TEN YEARS OF THE PEARY ARCTIC CLUB 



By Herbert L. Bridgman 



Secretary of the Club, Read at the Ninth International Geographic 

 Congress, at Geneva, Switzerland, July 27-AuGusT 5, 1908 



ALTHOUGH the Peary Arctic 

 Club has not yet fully completed 

 its work, it willingly improves 

 the opportunity of the Ninth Inter- 

 national Congress to place in the perma- 

 nent records of geographical progress a 

 t>rief resume of its history and deeds for 

 its first decade. The Club, unique and. 

 unprecedented in organization and meth- 

 ods, was the product of circumstances, 

 and, though designed for a special field 

 and a definite task, has a charter of broad 

 powers and permanent value. Founded 

 and brought into activity as an ally and 

 resource of Commander Peary in his 

 •quest for the North Pole, it has demon- 

 strated by ten years of continuous, un- 

 ceasing labor the efficiency of its organi- 

 zation and the wisdom of personal re- 

 sponsibility and direct connection be- 

 tween cause and effect. When its pres- 

 ent work shall be completed its legal and 

 chartered powers will continue in per- 

 petuity, and its experience and prestige 

 may be made valuable assets to its suc- 

 cessors, no matter in what field, in what 

 lands or seas, they may choose to prose- 

 cute exploration and discovery. 



The times were ripe ten years ago for 

 the Peary Arctic Club. The new expe- 

 dition, prefaced by seven years of suc- 

 cessful work in Greenland, had been 

 sanctioned by the geographical authori- 

 ties ; leave from the public service had 

 been granted ; the Windward was on her 

 way from England, and the date for de- 

 parture approached. Already Peary had 

 four times traversed the inland ice-cap of 

 Greenland, and in the judgment of both 

 American and Royal geographers demon- 

 strated its insularity— a judgment ratified 

 by gold medals from each society ; the 

 three great meteorites, Dog, Tent, and 

 Woman, had been brought from their 

 cradles ; the Eskimo by kindness and 

 humanity had been won to faithful and 



loyal alliance and, having had a year for 

 preparation, were awaiting the arrival of 

 their leader. The imperative need of 

 the hour was an effective, responsible 

 organization, which would provide the 

 means and, not less important, organize 

 and direct all the support and interest 

 which might be developed among the 

 American people. The original plan was 

 twenty-five subscriptions of $1,000 each 

 for four years, and with this list but par- 

 tially filled, with the expectation that the 

 vacancies would before long be made up 

 and organization perfected, Peary sailed 

 from New York July 4, 1898, on the 

 Windward, and a few days later, accom- 

 panied by the auxiliary Hope, from Syd- 

 ney, Nova Scotia. The ships parted 

 August 12, off Etah, north Greenland, 

 the Windward to winter in Allman Bay, 

 the Hope to return to her home port, 

 Saint Johns, Newfoundland. Both are 

 now at the bottom, the Hope, lost in 1900, 

 drifting helpless in a floe on a reef near 

 the Magdalens, in the Gulf of Saint Law- 

 rence, and the Windward, renewing the 

 role of her early days, as a Dundee 

 whaler, having been driven on a ledge 

 near the Carey Islands June 15, 1907, 

 sinking in the very waters which she had 

 often traversed in safety. The Eagle 

 (1886) and the Falcon (1892 and 1894), 

 of the Peary ships, also lie now on the 

 floor of the sea. 



The subscribers supporting the expedi- 

 tion, upon which Commander Peary 

 more than six months before had left 

 for the North, met for the first time 

 January 30, 1899 — by chance, Friday — 

 at 44 Pine Street, New York, and organ- 

 ized the Peary Arctic Club, electing as 

 its president Morris K. Jesup, who held 

 the office from that date until his death. 

 A brief and succinct constitution was 

 adopted, which set forth as the objects 

 of the Club, "to promote and encourage 



