$50,000? Think they'll take a check?!?!? Anybody in on it with me? ; )
Jeannie > RACE TO THE NORTH > PROF. DYCHE AND LIEUT. PEARY IN A UNIQUE CONTEST. > METEORITE THE PRIZE. > Both of the Explorers Want the Honor of Bringing It Here. Weighs Forty Tons > and is Worth $50,000 > > If two noted Arctic explorers should happen to meet at the same place > in the frozen North there is apt to be a big scrap and if it oncce begins > there will be no dangers of police interference. There two explorers are > rivals and enemies, and moreover they are both now on their way to Melville > Bay for the express purpose of bringing back a gigantic meteorite which lies > half buried in the ground on the shore of the bay. It has been there for > ages, and the native Esquimaux call it the "great iron stone." Both of > these explorers claim the meteorite as his particular property, but the one > who gets there first will gain the prize. > Lieutenant R. E. Peary is one of the rival explorers and Professor > Lewls Lindsay Dyche, of Kansas, is the other. Lieutenant Peary is more > widely known than Professor Dyche, but in the scientific world the latter is > held in the highest esteem. He has made several trips to the Arctic region > in search of the Pole, and on one occasion journeyed north with Lieutenant > Peary. Something happened on that occasion which caused an estrangement, > andnow they are anything but friends. When Lieutenant Peary returned a year > ago from his eventful trip to the North Professor Dyche wrote a long article > in which he showed that had it not been for a series of blunders made by > Peary the North Pole would have been discovered. This of course, did not > lessen the breach between the two. > > START OF THE RIVALS > > When it was annouced a short time ago that Lieutenant Peary was going > to start on a journey to Melville Bay to bring back the great meteorite, > Professor Dyche said nothing, but immediately packed up and left his home at > Lawrence, Kan. A week later the news was given out that he was going to > bring back the meteorite. Dyche left about the 1st of July. whereas Peary > did not leave untill July 16. On that date he sailed in the steamer Hope > from Sydney, C. B., accompanied by a number of scientists. Henson, the > famous black servat of Lieutenant Peary, is one of the party; also Hugh Lee, > who accompanied Peary in all of his trips to the north. The scientists are: > Professors Alf Burton and George H. Barton, of the Massachusette Institute > of Technology; Russell W. Porter, a student in the architectural department > of the Institute of Technology, goes as artists and photographer, and John > C. Phillips, a student of Harvard, as assistant geologistl Geologist G. H. > Putnam, assistant in the United States Coast and Geodstic Survey, has been > detailed to take penduium and magnetic observations. Three scientific > parties will be landed at Labrador, South Greenland and Melville Bay, > respectively. > > DYCHE'S MYSTERIOUS TRIP > > There is considerable mystery about Professor Dyche's trip. None of > the details of his plans has been given, but he is known to be a man full of > resource who can make plans in one minute and carry them out in the next. > There is nothing very terrible about a trip to Melville Bay, as it does not > require the long preparations which a more protracted journey to the North > does. Melville Bay has been known to navigators for more than 300 years, > and it used to be a common stamping ground for the old whalers. > The last heard of Dyche was at Boattle where it was said he was to > said for the North. He was to go through Behring Strait and the Northwest > passage to Greenland. This is a much longer route than that taken by Peary, > but as the Kansas had a start of nearly two weeks, this should even things > up. > A year ago Professor Dyche said that he was going to try and reach the > North Pole this summer, and it may be that after disposing of the meteorite > he will push on to the North. He is not a rich man, and could not afford to > defray the espense of such a journey, but it is well known that a number of > wealthy men have stood ready for years to supply the money he would require > for a trip. > > THE PRIZE METEORITE > > Some time ago when talking about the meteorite, Professor Dyche said; > "This meteorite was first seen by Franklin, to whom the natives showed it, > The Esquimaux have known it for ages. They call it the "great iron stone." > It weighs forty tons and is composed of solid iron mixed with a little > nickel. It probably fell out of the heavens centuries ago and has lain > among the rocks on that inhospitable coast seen by only a few men. > "When the Kite, on which I went after Peary, was returning, the > Esquimaux told us repeatedly of the 'great iron stone,' and prevailed upon > us to stop and see it. Peary and I saw it at the same time, but Peary > claimed it for himself by 'right of discovery.' > "I do not know of any law by which he can claim it over me or any other > man who will take the trouble to go after it. I recieved a letter from > Lieutenant Peary a day or two ago in which he warns me that the meteorite is > his, and that he is going to go after it in a ship in the spring. I > understand a syndicate in Chicago is also thinking of outfitting a ship to > go after it. It I should take a notion that I wanted it, and my ship was > the first to reach there, I don't think anyone would prevent my taking it. > "It is a peculiar grayish bit of metal lying half out of the ground. > It is very hard. We found it impossible to break a piece from it with cold > chisels and sledges. We managed to bore a hole in it for a short distance, > after wearing out several cold bits. Of course it is chiefly valuable for > exhibition purposes for while the iron is remarkable pure, iron is too cheap > to go to Greenland after it. We consider it worth $50,000. If I get it it > will help pay the expenses of the expedition." > > PROF. DYCHES CAREER > > Professor Dyche is a remarkable man. When he was thirteen years old he > didn't know the alphabet; at seventeen he could not read; at thirty-eight he > probably knows more about the mammals of North America than any living man, > having observed, shot ad stuffed every one of them except the musk ox and > the white sheep, which he will go after into the country north of Alaska > when he gets the meteorite. > Dyche was born in West Virginia and missed being a native Kasasn bu > only a few days, because five days after his birth the family moved to that > State. Dyche worked his way through the Normal School and then through the > university. He has the finest collection of stuffed wild animals in the > country. This collection excited the wonder of America at the World's Fair, > and made Dyche a friend of all the great scientists of the country. > Dyche is short and slight. He has a large head coverd with an immense > mop of thick; strong, crisp hair, and a small nervous face. He is powerful > and wiry and lives on beef and water. He has never used tobacco in any > form. Hehas energy and enthusism enough for ten men. He has camped and > rouged it over the West, on mountain and plain. He has traveled over the > deserts of Old Mexico, New Mexcio and Arizona. He has hunted the whale, the > walrus and the polar bear. He has shot moose and elk and gizzly bears. He > has studied the beaver and the fox. > > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
