The Chitina leader., 1915-11-23
CAPT. LANE TELLS
OF FINDING
EXPLORER

Capt. Louis L. Lane, who found
vilhjalmar Stefansson in the Arctic,
will leave on the steamer City of
Puebla for the states, where he will
purchase another boat and outfit
and start north again in the spring.
Captain Lane found the great Arctic
explorer on sandspit off Cape Kellet
on the II tn day of August, three days
after Stefansson had returned from
his winters sled trip to the north.
The Polar Bear was weathering
storm at the time. A northeastern had
sprung up, the ice was running dan
gerously fast, and Captain Lane had
been forced to put into the shelter
offered by the cape. A long sandspit,
8 or 10 miles in length, extends out
into the ocean here. The skipper had
Just dropped his anchor. Away off
in the distance he saw tiny speck
coming toward the vessel. He put
out in a small boat to meet it. That
speck was the greatest Arctic ex>
lorer that ever drew the breath of life,
Vilhja lmar Stefansson. He had just
returned from a long winters sled
trip into unknown north. OF tea and
-four he had plenty, but that was all
he did have except the meat his gun
could get for him. Words cannot
describe the feeling of the two men as
they clasped hands in. that ice bound
country. Stefansson had been lost
of that the world was satisfied. The
vetern whaler and trader, Captain l..
l.. Lane, was determined to search
for him, for he believed that Stefans-
son was alive. And it is Captain
Lane who found him; it is Captain l..
l.. Lane who sold him the Polar Bear
and the best outfit that the veteran
explorer ever had to continue his
search for land in the unknown Arctic.
Sells the Boat.
Captain Lane sold the Polar Bear
to Stefansson. In exchange for it
he was given the North Star and
a cash consideration. But the North
Star was not where it was supposed
to be, and Captain Lane feared that if
he went to where the boat was Stfans-
son would miss him. Therefore he
waited for the explorer, figuring that
it was better to be stuck in the Arctic
than to inconvenience and possibly
spoil Stefansson's plans. He later
got the Gladiator, smaller craft, but
a strong northwesterly gale sprung
up and he was forced to put back to
Herschel Island. The gale lasted
days and the veteran whaler missed
making the trip to Nome, where his
wife awaited him by just 4S hours.
Mrs. Lane left for the states on
the third of the month and will be
joined by her husband in Seattle.
stefansson's Equipment.
"Stefansson had the best outfit he
ever had; and think he has the best
men he ever had" Asked whether
or not he took the crew of the Polar
Bear with him when he bought the
boat, Captain said:
"All but two white men and six
Indians went with Stefansson. One
engineer and one sailor did not sign
with the explorer, and are wintering
around Herschel Island"
Left for North.
when did Stefansson leave on his
trip to the north?"
"On September 3rd he sailed for
the north end of Banks Land. He
expects to do lot of exploring to
the northeast and northwest this win
ter. He was going to the north end
Banks Land when he sailed with the
Polar Bear. Stefansson has request
ed the Canadian government to allow
him one more year after this winter
in which to continue his explorations.
He has found a new land which he
thinks is quite a large continent, and
which has some big mountain ranges
on it. And he believes that there are
other lands to be discovered"
Refute Stories.
The only time that Captain Lane
showed any signs of feeling except
when he was stating how glad he
was to see his friend, the veteran ex-
plorer, was when he mentioned the
story that was first to come out in
the Seward Gateway discrediting
Stefannson's story. In the first place,
he branded most of the statements as
unworthy of consideration and down
right untruths.