Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13

there the reason
We all laughed then without cue from
any one. Tex Richard tapped his fore
head.
The arctic bugs he said. under his
breath. And We thought that We would
let il go at that
But. do you know, with me the stran-
gers story stuck. l couldn't shake it out
of my mind, any more than l could SEN
sibly let it remain. Worth more than
all the gold in Alaska kept singing in
my ears, alluring. teasing and tantalizing
me. And two days later there was an
extraordinary confirmation.
The story of course. had raced around
town more as fairy tale than fact and
it happened that there blew into Nome
just at this time an old Arctic whaler.
Christensen. He had hardly rested foot
on the bar rail before the yarn was pass
ed on to HIM.
Christensen set down his whisky and
almost glared at the man who was speak
ing for the jeefing tone he had used.
Its so.' he exclaimed. An I'll back
up every word wv it. too When he
banged his fist on the bar. there was no.
body smiling then.
Twenty years before. he told us. he had
been on a whaling expedition off Banks
Land. Here they become stormbound and
were driven on and on until they dis
covered and ran in for refuge at a cop
per island. They had wintered there.
What made all our eyes spread was
this: Christensen said that when they
had prospeCted on the island. and found
II to be remarkable mass of hard metal
although they were not able to get out
any specimens through the snow, after
the spring thaw they had managed to
work loose few pieces, and these when
brought back to United States assay of
flee had been declared solid copper
The old northerner jenkins, who had
been standing by listening, and sizzling
with excitement. cut in.
W. atd L tell you? The only thing
YOU want Is a schooner and money to To-
cate the island with. and I'll make YOU
mlIllonaires in ten minutes
OF course, there was sensation
Everybody was wild to go, as l had been.
get TO trailing metals so far from home
and common sense, you would be sur
prised TO find how easily they will rush
out after the slightest hint of the fabu-
lous We all believed. anyhow that if
you would scrape off the snow you would
md that Alaska was not really EARTH
but mineral; so that a mountain or even
an island of copper was not an impos-
sdble idea to swallow.
AS L say, all of us were wild to go
We broke heads right and left to pick
up a suitable schooner of the kind which
could be trusted and vouched for but
In the. midst of this stir however
whaling vessel made port-the Charles
Hansen of San Francisco, commanded
by Capt. James McKenna. I told Capt.
Mckenna that 1 wanted to go north on
a prospecting trip and was trying to get
snip. The Charles Hansen. he inform
ed me. owned another and smaller
schooner called the Olga. and that when
she came i'll for the Fourth of July l
could take passage on her if I would
agree to the formality of signing up as
one of the crew. For he was going to
send the Olga far north to Banks Land
he explained. to search for valuable
cargo shpwrecked in the ice many years,
before l promptly conseRted.
The rest of the boys, who had suffered
change of heart. tried every possible
way of talking me out of the venture
My partner declared that he would not
stand for my trying any such insane
goose chase as that. He gave me reg
ular fatherly speech:
you've done remarkably we'll here
why don't YOU let good enough alone?
Then you're married man. with a wife
and children in New York. Though 1
wouldn't try it,, he said, even if 1
were single man.
This is the last prospecting trip I am
going on 1 assured him
When are you coming back?"
I'm the fall, / told him. I'VE start
in July and re-enter Boring sea in DC
tober. 1t will take about four MONTHS
For how could l know that We were
to be gone a year and a quarter.
The Fourth of July came but the Olga
did not. Capt. Mckenna vas angry: for
he had been dissatisfied some time with
the master of the little Whaler. and he de-
cided that he would not wait for her
but would start right out. as the season
was growing late. lie thought he would
take his chances on picking her UP in the
Arctic. and he said that / could ship with
him on the Hansen until he met the Olga
lie made up his mind to diScharSe the
Olgas skipper and We looked around
in Nome for another.
In a secondhand saloon we found
Norwegian never mind his namc) who
volunteered to go captain; said that
he had all his navigating instruments
with him. We couldn't find out any
thing about his past except what might
be good. We finally signed him UP.
One fine day in July, 1900, We sailed
from Nome. A crowd was down at the
beach to see us off. Look out for
Amundsen.' the United States customs
officer called to us. .'You ought to meet
him if he found the northwest passage.
Help him any way YOU can, ana Uncle
Sam will make good for it,
We steered toward BcrinG straits and
on around Point Barrow, the northwest
tip of America, then proceeded east I'M