Finally Captain Dix said that he would order the timber for the building of the _Roosevelt_ on his own responsibility; that he believed the money would be raised, and that if it were not, he would assume whatever loss might result from his action. His statement was like a ray of sunlight both to Mr. Jesup and myself, for it brought out clearly the fact that there was something in the project which appealed irresistibly to business men of big ideas. The next scene which I recall most distinctly was in another beautiful villa in Vermont, commanding miles and miles of beautiful country and with a regal mountain and forest domain back of it. It was just before the 1st of August, the date on which the $50,000 must be subscribed to insure the signing of the contract for the construction of the ship. The total still fell several thousands short of that amount. Mr. Colgate had already promised a generous check with an intimation that he might increase it if it were necessary. At this meeting there were but three: Mr. Colgate, Judge Darling, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and myself. The situation was presented to Mr. Colgate, and with characteristic promptitude and generosity his check was increased by an amount that rounded out the $50,000 and so the building of the _Roosevelt_ became a certainty. [Illustration: CAPTAIN CHAS. B. DIX. BUILDER OF THE “ROOSEVELT” ] [Illustration: THE “ROOSEVELT” ON HER TRIAL TRIP, JUNE, 1905 ] [Illustration: THE PEARY ARCTIC CLUB’S S. S. “ROOSEVELT” ] In approaching the general question of a ship for Arctic or Antarctic ice navigation, one thing is immediately apparent to anyone at all conversant with the matter, _i. e._, that she should be as small as is consistent with carrying the party, supplies, equipment, and coal for the work planned. The reasons for this are evident. The smaller a ship is, the stronger she is, and the more easily handled. In looking for facts to show the results of past experience in this field, it is at once discovered that practically all ice boats past and present have been built by the three countries, Scotland, the United States, and Norway, for the prosecution of the whale and seal fisheries. In this work the Norwegians have operated in the seas about Spitzbergen, Jan Mayen, East Greenland, and Nova Zembla; the United States in Hudson Bay and Bering Sea; and the Scotch principally in the chain of waters comprising Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, Lancaster Sound and their tributaries, with a few voyages to East Greenland and Hudson Bay. The ice conditions encountered by the Norwegians and Americans may be very broadly stated as floes and broken ice drifting in an open sea, through which the ships have to thread their way.