The San Francisco call., 1907-06-02
DENY STATEMENT THAT
EsK|MOs ARE DYING OUT
Friends of Explorer Peary
Disagree With Views
of DR.. Grenfell
LITTLE IMMORTALITY
Declare That Labrador Is
Healthy Region With
Fair Conditions
LITTLE IMMORTALITY

DR.. Wilfred T. Grenfell, the Labrador
missionary physician. who has been in
New York for few days. sailed for
England last week on the Oceanic
to visit his mother before return
ing to his work in Labrador He
was quoted in evening newspaper
as saving that the Eskfmos were
doomed people. because arctic expedi-
tions and exploring parties had COM
mitted awful sins against the north
ern natives" DR.. GrenfeH said. ac-
cording to the interview, that the
white mans vice had so debauched the
Eskimos that they were dying right
and left These words were also at
tributed to him:
EVERY time that an exploring party
has gone to new part of Eskimoland
the immortality of the women there was
always marked thereafter never see
a party leave for polar research that
I do not sum it UP as another effort
to dehumanize a people The Esktmos
are dying like flies as a result of the
vices which the white man taught
them. Where the white mans sins are
not killing them they are dying of
tuberculosis.
The remarks attributed to DR.. Gren-
fell seemed to be a direct drive at Com
mander Peary, who is about to make
his seventh journey to the land of the
Eskimos- He is making the Grand
Union hotel his headquarters while his
ship, the Roosevelt. Is being reftted.
He was out OF town yesterday
Herbert l. Bridgman Of the Peary
Arctic club said that hs thought there
must be some mistake and that DIR.
Grenfe11 could not have meant to re-
fleet on Peary.
sThey are good friends said Mr.
Brfdgman. ''and / know that Grenfell
speaks highly of Peary and his work
GrenfelI can know nothing personally
of the effect of Peary's trips. il he re-
ferred to them. on the Eskimos. So
far as / know Grenfell has never been
inside the arctic circle himself. The
Eskimos that he knows in Labrador
are as different from the Es<imos that
Peary uses in his work as mud turtle
Is from terrapin- The Peary Eski-
mos are 5000 miles from Labrador. 1t
may be that vices have crept in among
the Labrador Eskimos as a result of
the advent of the white man. but
cannot believe that DIR. GrenfeH meant
in any way to reflect on Peary-''
Captain Robert A Bartlett of the
Roosevelt said he was astonfshed at
the quoted statements.
"Grenfen is my friend" he said. II
come from Labrador and know the Es-
kirnos there and In Greenland It is
my belief that the Eskimos are not
dying out in Labrador as the result OF
contact with the white men. certainly
not in the northern part. AS 20 Green
land, I have spent two winters and
one summer far in the north and I
know that they are not dying out
there. Neither is there any unusual
amount of immortality. Peary has al
ways forbidden the men OF his party
to give the EskiTnos any liquor. He
counts them as his friends He cares
for them He has bettered their con-
dition every time he has visited them
He has brought them wood to make
their sledges and toats so as to kill
their game and fish. He has always
left them a reasonable amount of
cartridges. He has made sure that
the contact of his men with the people
would lead to no immortality
"As TO Labrador. can only say that
the Moravian missionaries have been
there $50 years. 1t seems to be a
pretty healthy region OF course many
vessels go there. and 1T may be that
even some of the crews o. missionary
ships are not exactly angels 1t is true
that there seems to be more tubercu-
Iosis than formerly, but the advance
of civilization is not TO be stopped be-
cause of that. From my intimate
knowledge of the situation I can de-
clare that never has arctic exploration
led TO the debauchery and deaths OF
the natives Peary is the only explorer
out this week with census Of the
natives farther north. and il will show
that the colony has not decreased but
Is holding it's own. The Newfound-
land government has stopped the sale
of liquor to the natives of-I4abrador.
and Peary refuses to give any to the
natives of Greenland. Hence 1t seems
on that score."-New York Sun.
S-