The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1917-10-02
AN ARCTIC RESCUE
Tragedy Of the Loss Of the KarIuk
Off Wrangell island.
PERILs OF THE SURVIVORS.

The Hardships and sufferinss They
eraved and the Scene When the Res-
cue chip From Alaska Was eleh4ed
BY the Damp on the Desolate Beach.
When the Kariuk, the chief vessel
Of the Canadian arctic expedition
which set out tn June, 1918, became
imprisoned by Ice near Point Barrow,
Alaska, Vilhjalmur stefansson, the
commander Of the party, went ashore
with five companions to hunt caribou.
He never saw his ship again, for soon
after he left her furious northeast
gale sprang up and carried her west,
ward.
Near Wrangen island, which lies north
Of Siberia, the ship succumbed to the
tremendous pressure Of the Ice and
sank, Eight Of the Kariuk's company
were lost In trying to reach land, but
seventeen survivors under Captain
Bartlett succeeded In reaching Wrangell
island and on that uninhabited spot
established camp. From there Cap
tain Bartlett, accompanied by one rs
ktmo, made the terribly difficult Jour
neV Of eighty miles to the mainland Of
Siberia. He then went to Alaska and
reported the fate Of the Karluk.
Meanwhile Burt NJ Mcconnell, theb
metsorologist Of the expedition, who}
had left the Karluk with stefansson,
had made his way to Nome, Alaska.
Here he Joined Olaf 6wenson, who had
determined to go to the rescue in his
little schooner King and Winge.
Almost eight months after the Kar-
LUX sank they sailed from Nome and,
after encountering the usual difficult
ties Of arctic navigation, successfully
drew within sight Of the cliffs and
beach Of WFangelj island Mr.. McCon-
ness tells the story Of the rescue In
Harper's Magazine,
The lookout In the crows nest sight
Cd tent when we were within two
miles Of shore, and as we came nearer,
under full speed, we could see a flag
pole and q cross.
Suddenly man emerged from the
tent on his hands and knees. He did
not show any signs of Joy. He did not
wave his arms and shout when he
sighted the ship. He merely rose and
stood rigidly beside the tent, gazing at
Us as If dazed. More than once he
brushed his hands across his eyes, as
Il he could not believe that the King
and Winge was a real ship come to
rescue him.
Our first fear was that the entire
party, with the exception Of tho one
man we saw. had persisted, but that
gloomy possibility was dispelled pres
emily by the appearance Of two other
men. None Of the trio made any dem
onstration. Aboard ship even the Els
ktmos were intensely excited.
The umiak was launched, and when
it was within hundred yards of the
beach the man whom we had first seen
started toward us, taking rife from
It's case. Our natives became greatly
frightened They pointed to their fore
heads and muttered: THAT man long
time not much eat Him crazy-arl
same foxr'
We landed on the beach and ad-
vanced toward this strange individual.
His shaggy, matted hair strcamed
down over his eyes In wild disorder.
His grimy face was streaked and fur
rowed with lines and wrinkles. l rec
ognized him only by his voice when he
spoke to Swenson. It was Munro
Il don't know who you are, but I'm
mighty glad to see you all" were his
first words.
An instant later he recognized me
and asked In establishment, How did
you get here?'
Other questions were rapidly asked
and answered, and then, "Have you
doctor aboardf' Munro demanded.
you don't need doctor" swenson
assured hiA. tWhat you need is a
cook. We VIII go aboard and have
breakfast"
Maurer then came up, weak and ema-
ciated. 1 did not recognize him until
Munro spoke his name. He smiled in
recognition, but was so visibly affect
ed that refrained from questioning
him. Templeman next appeared. He
was gaunt and very pale and seemed
on the verge Of nervous breakdown.
SO we talked of general topics and
asked no questions about their expe-
riences.
Aboard the schooner the rescued men
had sumptuous breakfast, but an
hour afrerward they were hungry
again
Mr.. Swenson, / want to ask great
favor of you," Munro finally gained
courage to say. For several months
1 have been dreaming Of eating
whole can of condensed milk with q
SPOON
Three cans were Immediately brought
forth, as both Maurer and Templeman
confessed to a similar craving, and
they ate that condensed milk as if II
were ice cream.
At another camp forty miles away
the King and Winge rescued nine 9TH
or survivors. Three had died after
reaching the islaR6