The Nome daily nugget., 1914-05-08
Continued from Yesterday.

CNeIIdhel lar AIom tnelf homes by the winter freeze-up in mid-summe, It has been a monotous chapter of misfortunes for all who have travel led by ship or boat along the Arctic coast of Alaska this year.
 The behavior of the Karluk hersel. ras been thoroughly satisfactory to me. She has a two- -bladed propeller only, for she is intended for cruising under sail, and her speed is but sl,: knots per hour. She is, therefore. through lack of power, unable to break heavy ice, as we knew she we ould be, but we have repeatedly run her at full speed into large vertical cided ice flakes that were as solid as stone walls, and there is not scratch on her to show for it. She has, there fore come fully up to our expecta- tions. In a gale in Kotzebue sound while carrying a hundred tons of deck freight she took on hardly a drop of water, and surprised all of us with Ter model behavior.
 Iro-Pressure IrrisistibIe.
 It has happened, curiously, that many of the most strongly built ice vessels that have come to the Beau fcrt sea have been crushed by the ice and sunk, while others more fragile placed in apparently similar situations have escaped. The inference is of course not that the stronger the ves- sel the more easily it is crushed, but that the pressures are 50 tremendous that if ship is fairly caught she is bound to go. no matter what her strength.
 The Karluk is sound in thorough repair and strengthened for ice work, though not so strong as some other ice vessels. She came through the summer without the slightest mishap. It is, therefore, matter of good or evil fortune whether she survives the winter. It seemS probable that if the winds and currents keep her at a con siderable distance from land she will be safe; if she gets on a lee shore she will be crushed. Tn neither event Is there particular danger to the party aboard. If she Is crushed near land 1t is almost certain that most of the cargo can be saved-a poor consola- tion, it is true, when we remember the hopes with which the Karluk sail ed-but better than nothing for we are going to try to do her work some- how, whether she herself sinks or floats.
 In the Mackenzie.
 We shall, of course. try to make the present winter as useful as possi- ble, and so We shall attempt the map ping of the Mackenzie delta. The delta of the Mackenzie is one of the largest in the world. It is unmapped and, practically speaking, unknown. The steamers of the Hudson bay com. ENNJ hsbNC ltiN l6dlcu lHG EINeT to within 200 miles of it's mouth now for several decades, but none, except small boats, have ever descended through any of the many delta chan nels to tidewater
 The Mackenzie is the largest river of Canada, and it's valley has natural  resources which are bound to be de- veloped carbohydrates they should be developed suddenly, as was the case with the Yukon, on account of the discovery of precious metals. But whether the development comes soon or late 1t will eventually become a matter of the greatest commercial i'm pcrtance to know whether there are any ship channels that will enable an ocean-going ship of, say, seven foot draught to ascend the river to Great Slave lake.
 Freight Highway of the Arctic.
 We already know from the experi- ence of the Hudson Bay steamer Wrighley that a ship drawing six and one-half feet can navigate without difficulty over 1900 miles of the lower Mackenzie. The upper Mackenzie (known as the Slate river and the Athabasca river) is in places inter- rupted by rapids. Should 1t ever be- come necessary to ship large quan- tity of freight either to or from the lower Mackenzie 1t could be most cheaply done. by the way of the Arctic ocean. Bering straits and the Pacific ocean. We shall, therefore. employ the topographers of our party this winter in making a survey of our delta, which on account of the multitude of isl- ands and channels, is no small task
 f N b H "A E < l.