The Ward County independent., 1921-11-17

VllnJ8lI0ur OLelauSSOuS HOCeu ATCtAS
explorer and scientist, gave wonder
full address at the high school auditor
ium Wednesday evening before large
and appreciative crowd. The house
should have been packed to the doors
For nearly two hours, the world re.
nowned explorer told his story Of the
northland without any thrills, claim.
ing no particular credit for the many
things he has added to the worlds
knowledge of this wonderful land.
His audience was particularly inter.
ested in his story, because Stefanssor
is North Dakota product. Born
near Winnipeg of Icelandic parentage
he grew to manhood in Pembina coun.
ty, North Dakota, riding the plains
as youth as a cow boy. Later he
attended the North Dakota state Uni.
versity.
He referred to his days as COW.
boy in North Dakota.
Speaking. Of the northland, he SAID
there was . mistaken idea among the
people generally concerning the tenn.
perature. For three months in the
summer, there is no snow or ice on
the land, a. far north rs land, hal
been Uncovered, Hundreds Of mile.
north Of the arctic circle. Our geo.
graphies tell us that the only vege-
tatiop to. be- found in the tar north
consists of moss and the ichens, ::but
Stefansson says this is not correct
To one ton of moss and lichens, ten
tons of grasses and brilliantly colored
flowers, more than seven hundred var.
ieties of which are to be found. The
temperature in the summer runs from
80 to 100 in the shade, as hot or hot.
ter than that of New York city. In
the winter months, around the north
pole, the highest temperature record
ed is from so to IS degrees below zero
Even Havre, Mont. has recorded tem-
perature 68 below zero in the winter
and right here in Minot he says the
temperature has been as low in win
ter as has ever been recorded at the
North Pole.
He showed fine lot Of pictures, il.
lustrating his lecture. He showed
vast herds Of caribou and reindeer and
told Of seeing one herd of reindeer
numbering fully a million which pass
ed his camp. 1t required four days
for them to pass and the string OF
deer was half mile wide. Reindeer
thrive in that country. Their meat
is very choice and $500 of these rein
deer are being shipped to the meat
markets of the United States this
year. He estimates that within q
few years a million reindeer annually
will be shipped to the United States,
He predicts that reindeer meat in the
meat markets of Minot will some day
be as common as beef.
Stefansson went into the northland
in 1913 and remained five years. He
did not know the World war was be-
ing fought until year after it start
ed and then heard just fragments of
news. He went in his ship as far
as the ice would permit it to go, then
called for volunteers from among his
men to accompany him into the far
ther regions of the north to remain
two years. Not one was willing to
go with him. Finally he got two
Norwegians to go with him by pay
ing them $25 day each. He took
6 dogs, one sled and 300 pounds of
food. Peary had taken dozens of
dogs, many sleds and a large party
of men. Stefansson left with the
idea of living off the country as he
travelled along. The other explorers
and even the Esquimax had declared
that no seals could be found more than
100 miles away from the land. Stef-
ansson thot differently and proved it.
He found seals wherever he went tho
one had to know how to locate them.
The seals gnaw their way up thru the
thick ice which is about seven feet
thick, remaining in the water with
just small hole covered with loose
snow, thru which they get air. The
dogs would scent the seals and the
explorer and his men would lie.in wait
for them and kill them with harpoons.
A long needle set in the hole would
indicate when the seals were coming
to the surface and the harpoon would
do the rest. The men lived on moth
ing but seal meat for two years. They
did not even have flour or anything
else to eat This explodes the theory
of famous doctors that man cannot
live long on meat alone. True at first
they grew tired Of the meat and final
ly got so they could not eat it. They
grew thin. but alters few days. their