The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1916-12-01
EWLAND OF COLD
FOUND IN ARCTIC
Metal More Plentiful Than In
Alaska, Says LOd0n.
.ESKIMOS HOLD THE SECRET


Harpoon Head TO Prove Discovery.
Oil Also In Abundance In Far North.
Bullets Made Of Precious Metal, He
Says.
Bringing a tale of a land where gold
Is moro plentiful than II. is in Alaska,
Christin Leden. young Swedish ex-
plorer, has returned to this country
after three years spent In the arctic.
AS evidence of the truth of his story
he has harpoon head hammered out
of gold by the natives of camp since
wiped out by disease. He has also
several specimens of gold bearing
Quartz brought to him by Eskimos,
who dared many dangers in order to
get them. Leden said he had visited
a land where the ground was so full Of
oil that in the warm months the smell
of 1t filed the air.
Mr.. Leden's explorations carried him
over thousands of miles in the country
northwest of Hudson bay. He went
alone and lived and travelled with the
natives and as one of them. He visit
ed the Iglukiks. near Fury and Hecla
straits; the Kinipetus, between the
Great Fish river and Chesterfield In
let; the Netchiiks, near Bootha and the
magnetic pole, and the Eivisliks, near
the Wager river. His outfit was ship
ped by boat to Fort Churchill, in Hud-
son bay, which was the starting point
of his travels.
Perilous Search For Gold.
Just where the gold and oil are Mr.
Leden will not say. The place where
the gold Is to be found he did not visit,
because to have done so, he said,
would have meant another two years
In the far north. The territory was
described to him by some Bskimos,
who told him of great hill that had
been so split that the different strata
were uncovered. Here the reddish yell
low metal could be seen. Mr.. Leden
persuaded some of those journeying
north to search out the place.
'~rhe Eskimos that went in to find Ii
had terrible time" he says. Their
dogs died, and they had to win their
way back to the place where was
staying through terrific weather. They
attempted to bring back several large
| specimens of the gold, but conditions
became so bad they had to throw them
away.
zone very old man told how his
grandfather, the possessor Of an old
fashioned big bore gun, had found a
yellow metal that he had hammered
out to make bullets. The stories OF
tho Eskimos would indicate that gold
Is up north In greater abundance than
in Alaska. The natives, of course, have
no idea Of Its value"
Mr.. Ledens expedition was planned
with the idea of making scientific
survey of the country and its people.
He said he believes the Eskimo had a
common ancestor with the American
Indian. He bases his opinion chiefly
on their folk lore and their music. He
took n Photographic outfit into the far
north, and he brought back many rec
ords OF Eskimo music.
Have Wonderful Language.
"The Eskimos have wonderful Ian
guage," he says. "It is hard to master
because the same word will express 80
many different things, depending upon
the infection, the pronunciation and
relative position 1t is much the same
as the Indian language. There is the
same similarity In their myths and In
their poetry,
Each individual composes his own
songs and by them gives expression to
his feeling. Their instrumental music
Is entirely confined to the drum"
Travelling with the natives, says Mr..
Lcden, was not only full of peril, but
required the utmost diplomacy. The
natives are superstitious and they have
firm belief in good and bad spirits,
i A white man is considered more of a
bad spirit than good one, and this,
Mr.. Leden contends, makes him at all
times sort of Jonah in the camp. II
the weather Is bad, II an accident hap
pens or IL sickness comes 1t Is always
the white man who is regarded as the
cause. If he becomes very sick they
are sure 1t is another manifestation OF
the anger of the good spirit and so
they never lack for an excuse to aban-
don him.
| Tribes living within few miles OF
each other he found had no words In
common, but the roots of their words
were the same. Their common blood
u also shown, he said, by the structure
of their music and their manner OF de-
livery, and it is by these means that he
hopes to prove to the scientific world
that the Eskimos are related by blood
TO the Indian and not to the Mongol.
Although he is only thirty-five years
old Mr.. Ledcn has made five trips into
the unknown regions OF the far north.
He Is commissioned by the University Of
Norway at Christiania, and he also col
lected for the geological survey or Can
ada,
Unanimous For Hughes.