Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1909-07-16
ODD ARCTIC PEOPLE,
StefanSSon Hears of Persons
Who Are Not ESkimos.
THEIR HAIR Is NOT BLACK.

fNh NiSoih9 "N'h ~ ~ c
IeeIandic Colony May Be solved-ilI
Effects Of Civilization Were Found
on All Sides.
A letter from V. Stefansson, the arc
tic explorer. received the other day by
II friend who lives In Pleasantville
n. u. hints at a possible unravellng
either of the mystery which for more
than sixty years has enyeloped the
fate Of Sir John FranAlin two ships
companies or of the greater mystery
concerning colonies Of Icelanders who
long ago. migrated to Greenland and
then disappeared.
Stefansson's letter, dated Barrow.
Alaska. Feb L." and postmarked
Nome, Alaska, April D." in transit,
says:
Here ! am, farther west than you
probably expected me TO 20 in winter.
This is n whaling station, the most
northerly one In America. the most
easterly one Of those whose egress Is
by the Pacific ocean. There Is here
also the most northerly postotiice un-
der American control, and it has two
outgoing reindeer mails I'm winter. Nov.
and Feb. u, as well as a ship mail
In July or August. am here to write
letters and reports to the museum.
"My winter camp is. as planned, on
the lower Culville river. | left 1t about
the time the sun went away and have
since wandered as far west as Vain
wright inlet, about hundred miles
southwest of Point Barrow and 300
from our winter camp. stopping at
every Eskimo settlement. an unpleas-
ant thing in many cases. for the hab-
its and diseases OF civilization are ev-
erywhere evident, unhealthy people
crowded into unventiated and uncom.
Portable houses, complete contrast TO
what it was twenty years ago here,
am told, and TO what ii still is to the
eastward. where every house. no mat
ter how crowded, Is always warm and
well ventilated.
AT Point Barrow and west Of there
90 per cent Of the people have aban-
doned the warm, semi-eXcavated house
with It's door In the floor. the advan-
tages Of which are we'll known to you
for flimsy overground structures imi.
tating white mems houses. The walls
of these are so thin that even were
they air tight, as they often are (very
nearly, enough cold comes In by con.
duction through the boards to form
hoarfrost here and there and Ice in
the corners and under the beds. In
stead of a door and a vcntilating chin
ney always open. these houses have
no ventilator, the door is hastily closed
whenever opened. and every crack Is
filled with a rag, talow or chewing
gum.
"A doctor who has been at Barrow
seven years, since 1896 the has had
vacations) tells me that the death rate
from tuberculosis has more than
doubled in ten years, the period Of the
change Wnder missionary and other
inhuences) from the 'insanitary, filthy
native houses to the tidy, modern
damp cockleshells that are numbering
the people.
This has been n depression. II
would take many pages of print to
show up thoroughly the effects Of civ
ilization at Point Barrow and west
Of it.
''In three or four days ! shall start
east for Colville and spend month
or two there at least. Many of the
people there had never seen a white
man when we arrived, but they have
associated for many years with Es
kimos who are Christians. etc, and
their influence has been marked
They are therefore from my,point. OF
view sophisticated.
"On October last we divided our par
ty In two sections. DR.. Anderson, with
an Eskimo family, went into the noun
tains south of Barter island, about
seventy-fve miles southeast fromtFlax
man island and 12J from my camp
NY party consisted of man, wife
baby and one man besides. DR.. An
derson was to try to make living on
mountain sheep, river fish and ptarmt
gan Our hope was deer. caribou, OF
which we got fifteen, not nearly
enough, though more than any Eskimo
hunter of the Colville country.
"As heretofore, the plan is to spend
next winter good way to the east
ward, 500 or COO miles as one travels
it east of the Colville near the mouth
of the Coppermine river or on Victoria
Land. Some Eskmos who saw some
Of these people last year tell me that
in a party of twenty they saw one
middle aged man and one woman OF
about eighteen who had hair as light
as mine is and several whose hair was
aot black Now, you know pure
| blooded Eskimo Is as black haired and
stiff haired rs any Japanese. With the
disappearance of Franklin's two ships
companies in that neighborhood and
with the lost Icelandic colonies OF
Greenland in mind. the problem has
its interesting features.
The letter closes with memoranda
concerning articles Stefansson has pre-
I pared for publication, which are nov
on their way.