The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-11-12
NORTH DAKOTA
BOY wins FAME
FORMER u. or N. .. STUDENT
REACHES OTTAWA, CAN, AFT
Err STRENUOUS TlME-FoRcED
~ LACK or FOOD TO EXIST ON
SKINS.

From Ottawa Can, comes an in
teresting story of the return Of Valde-
mar Il. Stefansson from trying jour
ney into the northern points of Cam
ada. Stefansson is the former Uni
versity Of North Dakota student who
has become famous in past years as
an Arctic explorer. His resourceful-
ness is shown in the Ottawa dispatch
which appears below, but resourceful-
ness was Away one of Stefansson's
characteristics even as university
student.
The story is told of once when an
especially fine attraction was coming
at the Metropolitan at Grand Forks
and Stefansson was short the neces-
sary cash to purchase tickets for him
self and his best girl. But so small
an obstacle as this did not daunt the
future Arctic explorer. He immediate
ly made out a number of tickets and
sold guesses as to who the girl he was
going to take to the theatre would be,
to gullible students. BY this method
he secured the price of tickets, hack,
flowers, etc., and the students-well
they awoke later to find they had been
duped.
Stefansson's nerve at the university
was proverbial. He never went to
classes, excepting of course such times
as he felt like it. He crammed for
examinations and generally managed
to come through with flying colors.
His escapes, however, proved too
much for the university authorities
and he was finally expelled not for
~ NJ1sx
very wrong. but because he refused
to attend classes.
Another instance of his nerve was
shown one morning when he missed
BLACK Maria" the bus which in by
gone days travelled between Grand
Forks and the university. President
Merrifields hack was standing in
front of the Ontario store, the presl-
dent at that time being in the store.
Stefansson walked over to the hack,
climbed i'm and with lordly wave of
his hand to the driver, said: "'To the
university and lose no time" 1t is
needless to say that he reached the
university and the president was
Obliged to wait until the hack return
ed. The ottawa dispatch received
yesterday is as follows:
Forced by lack of healthy food to
subsist at different periods on skins
and snowshoe thongs, ID. E. Stefans-
son, who is representing the American
museum of natural survey in Arctic
explorations, was reduced to extreme
ties last winter on Cape Lyons, one
of the most northern points in Can
ada.
a- fVarr nOIy +fYsE
of the geological survey, received a
letter written on April 26 last by Mr..
Stefansson and had to be carried
several hundred miles by an Eskimo
on snowshoes from Cape Lyons to an
eastern point in Alaska. Mr.. Stefans
son, who is native of Winnipeg, had
with him Lieutenant Anderson of the
United States army, and five Eski-
mos. The party had many difficulties
and extreme privations to encounter
during the winter In his letter the
writer tells of times when they had
practically no food except skins and
snowshoe thongs. For three weeks
steadily they lived on a diet of deer
skin, the Eskimos during that time
eating up all the geological specimens
collected by the scientists of the par
ty. Throughout, however they were
able to retain their records and in
struments. DR.. Anderson and two of
the abOrigines of the north had pneu
monia, and ten dogs died from the
rigorous conditions.
At the time DR.. Stefansson wrote
the party was about to start for Cor
onation gulf, about 200 miles east of
Cape Lyons. There was, he report
ed, no further fear of a shortage in
the food supply, as game was plenti-
full.
Still confronting the explorers, how
ever, was the lack of dogs.
Mr.. Stefansson has sent down some
of his geological results. After three
| and a half years spent in the ice
bound regions he expects to return in
the fall of next year. The coming
winter will be spent in the vicinity of
| Coronation gulf.