Evening star., 1923-10-25
BY HAROLD NOICE,
Leader WrangeI Island Rescue
ExnedittOn.

Life on Wrangel Island that first
winter must have seemed to the boys
of the Stefansson party like Fenimore
Cooper romance come to life. Their
imaginations were famed to a high
fame. They had journeyed into the
north from a southern land. They had
cut themselves off from their own kind
had left civilization behind them. To
Crawford and Gale it was the first
great breath of adventure.
The polar bears, the ice packs. the
binding snowstorms-they had been
but names to fire their minds. Here
they were, living realities to challenge
their manhood; actual enemies against
which to pit their strength. They were
feeling for the first time that greatest
of all thrills-the thrill that comes when
man is in danger and sure OF his
ability to meet it. The thrill of facing
the almost unSurmountable obstacle
Just as it is about to be surmounted.
knight had been in the north before.
These things were commonplace to
him. yet in his diary i can sense the
mood Of the party. Imagine Crawford,
for instance. fresh from the Toronto
University and the protection of cul-
tured home, meeting his first polar bear
face to face.
Experience for Gale.
Imagine young Gale, who had never
even seen a fox except in zoo, setting
out in the early morning to visit his
1t is mood in which strong bonds
arc forged. either of friendship or
enmity. From Knights diary 1t is evil
dent that he and Crawford, such oppo-
site types, were cementing an attach
,nent. Far from doubling their ability
10 survive the Wrangel experience, they
were already planning new conquests
together.
"Crawford is a coming man and one
Of the smartest young or old men l
have ever met" writes knight, adding:
HE tries his best to hide it because Of
modeSty."
I'VE are planning to spend winter
on Melville Island" he continues. "All
that Is likely to stop us is money, but
Crawford is a geologist and has some
high connections with the Canadian
geological survey and he is confident
that the government will be willing to
send US there"
The slow approach of winter that year
gave them ample time to prepare win
comfortable as they, in their inexperi-
ence, knew how. They were elated
over their achievements, not for mo-
ment suspecting how inadequate these
were to prove.
Experience would have taught them
TO build Immediately house of drift
wood and moss, warm and secure
against any kind of weather. Instead,
after pitching their tents and building
crude framework over them to support
snow blocks, they waited for the winter
TO provide them roof.
In Need of Snow.
"AlI we need now is snow for the
walls and roof" Knight writes in the
beginning of October. "Our steamstress
Is working. diligently and has our win
Gric
Almost Immediately the shortage Of
dog meat became problem. An early
entry reads:
Il have been feeding the dogs on
are almost gone and so 1 had to cook
for them today rotten potatoes. of
which there are quite a few, and crack
ling crumbs. There is no sign of ice
and the prospect for, seal looks rather
gloomy until the ice does come"
The lack Of a skin boat also began
10 be felt almost Immediately. knight
writes:
"There are few seals about. but
they stay long distance from shore,
and the surf is so heavy and the dory
so hard to pull out that it is not ad-
Visable to go after them"
When they began to check up on the
supplies ordered In Seattle they found
that some of them had not arrived and
that others had spoiled.
"a box of prunes we opened today
was maggoty. Rather a poor thing to
do to a party going north," Knight
comments.
The problem of dog meat was tenn
porarily solved by the timely arrival of
the first inquisitive polar bear. He
was a full-grown male with a rather
good skin, which we carefully saved"
writes Knight. 'The carcass was cut
up and cached. to be hauled home when
the weather permits. We took only
enough to feed the dogs"
y Other Foods to Come.
They did not suspect, then. that the
time would come when there would
be no serving of bearskins to make
fireside rugs or museum pelts. Yet
all were destined for food eventu-
ally.
bears were so thick that the boys
steaks or dog feed. Knight says, of
the days Immediately following:
1.-THE bears were so darned thick
that we could see them in all direc-
lions and at all times. I'VE did not
kill as many as wish we had, as
there was no way to get them to
camp. for the ground was bare and
Shedding impossible. Now that the
OCEAN is frozen over the bears are
ALI out on the ice, and the question
of dog feed is now the issue of the
other day. so now there are only six
dogs to feed"
The life of the boys in camp as
the winter came on is pictured in a
vember Z:
Supper is over and there is not
q great deal to do, so I will write