The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1888-12-16
AN ARCTIC RELIEF STATION.

raise the question as to what can be
done to meet any other contingency
of like character. says the S. +.
Bulletin. These whalers got out of
the difficulty all right. After they
had found their way out, the Oldest
and most successful captain of the
Pacific Whaling company, ran the
steamer Orco into the same opening
and captured four whales. No men
were lost by shipwrcck of whalers
during the past season. The thirteen
whalers caught in the ice, and whose
prospects of getting out with their
ships were very slim, had not stock
of provisions sufficient in the aggre-
gate to last about four hundred men
more than sixty days. The nearest
land was Herald island, about forty
miles distant. On this island there is
not vestige of anything to sustain
human life. The men might have
reached the island, but in all proba-
bility they would have perished there.
Not only is the island void of all ami
NAL life, but there is no wood or coal
for fuel Occasionally a stick of tim
Der may drift from the main land in
the summer season and lodge on the
island. But the driftwood becomes
embedded in the ice so that there is a
poor chance of getting it out in the
winter season.
II the crews of these thirteen whal-
ers had seen their vessels go down, as
they expected. and had escaped on to
the solid ice, they would have made
for the nearest land. That would
have been the desolate Herald island.
They would not have survived the
winter there with such stores as they
could have carried on their backs, and
indeed, would not have survived had
they carried off all the ship stores.
The whale fisheries of the Arctic
reached by the northwest coast are
destined to a much greater develop
ment. Indeed, for the few hundreds
now engaged, this force may be in
creased to thousands. There will, in
all probability, be some disasters.
The steam whslers will press their
way up to the highest latitude. They
may, at no distant day, reach points
as high as any exploring vessels have
ever gone. If the north pole is ever
reached it may be by some one OF
these steam whalers, which might fol-
low an open lead in some favorable
season until this goal of Arctic ex-
ploration has been reached. But the
bolder the enterprise the greater the
probability that there may be some
increase of disasters in the Arctic, a
probability, however, which may be
lessened by the gradual displacement
of sail vessels by steam whalers.
If the government should cache on
Herald Island enough provisions to
carry three or four hundred men
through a winter, or until they could
be relieved by the approach OF a
steam vessel like the Bear, for in
stance, ii would be most humane
act. The crews of the thirteen whal-
ers would have found this supply had
they reached the island, and NIGH
have been able to pull through. Ii
vessel is wrecked in the open water oi
the Arctic, the surviving crew in boats
would drift not toward Herald Island
nor toward Point Barrow. The strong
current would take them over 10 th'
Siberian coast.
The Pacific Whaling company has a
station at Cape Smith, which is seven
miles from Point Barrow, the latter
being low sand spit-a mere neck
of sand. At this station twelve men
remain throughout the winter. They
are supplied with vessel of about
nineteen tons. good winter quarters
and the provisions kept in stock are
sufficient to keep about two hundred
men through the winter. This is
practically a relieving station, al.
though there have been no special
calls for the relief of wrecked whalers
because, as a matter of fact, whalers
wrecked in the Arctic and drifting in
boats or on ice foes, would not reach
Point Barrow. The government
scientific station, established near
this point, has been abandoned for
some time. There is no call for q
government relieving station to be
supplied with men during the winter
All that would be needed is small
store of government supplies left al
the whaling station near Point Barrow
which would be cared for by the
whaling company without any cost
and another larger stock cached OF
Herald Island. The stock might re.
main there for ten years without be
ingneeded. Frozen pemmican should
consf;tuta the bulk of the stock.