New lands within the Arctic circle: Narrative of the discoveries of the Austrian ship "Tegetthoff" in the years 1872-1874Payer, Julius
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New lands within the Arctic circle: Narrative of the discoveries of the Austrian ship "Tegetthoff" in the years 1872-1874
Payer, Julius
Admiral Tegetthoff (Ship); Arctic regions; Franz Josef Land (Russia) -- Discovery and exploration
16. The place where the men live is always in the fore-part of the ship,
but their berths should be changed in a certain rotation, because of
the inequality of the condensation. It is not advisable to place the
kitchen in the quarters of the crew in order to diminish the consumption
of coals, because an accumulation of moisture is thereby increased. The
officers and _savans_ occupy a common messroom in the after-part of the
ship, and sleep in little cabins ranged round it. The power to withdraw
occasionally from the presence of those who must be together for years
is an important element of harmony. Sir John Ross and his officers in
1833, even in the miserable hut built on the Fury coast, did not occupy
the common messroom heated by a stove, but preferred separate cabins,
the temperature of which seldom rose above the freezing point, and in
which they had to suffer much from the accumulation of ice. All the
living rooms should be provided with waterproof carpets. Their heating
by means of the common stoves is objectionable, because of the unequal
distribution of warmth. An even temperature is best maintained by the use
of the Meidinger “Fullofen,” which has the further advantage of consuming
only a small quantity of coals. Hot-air flues are, perhaps, preferable
even to these, because they better prevent the freezing of the moisture
in the cabins, and indeed in every part of the ship.
17. An Arctic ship should be provided with an iron-plated washing and
drying closet, without which the washing of linen would be restricted
to the few weeks of summer weather. This closet may also be used as a
bath-room, an important means of promoting health. The lighting of the
living rooms by petroleum sufficiently answers all purposes; in the
cabins, however, stearine candles are to be preferred either to it or any
other oil. The construction of the lamps used in making observations in
the open air during the long Arctic darkness is a matter of the greatest
importance. Those used in the second German North-Pole Expedition were
of peculiar excellence, and never failed in their difficult service.
Massive lamps, with glass globes protected with wire, and burning
petroleum in preference to common oil, should be used on deck, and as
they are employed for so many purposes and exposed to so many risks, a
plentiful supply of them should be provided. In the huts on the deck,
built over the hatchways, train-oil may be used with advantage, if the
lamps are so constructed that the flame may heat the reservoir containing
the oil.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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