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


 The Eskiinos in their sailboat tra,i- Ing voyages along the c.n,st were cvertaken far from their homes by the winter frcezc-up in mid summer II has been q munotuus chapter of misfortunes for all who have travel led by ship or boat ulong the Arctic coast of Alaska this year.
 The behavior of the Karluk hersel. ras been thoroughly satisfactory U me. She has two-bladed propeller only, for she Is intended for cruising under sail, and her speed is but si-: knots per hour. She is. therefore. through lack of power, unable to break heavy ice, as we knew she would be. but we have repeatedly run her at full speed into large vertical clded ice flakes that were as solid as stone walls, and there is not a scratch on her to show for it. She has, there fore come fully up to our eXpecta- lions. In a gale in kotzebue sound while carrying a hundred tons of deck freight she took on hardly drop of water, and surprised all of us with ter model behavior.
 Irs-Prsssure lrrisistibIe.
 1t has happened. curiously. that many of the most strongly built ice vessels that have come tu 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 yes sel the more easily 1t Is crushed, but that the pressures are 50 tremendous that if a ship is fairly caught she is bound to so. no matter what her strength.
 The KarIuk is sound in thorough repair. and strengthened for ice work, though not so strong as some other Ice vessels. She came through tho summer without the slightest mishap 1t is therefore, a matter of good or evil fortune whether she survives the winter. It seems probable that if the winds and currents keep her at con siderable distance from land she will be safe: if she gets on n lee shore she will be crushed. In neither event is there particular danger to the party aboard. If she is crushed near land It is almost certain that most of the cargo can be saved-a poor consola ton, 1t 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 {" make the present winter as useful us l'ossi. ble, and so we shall attempt tho map. ping of the Mackenzie delta. The delta of the Mackenzie is one If tht largest in the world. It Is mnappct and. practically speaking, unknown The steamers of the Hudson bay com rany have navigated the river to within 200 miles of it's mouth now fol several decades, but none. except small boats. have ever descended through any of the many delta chan heis to tidewater.
 The Mackenzie Is the largest rivel ot Canada, and it's valley has natura resources which are bound to bc dc yeloped carbohydrates they should be developed suddenly. ns was th, Case with the Yukon. oil account 0 the discovery of precious metals. Bu whether the development comes sool or late 1t will eventually become : tnatter of the greatest commercial i'm rcrtance to know whether there ar any ship channels that will enable q, going ship of, say, scvcn-foo draught to ascend the river |" Grca Slave lake.
 Freight Highway of the Arctic.
 We already know from the cXperi ence of the Hudson Bay steamer Wrighley that ship drawing six an, one-half feet can navigate withou dthiculty over 1900 miles of the lowe Mackenzie. The upper Mackcnzi iknown as the Slate river and til Athabasca river) Is in places inter rrpted by rapids. Should 1t ever be come necessary to ship large quan tity of freight either to or from tn lower Mackenzic 1t could ho mos cheaply done by the way of the Arcti ocean, Bering straits md the racifi ocean. We shall. therefore. employ tn tcpographcrs of our party this winte