The Nome daily nugget., 1918-04-12

explorer. The driver turned over tc me mass of dispatches for the Canad. ian government. l filed the dispatches at Fort Yukon.
 "Stefansson's name of course was signed to them and Ottawa naturally concluded that the explorer was al Fort Yukon on his way out. Hence the reports that Stefansson Is journcying back to civilization at the present time l There is nothing to the reports. Stef- ansson is till on Barter Island and civilization will not see him again un- til the late summer or early fall. He will come out by way of Point Barrow { and Nome
 Pete Bernard Is dead. He was frozen to death last winter in Banks Land and with him perished Charley Thompson, a seaman. Stefansson's s schooner the North Star, commanded ! by a native Is in Bonks Land waters,
 
 Bernard was one of the famous old- timers of the Arctic and was we'll known in Nome
 Joe Bernard, brother of Pete and commander of the schooner Teddy Bear set out In 1916 to sail eastward through the Northwest Passage with New Foundland as his destination. He started to late to get very far east ward that year. Then he pressed on ward last year, but nothing has been heard of him on this side of the world, and since he has not arrived in New Foundland, he is undoubtedly frozen in for the winter fin the Northwest Passage"
 Parenthetically, it may be said here that the name of the two Bernards is permanently fixed in Arctic annals. From Bering Strait to Coronation Gulf and even farther east, there runs a legend. There are two Joe Bemards,
 
 one Joe Bernard. The two brothers were born on Prince Edwards Island.
 The schooner Mary Sachs, one of the Stefansson's ships" continued Cap- tain Allan, twas destroyed last spring by several of the men aboard. It fig said that the men were officers Ac- cording to Stefansson leaders, the men destroyed the vessel in an effort to maroon the famous explorer on Mel vile Island 800 miles to the eastward from Cape Kellet, Banks Land
 Captain Gonzales and Mate Sey- mour of the Mary Sachs, were under orders to go from Cape Kellet to Mel vile Island in tho spring of 1916 to get Stefansson who planned to sail east ward into the Atlantic through the Northwest Passage discovered by Amundsen. Stefansson was already through the worst part of the North west Passage and would have had easy
 
 Instead of obeying the orders. they stayed around Minto Inlet, wintering there a year ago. When spring came, several of the men aboard chopped down the schooner's masts and cut a great hole in her hull, damaging her beyond all repair in the Arctic. The vessel was destroyed in lagoon fifty miles southeast of Cape Kellet. Stef- ansson. of course, was left marooned on Melville Island and 1t looked as if he would have to stay there a long time.
 Tt is charged that officers of the Sachs feared that they would lose their salaries for failure to obey Stefan sson's orders in 1916 and planned to maroon the famours explorer on Mel vile Island until they could get back to civilization and draw their money before Stefansson could interfere.
 There is no limit to Stefanssons resourcefulness, however, and when he found himself marooned, he set out on a great dash over the spring ice from Melville Island to Banks Land. He reached Cape Kellet two days after the officers and crew of the Mary Sachs had left that district
 By a great piece of luck Leo Wit tenberg of Wittenberg and Crawford. traders. appeared at Cape Kellet with his schooner, the Challenge. Other Kellet yet. Wittenberg was locating trading stations for his firm and couldn't leave that district, but Stef-