The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1912-06-13
Dr.. Creenfell Of Of Labrados
(Helen Engelhardt)

He was preacher, teacher, physician,
magistrate and pilot.
Grenfell came to Labrador in 1892. He
found three thousand permanent resi-
dents and thirty thousand fisher-folk,
almost all without religious or medical
aid. The children were barefoot at
zero temprature, their parents beggar-
ed as to borrow each others clothes to
go to him for treatment.
Within sixteen years he had made
revolution that seemed almost
miracle. He began by clothing and
the naked. caring for the sick. Hehas
created a people comfortable, content
ed and free. He saved them from
/ perishing from hunger and nakedness.
He built hospitals. orphanges, saw
mills. workshops, has launches at.
tached to the land. hospitals for the
patients to and fro. There are
no roads. He has established eight
cooperative stores, he has imported
reindeer instead of those terrible man.
eating "husky dogs" that are the
terror of the region.
Dr. Greenfell was born in England at
Liverpool on Feb. 90, 1865, cadet of
an eminent English family of soldiers
and scholars, He received his medical
training at London.
The spirit of his warlike ancestors
animates this man though "his weapon
is the scalpel and his course the golden
Rule"
He prefers to carry "the message of
love" to this desolate icecIad North
! land and to face daily the greatest
hazards to life and limb by land or
sea.
His latest and most thrilling expert
ence is his going adrift on an ice foe
last April on Easter Sunday and nearly
perishing. He was responding to a
sick call sixty miles away and broke
through some bad ice while he was
crossing an inlet. He had no compan-
ion, he got on piece of ice with his
eight dogs after cutting them loose from
the sled which was sinking. The ice
broke and he had to leave his heavy
clothes and swim to another piece with
his dogs. Itwas about the size of a
dining table, he spent one day and night
on it with a light sweater vest, short
knickers and moccassins without hat.
coat, or gloves after being in the water
three times. He drifted about twenty
miles along the coast.
That night he killed three dogs and
used their skins for covers, their bodies
for wind shield, their harness for
puttees and legs for flag pole on
which he put his shirt as signal.
He would have perished but that some
men, seal hunting, saw the signal and
reported that man was adrift.
Men with spyglasses hurried to II
lookout sending in report that it was
Grenfell, messengers were sent along
the coast to locate him at daybreak,
for the wind was inshore and as the
ice was parting no boat could be launch
ed.
His feet were frost bitten, he was
snow blind, he had to be brought on a
sled to the hospital for he could not
walk.
This was only one of his narrow es-
capes.
Some of the things he did as his day s
work were; attention to all patients
at any hour, holding meetings, conduct
ing Sunday services, careing for
orphans and lunatics and baptizing,
marrying, burying and exploring har-
bors.
He faces perils of fogs, storms, ice
bergs, daily. If ship leaks he patch
es her up, he goes as far as two
thousand miles each winter over
frozen wilderness.
He has shared many loses during
these years but seldom profits.
| He receives only $500 year; and al
he gets from lecturing goes to the Sc
missions.
The cost of the whole mission and
subsidiary work is now $4,000 a
year.
The past summer 1908, he had sever
doctors, ten nurses at work.
Grenfell is a man of medium height
in the best physical condition as re-
suit of early atheletic games and life
of increasing mental and physica
activity.
, More recently we learn that DR.
Grenfell has been knighted and is now
Sir Wilfred Grenfell.
He made Denver visit last winter