New Britain herald., 1916-08-18
bIG COPPER FIELD
 FOUND IN NORTH
|nly One of Valuable Discoveries
 by StetanSsOn'S Party


 Sy the lack of a complete report
 encerning the activities of the south %rn party of the Canadian Arctic ex- "a #edition, headed by Vilhjalmur Stef- %nsson, local scientists point out that &ahe work of the party, which arrived
 Nome, Alaska. early on Tuesday #1orning, might prove of extreme val & e to science and commerce.
 # The finding of a great field of na- #ive copper in the vicinity of the #opper Mine river, in the neighbor- "a ood of Prince Albert Island, will, in #he opinion of Dr. Chester A. Reeds, # assistant Curator of the Division of #Teology and InVertebrate Paleontolo- 8f the American Museum of Natural History, not only prove of great value #o the business world, but it will af- &sAd scientists an opportunity for dis #Mying their ingenuity in finding an
 let from a region that is still un- Mned in a commercial sense. # As for science the observations and & harts of the party should prove val # able, in pr. Reeds opinion, in de- #ermining the direction of the move 2aent of winds in the northern polar 4&SSlOu, dS well GUS lIudl p1l6IlO1IlSlld. Further than this pr. Reeds ventured #he opinion that the observations of Hhe party along the lines of tide and Mkind might go a long way in proving Nr disproving the theory that an un- Explored region north of Alaska and 8Eest and northwest of Greenland. The existence of such continent Ne said. which might be of a nature #fr0i1or- tN Of Cronro1orI io1, Be more or less accurately determined By scientific knowledge concerning Nhe traits of the wind. The tendency Sf cold air. he asserted. was to travel Sh the direction of warm areas, hang Eng close to the surface of land and &vater until it has become heated Enough to rise of it's own volition. In Flew of the existence of a ''low' area #o the southwest of Alaska, Dr. Reeds Thought that a discovery by the ex- Blorers of strong cold winds pouring Flown from the unexplored region Knight meal the existence of an ice- Bound body of land like Greenland. 8Tntil more definite reports were avail &ble however, there could be nothing 8but conjecture on this point.
 4 When asked by a reporter how the Copper fields in the Copper Mine liver region might be opened to com &nerce, pr. Reeds replied that two &outes might be worked out, but that Either could only be used during the Bpen season; that is, during August 8nd part of September. For a west 8rn passage he traced a route from 8he mouth of the Copper Mine river through the Dolphin and Union Btraits from Coronation bay, past SEape Parry, across Beauford sea, ships always keep in sight of land &cross this water) past Port Barrow, hnd around the west coast of Alaska 8nto Nome. From Nome it would be hecessary to go on to Seattle in order Ao obtain sufficient facilities for ship snent by rail.
 Concerning the length of this route, sDr Reeds estimated that from the mouth of the Copper Mine river to Point Barrow would be about HOO miles; from Point Barrow to Cape Eisburne, Alaska, about 300 miles more, and from there about 200 more miles to the edge of the arctic circle bn Boring Strait From that point to Nome would add about 150 miles. completing a journey approximately h ,750 miles long. He would not risk an opinion regarding the possible cost of freighting copper ore over the route outlined.
 A second route, approximately l. 800 miles long was traced via Baffin Bay. This way led between Victoria Land and the Dominion of Canada, through Dease Strait, across Queen Maud sea, through the Victoria and Franklin Straits into Peel Sound, and from there through Barrow Strait into Bafin Bay. From Baff1n Bay the route led down the east coast of Labrador to a point like St. Johns, Newfoundland.
 pr. Reeds spoke highly of the scien- tifc value of the detailed survey of the coast line made from the Cape Parry Peninsular to StapVlton Bay by H. G. Chipman, the chief topo- grapher of the party and J. J. O'Nell a geOlogist of Ottawa, and from there to the mouth of the Rae river by J. R. Cox, a topographer of Ottawa The inaccessibility of the region, the diff ficulty of obtaining sufficient food, and the other hardships to be en- dured had previously initiated. he said, against a detailed study of the region. While ships had been in that part Of the Great North more frequently than in some others. per baps, the original survey by Sir John Franklin, made in the course of a
 hurried canoe trip, had been about
 the best authority science had had
 heretofore regarding the nature of
 the region. The detailed topographi-
 cal surveys made by Messrs. Cox and
 O'Neil, according to pr. Reeds, were
 expected to prove of extreme value to
 the scientific world when they were
 made known full.