666 



The National Geographic Magazine 



Plans were made for a ship which 

 should combine the necessary qualities of 

 power, the smallest consumption, and the 

 largest capacity for coal, of a model 

 which should withstand shock and press- 

 ure, which should surmount and crush 

 floes, which should respond on call with 

 full power of engines — in short, a ship 

 which should be the product of actual 

 experience. The keel of the new steamer 

 was laid late in the fall by Capt. Charles 

 B. Dix, in a Bucksport, Maine, yard, and 

 on March 17 the Roosevelt, christened by 

 Mrs Peary, was launched. Engines and 

 boilers were installed at Portland in June, 

 and on July 4, 1905, amid cheers and 

 whistles and the waving of flags and 

 signals, the Roosevelt, first American 

 Arctic vessel for more than a generation, 

 steamed out of New York harbor for the 

 North. 



Sixteen months later a wireless mes- 

 sage informed the world that the Roose- 

 velt, having wintered farther north than 

 any ship in the Western Hemisphere, was 

 at Hopedale, Labrador, crippled and 

 short of coal, Commander Peary having 

 attained 87.6 , a new "nearest the Pole," 

 and all on board well. A month later, 

 and after a slow, difficult, and laborious 

 voyage, the Roosevelt, entering New 

 York Harbor by its East River gate, was 

 towed to her old anchorage at the foot 

 of West Forty-second Street, and the 

 expedition of 1905-1906 was ended. 



Coincident with the construction of the 

 Roosevelt and profiting by experience, 

 the Peary Arctic Club was incorporated 

 April 25, 1904, under the laws of the 

 State of New York, with larger powers, 

 greater efficiency, and other advan- 

 tages. The definite business of the new 

 organization, of which Morris K. Tesup, 

 John H. Flagler, Anton A. Raven, Henry 

 Parish, Herbert L. Bridgman, and Rob- 

 ert E. Peary were incorporators, was 

 stated in the charter to be "To aid and 

 assist in forming and maintaining certain 

 expeditions to be placed under Com- 

 mander Robert E. Peary, U. S. N., with 

 the object of continuing his explorations 

 of the polar regions and his completing 

 the geographical data of the same; re- 



ceiving and collecting such objects of 

 scientific interest as may be obtainable 

 through such expeditions ; collecting, re- 

 ceiving, and preserving narratives and 

 manuscripts relating to Arctic explora- 

 tion in general ; soliciting and adminis- 

 tering funds for the maintenance of such 

 expeditions, and in general providing 

 funds for Commander Peary's efforts 

 to reach the farthest northern point on 

 the Western Hemisphere, and to co- 

 operate with any other assistant for the 

 same purpose." 



It is not the purpose of this paper to 

 speak in detail of the field work of the 

 Peary Arctic Club ; that belongs of right 

 to the man who did it ; but it may be 

 proper to present here a brief resume, or 

 a statement of net results on the sea, ice, 

 and land. 



Fourteen times the ships of the Club 

 have traversed boisterous Davis Straits, 

 conquered Melville Bay, and established 

 Sydney-Etah service with almost the 

 regularity of transatlantic liners. The 

 total mileage of these voyages, not in- 

 cluding the fifteenth, upon which the 

 Roosevelt is now engaged, would be 

 probably not far from 50,000 miles, or 

 sufficient twice to circumnavigate the 

 globe; of the eight ships,. one-half have 

 met their fate (after passing out .of the 

 Club's service), but among officers and 

 crews, more than one hundred in all, 

 except the ill-fated Falcon and her com- 

 pany (also after her Arctic voyage was 

 finished), no loss of life or serious acci- 

 dent has occurred. 



A summary of the cruises of the Club's 

 steamers is as follows : 



1898. Windward, London to New York, to 



Allman Bay; Hope, Saint Johns to 

 Sydney, to Etah, to Saint Johns. 



1899. Diana, Saint Johns to Sydney, to Etah, 



cruise in Inglefield Gulf, to Sydney, to 

 Saint Johns ; Windward, Allman Bay 

 to Brigus, N. F. 



1900. Windward, Brigus, via Saint Johns, to 



Sydney, to Payer Harbor, Ellesmere- 

 land. 



1 901. Windward, Payer Harbpr to Saint 



Johns ; Erik, Halifax to Sydney, to 

 Etah and return. 



1902. Windward, Saint Johns to Newburgh, 



N. Y., to Cape Sabine, to Sydney, to 

 Brigus. 



