Omaha daily bee., 1921-08-23
Living Off the Arctic
From the New York Times.)

The arctic explorer, Roald Amund-
sen, interviewed at Seattle about his
expedition to the North pole, says
that he has made a contract for the
shipment of supplies for seven years
to Nome, the starting point of the
expedition, next May. 1t is reported
that Amundsen has no faith in an
alleged theory Of Stefansson that an
explorer can live "off the country"
on a polar quest. Amundsen Is
quoted: North of IS degrees there
is little animal life. In the dead Of
winter nothing short OF dynamite
would penetrate the ice to the depth
where fish can be obtained. One
must take food along on dog sleds." !"
1t is improbable that Amundsen
could have taken seriously a story
circulated in Seattle that Nilh5almur
Stefansson was planning a. polar ex-
pedition without food supplies.
The latter explorer is q man Of as
much intelligence as daring. and
must be familiar with arctic lite.a-
ture. Admiral Peary WAS the only
authority upon conditions beyond IS
degrees, and in his dash" for the
pole he saw no animal life Of any
kind. Except for pressure ridges the
ice surface for many days march
was monotonously level, with infre
quent leads for sounding. No man
could have lived in that desolate ex-
panse without sled rations. In
Peary's story of the North pole there
is nothing about supplying the larder
with game after the base at Camp
Columbia was left behind. In that
region musk OK and caribou were
abundant enough, and fish could be
had If they were wanted. One of the
most remarkable pictures in Peary's
book shows the rigging Of the Roose-
welt lined with the horns of musk OK
and caribou, but the hunting was
done on the land of the far-scattered
Eskimos, or not far north of it.
Stefansson has been a mighty
hunter of arctic game. but he could
have no illusions about living "off
the country" at 85 degrees and north
of it. On the shores of the Arctic
ocean he has lived like the Eskimos
on seal, bear. OK, caribou and fish,
but he was generally in touch with
possible to live by hunting. In the
winter of 1909-10, which he spent at
Cape Perry, Alaska, he would have
perished if he had attempted to
prove the theory attributed to him.
He found that 1.-The let-alone policy
of the government, the cupidity of
traders, and the ignorance of the Es-
kimos themselves had practically de-
stroyed the caribou"
Stefansson would hardly contend
that it is safe for an explorer to push
north very far beyond the last Es-
kimo settlement without the usual
rations. On his expedition Of 1913
IS he encountered on Dolphin and
Union straits Eskimos who had never
seen a white man, and he lived a
year with them. He explored Vic
toria Island, Banks Island, and
found new land north of Prince Pat
rick Island. There was usually
game to be shot, but the explorers
were almost at an extremity for fat,
indispensable in the arctic regions.
In one period starvation threatened
them. 1T was, indeed" Stefansson
wrote. "a period Of famine not only
for human beings in that district,
but even for wolves, all of which
were skin poor" His furthest range
was far short of IS degrees. Ac-
cording tc a report Of June %, Ste
fansson was planning to explore arc
tic territory ito the north Of Cam
ada and had no intention Of seek
ing the pOle