The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-07-22
ODD ARCTIC PEOPLE
They Are Not the Black Haired
ESkimoS.
Hint That Mystery of Sir John Frank.
Inns Missing Men. or of Vanished
lcelande Colony May Soon
Be Solved.

Pleasantville. n. "a letter from
Stefansson, the explorer. received by
friend who lives here, hints at a
possible unraveling either OF the mys
terry which for more than 90 years
has enveloped the fate OF Sir John
Franklin's two ships companies or OF
the greater mystery concerning col
onies OF Ieelanders who long ago mi
grated TO Greenland and then disap
peared
Stefansson's letter. dated Barrow
Alaska, Feb r." and postmarked
Nome, Alaska, April g." in transit,
SAYS.
Here | am, further west than you
probably expected me 10 go In win
ter, This is a whaling station, the
most northerly one in America, the
most easterly one of those whose
eaTess Is by the Pacific ocean. There
Is here also the most portherly post
Office under American control and II
has two outgoing reindeer mails H.
winter. November l and February 10
as we'll as a ship mail in July or Au
gust. ] am here 10 write letters and
reports TO the museum.
My winter camp is as planned OF
the. lower ColVille river left II aboui
the time the sun went away and have
since wandered as far west as Vain
wright inlet about 10 miles southwest
of Point Barrow and 800 from oul
winter camp, stopping at every Esh
mo settlement an unpleasant thing il
many cases. for the habits and dis
eascs OF civilization are everywhere
evident; unhealthy people crowde'
into mventilated and uncomfortable
houses. a complete contrast to what i
was 20 years ago here am told, anr
10 what il still is to the eastward
where every house no matter how
crowded, Is always warm and wei
ventilated
AT Point Barrow and west OF there
30 per cent, OF the people have aban
doned the warm. semi-eNcavated house
with its door IN the floor the adyan
tag,g OF which are well known to you
for fllmay ogergrounl structures imi
tating white mems houses. The wall
OF these are so tia that even were
they alright. as they often are ,@erJ
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 Il door aud Nentlainr
chimney always open, these house.
have no yentilator. the door is hastil.
closed WI eneger opened and ever!
crack Is hlled with rag. tallow OF
chewing gUu.
"A doctor who has been at Barrow
seven years. since .S9C-Le has had
vacations-tells me that the death
rate fro tuberculosis has more than
doubled In ten years, the period OF
the change tunder missionary and
other Influences from the 'insanitary.
filthy native houses TO ,he tidy, mo-
ern' damp cockleshelIs that are mur
dering the people.
This has been depression. 1t
would take many pages OF rrint t.
show up thoroughly tie effects Of civ
ilization at Point Barrow and west
of It.
In three or four DAYS | shall start
east for the Cnlyillc and spend
month or two tfore at least Many OF
tie leop'e there had never seen 4
white man when Ne arrived hat ther
4 81
Eskimos who are Christians etc, and
their influence has been marked. They
are. therefore. from my point of view
sophisticated.
Ia October last we divided our
party in two sections. DR., Anderson.
with an Eskimo family. went into the
south of Barter island.
about IS miles southeast from Flax
man island and l25 from my camp.
My party consisted of man.
wife baby and one man besides.
nr. Anderson was to try TO make
living on mountain sheep, river FISH
and ptarmigan. Our hope was deer.
caribou. of which we got IS. not near
ly enough. though more than any Els
kimo hunter of the Colville country.
"As heretofore, the plan is to spend
next winter good way to the east
ward. 500 or 500 miles as one travels
it east of the Mackenzie or 500 to 900
east of the Colville near the mouth OF
the Coppermine river or on Victoria
land Some Eskimos who saw some
OF these people last year tell me that
in a party of 30 they saw one middle
aged man and one woman of about IS
who had hair as light as mine is and
several whose hair was not black.
Now you know a pure-blooded Eskimo
Is as black haired and stiff haired as
any Japanese. With the disappear
ance Of Frsnklin's two ships COM
panies In that neighborhood and with
the lost Icelandic colonies OF Green
land I'm mind the problem has its in
teresting features.