Charlevoix county herald., 1918-03-08
GAMBLE WITH DEATH
JUST FOR TOBACCO
Two Of Macmillan Rescue Crew
Nearly Perish In 2o-MIis Dash
for a Smoke


death--the stake. a pipeful OF tobacco.
Never was there stranger Polar dash
than this that Lynn man made to
satisfy his craving for q smoke. And 1t
all occurred in the Cluett relief expedi.
ton. seeking Macmillan.
Twenty miles away in an Eskimo
hut was the tobacco. A fearful icy
waste. broken only by treacherous
7-mlle-wide glacier. lay between. The
thermometer registered 60 degrees be-
low. He took the chance and played
with death.
Just one OF the gripping yarns that
Melrose Cotton tells is this-fully a.
gripping as the eternal cold Of the
region from which he returned re.
Gently.
1T was at Parker Snow Bay that
the incident OF the tobacco occurred"
Cotton said. You smoke. Ell! Well.
you know how 1t feels when you're
off in camp somewhere and discover
you're out OF tobacco. Seems like m
tearsble torture to wait until the fol-
lowing morning.
That's how q sailor man named
Taylor. whom we picked up at Sgd
ney, felt-only thousand times
worse-when he found that he had
smoked up his whole allotment OF to-
bacco. And he thought himself the
luckiest man In the world when he
found out that an Eskimo settlement
some twenty miles away there was to.
bacco to be bought
80 he persuaded Second Mate Nor.
man, who halls from Lynn. to make
the trip with him. Down here now 1t
seems as tho 1t were the limit OF
foolishness. but up there you look al
things In a different aspect.
Dressed in the polar bearskins
trousers and moccasins. sealskin
coats and blue foxtail hats we all
wore. they were prepared for the so
degrees below temperature outside.
And all went well until they struck
seven-mile glacier that lay across
their route.
You can never tell when the cold
will get you up there-even the best
fitted man succumbs to 1t after
short period of exposure. Half way
across the glacier Norman was grip
ped by II. His arms. his face and his
hands became numb. In vain Taylor
tried to restore circulation.
Luckily Taylor didn't lose his
head. Half dragging and half beating
his frozen companion, the Sydney
man started him back toward the
ship. The cold had grown more In
pair reached the edge Of the glacier.
Now Taylor could go no farther. He,
too, succumbed to the cold.
Here 1t was that Norman dropped
and his heavy weight was too much
for the tired Taylor to drag farther.
So the Sydney man made the mate
as comfortable as he could an set out
for the ship. /.
"And he ran. Talk about your Mara
thons! Taylor fairly few over the ice
and the snow. Never faltering he
slipped and slid over wide stretches
of ice as smooth as glass. His moe
casined feet broke thru the web Of
the snowshoes and every pace left =
mark Of blood upon the snow as he
ran down and over the rolling plain.
For two whole hours he ran. and
at 8 o'clock that night he clambered
up the ladder OF the ship barely able
to tell his story. 1t was the work Of
q minute. to get the entire crew to-
sether and we started out with Ian.
terms and sleds.
Three hours later First Mate Davis
found Norman within . foot Of .
seventy.hvs-foot clin to which he lad
wandered in . delirium. SO stiff was
Norman that he hsllooed dowl TO
Doctor Hunt and myself that the mate
was dead.
Davis tied rope around Norman's
body and down into the pitehy black
darkness OF the sides Of the cliR he
loweped the supposed dead man. Doe.
tor Hunt and ] were waiting below
and Norman was put on . sled.
I'VE got him back to the ship ct ]
o'clock the following morning and
from that time until 2 O'Clock the
whole crew worked ever him In r.
lays. 1t was mighty serious business.
for We ali loved Norman, but you can
ina CINE the relaxation that followed
In a regular gale of laughter when
the mate came TO and muttered:
Did ! get the tobaccof
"And next day an Eskimo rubbed Il
into Norman when he casuAV r.
marked. In the nearest that kA e.
kimo language can express. We .
very mild winter"
DIGS UP MAsToDoN's ~arH