Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1912-09-18


4 with whom i spent an hour or so.
There was Helmslund for instance.
y His line is birds-sea-birds, although,
rs far,as that goes, anything wild and
z unknown attracts Helmslund. dare
say you never heard of Helmslund.
You would soon enough, though, II
you undertookto collect rare birds as.
u 2 hobby, Helmslund Is Indispensable
& to scores Of collectors In this country
and Europe. 4.
met him one Sunday afternoon at
q the house Of a friend who possesses
il q really remarkable collection of
North American birds
odd sort Of -Helmslund,"'
8 our host later remarked "I'ye known
him several years, now, and he's Just
getting to the point where he gives
Il me q sketchy account OF the main in.
+ etdents of interest In his trips"
What trips ?""I asked ,,; s d
5Ssg After BIRDS replied my host.
That's Helmslund's work. He gets
Ii birds, not for the feather people-.-he
would regard that as sacrilege-but
Tor collectors like myself. He goes
3 evsrywh ere to get them. don't sup
pose there's a country he hasn't been
a 30 in search Of some particular spe-
cimen.." IS N s&a III. IS +; I:
$Ss& And that. was how happened to
4 hear the ,story&o Helmslund's battle
for! life on the wrathy waters o. Lake
AZ Kibushka. far up by the Arctic circle
Z IN the grim desolation of the Siberian
steppes. It had happened the sum
a mer$ before, on g trip he had taken to
secure some specimens OF the rosy
gull for "a Euro pean collector. a:
With a single companion and cou-
pie Eof dog-teams, he was working
around the country, paying especial at
4 tention to the smarshy tracts bordering
]; several large lakes, which are the hab-
ttataof various species Of water fowl
There is probably no more desolate
country in the world than this portion
Of the steppes. 4, }}{s; ~ #
Helmslund soon foundatha the rosy
& gulls had deserted the shores Of Lake
\ Kibushka. and he determined to Cross
the lake, which was about twenty
miles wide, and try his luck in the
country beyond. Sc he secured craft
which he called a dingey and which
n was large enough to hold his compap-
4 ion and three Of the dogs, besides
d himself, and the party set out early
I'M the morning They propelled the
craft by padding, and it was slow
work. At first,Y everything went well.
Then brisk breeze sprang up, s9agi-
Eating the surface OF the lake until the
u waves became as large as those Of the
) open sea. To add to the confusion,
the dogs became frightened and start
led to- quarrel among themselves
Before they realized the danger, the
B boat had capsized and the twoamen
and three dogs were struggling in the
water, Hclmslund kept his wits about
b him and helped his companion to swim
to the overturned dingey. The dogs
h had salready clustered about 1t and
we're fighting desperately in the wa
I ter to climb on the bottom, but Helms
$lund pushed through them ruthlessly
and helped the other man 70 get a
s seat, before he followed him. Luckily,
i he had retained possession Of his pad
die and he used 1t to beat of the dogs,
crazy with fear as they felt the stead
lily increasing weight Of their heavy
q water-soaked fur. Snarling fiercely,
the beasts attacked the boat again
& and again, Swapping at the mems legs
and leaping out Of the water in wild
attempts to seize their throats.
Early in the Afternoon, Helmslund's
companion tainted and dropped on
y My friend said that the tears stood in
the little mans eyes as he told Of this
occurrence. He told tt quite simply,
& as he told the whole story, indeed
without any straining for effect. 1t
was only by direct questioning that
! had fallen OF the boat himself in his
efforts to save the other man, who
had sunk like stone. When Helms.
luno gained the boat second time
he was utterly exhausted and barely
\ able to crawl on to it's bottom. He
had lost his paddle and had no means
CT directing his progress or even of
determining in which direction he was
going. rs.e +ai tA =
y Fortunately for him, the wind was
on-shorc, and late in the afternoon
he drifted within sight Of land. The
sight gave him renewed energy to
strip OF his shirt and. use 1t to signal
to village of natives. -
Whenever I smell the sickly-sweet
scent OF South American orchids a
vision rises before me of another one
OF the Ska fever-racked specter
whom met toiling down the gang
plank Of a fruit-steamer from La
Guayra. His name was Grayson, and
he belonged to that legion of reck-
) less adventures, the orchid hunters.
Grayon had gone to Venezuela
some months before. with vague de-
termination to strike into the jungle
country in the direction OF the GUAM