and intelligent Arctic explorer, has superintendence of the work of fitting 
the Gulnare for service in frozen seas. He has placed on the sides of the vessel 
extending above the water line, wedge-shaped oak timbers, which are calculated 
to ease the vessel upward when pressed by heavy ice. This is an idea resulting 
from the experience of the Polaris, which, when caught in the pinch of the ice, 
was forced downward and crushed. A new main deck has been put on, the 
planks being bolted to the iron frame of the ship, and secured on the inside by 
nuts screwed to the bolts. A new smoke-stack and an extra propeller have been 
provided, and amidships will be placed a new bridge 21 feet long. 
As the Gulnare will be used primarily to found an arctic colony of obsery- 
ers, to be recruited by other explorers hereafter, one of the chief designs in pre- 
paring the vessel for service has been to secure all the storage room possible for 
provisions, materials, instruments, arms and munitions. On the deck will be 
carried the frame work and other parts of a complete house sixty feet long by 
twenty feet wide, built on the plan of the houses so long employed by the Hud- 
son Bay Company. This house has been put up temporarily in Washington on 
the vacant lot on Fourteenth street, near New York avenue. It is a complete 
double frame house, with 12 or 14 inches space between, so as to afford the pro- 
tection of an inner wall of caloric. All the pieces are marked and numbéred, 
and when taken apart may be stowed in a small space, and afterward put to- 
gether readily by the arctic colonists. Window frames and glass to give light, 
stoves for heating, lamps and other necessaries will be carried sufficient for a com- 
pany of men at the polar station, as well as for the ship’s company on the voy- 
age. 
In the forward part of the Gulnare is the forecastle, or berth deck for the 
seamen. ‘There are accommodations for twenty-five men in this part of the ship, 
but the quarters will be very close. Under the berth deck is a fresh-water tank 
and storage room. Between this compartment and the coal bunkers, near the 
engine, the hold is entirely given up for storing supplies. The engine, boiler 
and coal of course occupy the center of the ship. Aft of these is the cabin, 
which is a neat and cosy little apartment, with staterooms on each side, with 
accommodations for 18 officers and scientists. In the hold beneath the cabin is 
