The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-01-16
PROFESSOR TAXES
 UP THE ATTACK ON
 ARCTIC EXPLORER
Accuses Steffansson of Sub. ordinating the Interest
 of SCiene to
By Associnted Press

Montreal. January 15.-Prof. J. J.
 O'Neil geologist of McGill university
 tonight took up arms in the contro-
 versy begun last week when Dr. R. M Anderson of Ottawa. second in com mand of the Stefansson arctic expe- dition of 1913. accused the explorer of l having subordinated the interests of
 science to his own personal advan- tage.
 l Professor O'Neil. who was a mem- Der of the southern branch of the ex- petition commanded by Mir. Ander- son. said an unsatisfactory basis of 1 the organization had caused friction
 from the first. This friction, he de- | clared, reached a crisis after Stefans-
 son had lost his vessel. the Karluk. and II of her crew, and rejoined the southern party describing It's refusal
 to hand over its remaining provisions
 to him as "subordination" If not ac- tual "mutiny."
 "The chief trouble was that mem l bers of his party were in the pay of tho Canadian government. while Ste fansson looked to his writings as his source of income"
 | At Nome, Alaska, the starting point for the far north, Professor O'Neifl | said terrible old whaler awaited us."
 Vessels Different "Stefansson had made the purchase which he evidently considered good enough for us, but he had taken great pains to make the Karluk the north ern partys vessel, the finest fitted out ship that ever left for polar seas.
 "The Alaska, as ours was called. was In such a dilapidated state of preservation that the inhabitants of Nome were actually making wagers as to how long it would remain afloat. But what could we do? If we drew back at that stage of the game we would undoubtedly be ac- cused of cowardice.
 Then came the question of receiv- ing our share of the supplies which had been stored at Nome prior to our arrival. Stefansson took nearly two thirds of these and practically all the provisions. He had purchased, for money, approximately seven tons of pemmican, a specially prepared food. Of this huge supply he generously all lowed us 1000 pounds. He also ap- propriated every available sled and dog that Scottie Allen, the Nome musher, could find. He excused him self by saying that we could easily get along without them as our work would not take us off the conti- nent."
 Alleged Extravsgance As an example of Stefansson's al- legged extravaganza, Prof. ONeill stated that he once rented an Amer ican vessel, the Polar Bear, at s1,o0o day.
 After the loss of his Karluk." said Professor O'Neill. "Stefansson joined our party at CoIlesion Point. As 1t was his intention to form new en- terprise to explore Beaufort Sea, via the ice route, he demanded what was left of our 1000 pounds of pemmican. Our refusal to allow ourselves to be crippled so that he might be outfitted afresh, I believe, he describes as in- subordination' If not actual 'mutiny.' The government may now consider a full inquiry Justified"
 Professor O'Neill said Stefansson's s claim that a traveller could live on
 the game he encountered In the arc | tic was absurd.
 | "I travelled four times over 900
 mile route" he said, "and all the game l saw was two caribou and a few
 small animals about the size of rab-
 bits. MT. Stefansson beasts that his party lived comfortably on what they shot and never missed a meal. I asked
 one of his men If this was true and
 he replied that If they never missed
 a meal, some of them were damned | far apart"