The Nome nugget., 1921-07-30

| hhh "aNS N'ihPiSeS' "ith 'SA''NNA
 teams. The same etti:ude cf country
 and hospitality displayed at Yakutsk
 continued throughout the :iir whic.,
 lasted 51 days. On arrival at Sredni- l Eolyma February 25 1ew troubles de- veloped in the shape of wireless mes
 sages ordering the acquisition of all
 cargo from furs 70 .tla goods on
 board the Polar Beer The messages this time were from tie Central So-
 viet government at Moscow. A meet
 ing of the Sredni officials was called
 to ac: upon the new ordc,s and Capt. Gudmundsun was again compelled to clear himself. The officials of Sredni
 were well disposed toward the Ameri-
 cans and plainly regretted the neces- l sity of obeying orders. After the sit | ua:ion had been explained to them, the committee decided on their own ce- sponsihility to give Capt. Gudmund-
 son q free hand in securing an annul-
 me,nt of the Moscow decree by lifting
 the telegraphic inhibi:ions. They al so dispatched messengers to different sections to call a meeting of delegates to formulate q protest to the Omsk authorities against the contemplated confscation. The delegates, including representatives of :he various native tribes, arrived at Sredni within six days and after listening to the evi- denca submitted by Capt. Gudmund-
 son, voted unanimously to urge .he | Omsk government to refrain from mo- testing the fWs or goods on either the
 clusion of the meeting Il telegram was forwarded to Omsk detailing the as- sistance given to the Koly1na residents by Capt. Gudmundson and expla ming , .he true facts regarding his ship and 1 cargo. Capt. Gudmundson was also permitted to send a personal protest
 to the Omsk government. He also l wired the United States consul at Vladivostok asking assistance and ap- pealed to the Soviet government of Anadyr under whose guarantee of
 non-molestation he had undertaken the tenor were also forwah ded to the head | quarters of the Alaska Siberian Fur Company at San Francisco: to the Nome Chamber of Commerce, the lat ter requesting q wire copy of the re- lief appeal sent to that body by .hs Anadyi government. Capt. Gud- mundson also sent i message to his wife and family in Seattle. the message
 being :he first they had received since received to any of the official mes sages for period of a'days, during which Gudmundson and his compa non remained at Sredni-Kolyma on good tt,ms with everyone. However dur ing the interval several new develop.
 ments gave added interest % the sit
 uation. The first of these was the anrival from Nakutsk of a committee
 to make further investigation of the
 facts stated by Capt. Gudmundson at
 Yakutsk. The committee, i was as certained, had been appointed short ly after the Americans departed from | iakutsk. The members were appar- ently ben. on reaching the Polar Bear
 as soon as possible and left Sredni inn mediately after their arrival. Capt. Gudmundson decided to follow them. Interpreter Olson accompanied to q
 point about 100 miles north of Sredni,
 but was dropped at that point. pc nit ting Gudmundson to make all possible speed hy travelling light. By dint of
 hlrd travelling, the committee was | ov, rtaken at Nishny-Kolyma, from which point Capt. Gudmundson ac- companied them to his ship. The committee received him in a friendly
 manner and stayed on the Polar Bear ten days. while investigating both American vessels. After thoroughly
 examining the vessels, their cargoes
 and papers. the committeeman ex- pressed their satisfaction n. finding that the statements made by Capt. Gudmundson were true in every re- spec: and voiced the opinion that he would find no further difficulties when
 their report had been received by the central government. The committee returned to Sredni. where the report
 was later radioed to Omsk, after ex-
 pressing their friendship and regard for the Americans. However, before the investigating committees report
 had been transmitted to Omsk, there
 came a second and more preemptory