Secrets of Polar Travel

Transcriber’s Note
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THE STARS AND STRIPES FLYING FROM THE NORTH POLE
SECRETS OF POLAR TRAVEL
BY ROBERT E. PEARY
ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS
NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. 1917
Copyright, 1917, by The Century Co. Published, October, 1917
In my book “The North Pole” appeared a brief résumé, or synopsis, of my system of arctic exploration, which was the evolution of years of continuous practical work and experience in extreme high latitudes, wherein everything that could be thought of in the way of perfecting arctic methods and equipment was worked out.
Ideas that in the mind or on paper appeared promising were tested relentlessly under the most hostile conditions. Those that failed under the test were abandoned, and those that gave evidence of containing some meat were perfected, until at last the entire subject of perfected equipment and methods, combined with the thorough knowledge of all conditions to be encountered gained through years of experience, compelled success. This was the résumé:
The so-called “Peary System” is too complex to be covered in a paragraph, and involves too many technical details to be outlined fully in any popular narrative. But the main points of it are about as follows:
To drive a ship through the ice to the farthest possible northern land base from which she can be driven back again the following year.