New Britain herald., 1918-08-31
STIFF FANSSON BACK
 FROM ARCTIC TRIP
Reaches Dawson City After Ex- plorationS for Navy Department

1 Dawson. Yukon, Aug. 31.--Nilhjal nlur Stefansson, who headed the Ca
 nadian expedition exploring the Arc die regions north Of Canada, which sailed from IIsquimalt, B. C., under
 the direction of the naval department in 1913 has arrived here on route to Esquimalt to make his report
 Vilhjalmur Stcfansson, dscoverer of the "blonde EskimOes" has $DenL over five years exploring and study ng
 barren Arctic wastes for the Cana dian government.
 A new contingent or large island was found by Stefansson on the trip just closed. The new land is north of
 Prince Patrick Island and was found in 1914.
 Illness hastened the end of the ex- petition Reports received from Stef- ansson in 1917 said he hoped to make further explorations in 1918 and 1919 and end his travels in 1920. Instead of going nOrthWard, however, Stefans- son spent most of the summer of 1918 in @ hospital at Fort Yukon, Alaska, just inside the Arctic circle, recover ing from an attack of typhoid which brought him inland from the Arctic in March, 1918.
 Stefansson last saw outside world when he sailed from Victoria B, C. June 17, 1913, at the head of an ex- petition in search of new lands which had been reported to have been seen far to tn north of any explored ter ritory He also intended to study the topography and ocean currents of the north and gather flora and fauna.
 One of his original party was Cap tain Robert Bartlett who had been Rear Admiral R. F. Peary's sailing master. Another was pr. R. M. Anderson, with whom Stefansson had studied at the University of Iowa About score of the men who left With Stefansson have died from vari- ous causes, among them suicide, expo sure and disease.
 When the expedition left. it was aboard the karluk, an old steam Whaler. On it's arrival at Nome, Alaska, Stefansson bought other boats and sent Dr. Anderson and number of the party to the Coronation Gulf country to study the land and the natives The main expedition con tinued north in search of new shores.
 After the Karluk carrying Stetans- son, rounded Point Barrow, up at the "corner of the continent" it was grip ped by the ice and apparently frozen in for the winter. Stefansson and four companions went ashore to hunt When they returned the karluk had been carried away by a storm.
 Stefansson, believing the men aboard | under Captain Bartlett, were safe dis missed the loss of the Karluk as an incident and set out eastward afoot | I[ o,-I, l. carried westward by the ice and ! crushed by the foes east of WrangcI l Island, which Is north of western Si- Iberia. The men took to the ice and several were never seen again. Press ] ing eastward Stefansson spent the 1 1913-1914 winter with the Anderson party and in the summer of 1914 dis 1 covered the new lands The 1915 and 1916 summers were spent exploring | and mapping the country For almcst | two years nothing was heard from Stefansson and it. was believed he was working his way eastward. Sud 1 denly he appeared near Hersche1 Is- | land, off the Canadian Arctic Coast, In 1918 and reported he had found | more new islands.
 One of the secondary objects of l Stefansson's trip was to navigate the ! northwest passage to the Atlantis" and 1 end his trip with an ascent of St | Lawrence River to Montreal in 1917 or 1918. Tn this he failed for reasons not clearly determined.
 Although the war had not startol when Stefansson loft, in 1918, lie plans to enter war work, according to reports and will tour the United States and Canada piviDo- 1orturns fo, tr,, benefit of the Red Cross Althoueh he hopes to go back to the Arctic, he has no definite plans.