The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1914-02-04

situation. II was my right, " J want
cd 90. 90 90 with this boat every year,
mud look after the judicial end OF
things W those remote regions. but
unfortunately ! was always ~ busy
that I had to send a substitute, and
that was the case this year. We
usually had one of the officers 81 the
boat made q commissioner with prop
81 Jurisdiction 90 admin stcr justice,
and Of course we sent q deputy mar
shal or two along and gave all minute
Instructions DO an assistant United
states attorney was not ON board. u
WINS gn fact a floating court. The
captain Of the cutter used his brig
MS "a jall, and as culprits were sem
fenced on the up trip, he imprisoned
them until the return thirty days or
so later. and then released them az
their homes, or brought them with
the witnesses to Nome, 10 the onense
was serious. some time I viii write
q chapter or two describing this
floating court 81 justice ana the sen
fences imposed. However, az tho OF
ncera nre an humane, their lectures
and threatenings do az much good
az thcis sentences, and they keep the
poor untutored natives in p diner
net hamlcts In rights good order from
year tn year. A revenue cutter Is "A
good-sized boat, and has "A compile
ment OF abou so 60 100 men and Of
ncers. u usually draws Is To - feet
| OF water, so u cannot creep aions
the shore but M keep out In deep
water. Captain Ballingcr, who went
up with the revenue cutter Bear this
year, was along about the same time
as the S-tefansson party, and hen ne
came hacA he reported that the wind
had blown nearly all summer from
the northwest, and a pushed an
immense field of thick Arctic ice up
against the northwest coast Of Mas
ka. but that the ice was 50 thick Il
had grounded In most places from
half "a mile 20 three miles on shore,
leaving a considerable space OF open
water inside shorewards. and that
through this many Of Stefanssons
light draft boats had got up to Point
BARROW. The cutter escaped back To
Rome only by h barest chance. she
got north through a series OF leads
OF open spaces In the thick field zee,
and as ne described u to me. got
back aud escaped being carried on
from In front of Point Barrow. TO
hhN hlNMH where III AMf AANAA'"t ~
the mercst chance, and only after his
staunch boat had received some pref
ty hard knocks and grounded once
Tor twice In shore shadows. Balltn-
ger has made more than ten annual
trips with the Bear TO Point BARROW
and east Of II. and some day When
he puts his experience in writing IL
will be interesting reading. ! have
talked with him ard l know some
thing OF what he has been through.
left Nome ON November q, 1913,
the latest boat TO leave In years. and
there was no word OF Stetansson
there then, and knowing conditions as
do. l do not believe all those sup
posed dispatches that were published
about Christmas time that the expe-
dltlon had come to disaster etc. There
Is no wireless at Point Barrow. ana
the small ones Stefansson has could
not communicate with Nome. which
is the nearest signal corps tower. l
do not think that N musher could
haze come overland from the Arctic
shore t. Circle City or Fairbanks on
any Canadian station by Christmas
so my belief IL that no one outside
Iyet knows what has happened 10 the
S~tcfansson expedition. me my own
opinion is that 81 81 an right, FOR both
~stefansson and captain Pete Ber-
nard are with IL, and they ear both
eat snow or leather or dog. when they
have 10.