Evening star., 1924-10-14
BODIES OF ARCTIC EXPLORERS
/ FOUND ABOUT lO-YEAR-OLD CAMP

one. and il appears to me reasonable
and well supported by evidence at
hand
"To begin with. the tent was
stretched on a piece of ground abb
Solutely open to blizzards from the
northwest and they are the ones that
prevail in that section during the
Winter months. There is nothing to
show that ordinary precautions were
taken to prevent their tent being
blown by even ligh winds, buch less
b! Arctic billiards. There were sew
cral large drift logs nearby tn which
they could have anchored their tent,
but none WAS used for this purpose.
Apparently Frozen to Death.
They might have arrived at the
island in an exhausted condition due
TO the cold and exposure. 1t is
likely that while in bed the blizzard
came upon them. knocked the tent
down and continued long enough to
freeze them to death. The beds were
laid on split poles to keep them off
bare ground. and consequently when
the tent was thrown down the wind
and cold had access to them both
from top and bottom. Under such
conditions they could last but :; short
time, even though protected by their
bedding"
Il believe they died suddenly and
une eNpectedlS, for otherwise these
scientists would certainly have left
Il record to tell their story. 1t may
Seem odd. the captain went on.
that we should find four lower jaws
and no skulls, but the camp was on
Il level stretch OF gravel exposed to
the full force of the wind. Skulls
would roll and in 10 years would
probably lac blown off the beach into
tn" sea. This is also probably the
reason why We found no cooking
utensils or pals"
We gathered together everything
We could find. The captain set aside
all the articles which could possibly
serve us Identification. These were
brought off to the schooner Every
thing els" was piled together or the
camp site and covered with slabs of
slate. Ice conditions made ii inn
prr:itiye that We not delay our de-
rarturc- With Il last look at the
tragic little strip OF beach so peace
ful under IT'S blanket of snow when
W" found it, and now SO trampled
and upturncd "" bore off our little
heap Of relies. boarded the schooner
and sailed away. Capt. Lane is TAX
ing the relics to San Francisco and
is making a written report to the
Canadian government from Nome
Rifle Was McConneIrs.
The rifle found by Capt Lane with
th" skeletons of three scientists and
a sailor from the karluk belonged
to Burt NJ Mcconnell. meteoroIogist
OF the Canadian Arctic expedition of
19l3-l4. Mcconnell il a writer and
now lives in New York
+ The karluk was Quilted AT the
Canadian navy yard at Esquimalt,
nj yrrNh ia
January. 1913, with the largest scien-
ttiic staff on board ever carried by
amy polar expedition. The expedition
was divided into two sections ut
Nome. one proceeding along the
northern coast. the other with the
harluk Intending to go as far north
as possible and carry out exploration
work under II" direct command Of
Stefanss n. In charge of the karluk
as sailing master was Capt. Robert
Bartlett. formerly master of Peary's
Roosevelt.
In August the karluk was beset in
the ice north Of Point Barrow and
drifted westward with the pack until
she was crushed and sunk the follow
ing January. StefanSSon was not
aboard the karluk on her long drift.
He had gone ashore to secure caribou
meat and storm coming up in the
meantime had carried ice and ship
away to sea. StefannSon never saw
the karluk again. Before the Kar-
LUX sank Bartlett placed u consider
able stock of supplies and equipment
on the ice. After she had gone down
he proceeded to transfer the supplies
and ships company across the ice to
NrangelI Island.
-Four Sent to Make Camp.
lie first sent out a party consisting
ofJ Jhn fret Sar,I
sailors, with instructions to 60 to
Wrangel and arrange camp for the
use of the party which was to follow.
These four men were never seen or
heard of again, and it is generally be
lieved that they either perished on the
ice or went through and were drowned
Shortly after the karluk sank and
"hlle the ships company were still
camped on the ice at Shipvreck
Camp the ships surgeon, Dr. Allster
Forbes Mackay, and the oceanographer.
James Murray, went to Bartlett and
asked to have their proportion of the
supplies and equipment set aside for
them. stating that they, with two
others, had decided to proceed by them
selves to Wrangell and thence to Siberia
and eventually to st. Petersburg.
Bartlett and the others tried to dis
suade them. Upon their making
statement in writing absolving Bartlett
from blame. he allotted to them their
share of provisions. They were given
supplies for so days, with one sled,
but no dogs.
Bartlett says in his book, THE Last
Voyage of the karluk." that the doe
tor and his companions did not want
any dogs. but Hadley in his narrative
published as an appendix to Stefans-
sons triendly Arctic" states that
Bartlett answered the doctors request
for dogs, Not one dog Ii you go off
and leave us you play dog yourself
At any rate. the party, consisting of
four men, DR.. Mackay, James Murray,
Henri Beauchat and Stanley Morris,
set out on February 5. One of the
advance parties sent out by Bartlett,
returning to Shipwreck Camp, met
them on the ice and reported that they
were having a bad time.
Two Men Suffering.
They were then about 20 miles from
Herald Island. Beauchat was mile
and a half behind, with hands and
feet frozen. Morris had cut his hand
with knife and blood poison had set
in. Beauchat expressed his sorrow
that they had ever left the main party.
The articles that were found on Her
aid Island tally with those they are
reported to have had, and there is lit
tie doubt that it was they whose bones
we found.
According to Bartlett, they had a
Nome sled, and that is the type of
sled we found. The mates party con-
sisted of four men, but they had
three dog sleds, each heavily loaded
with provisions. When the main
party reached Wrangel, Bartlett pro-
ceeded across the ice to Siberia. leav-
ing instructions with Chief Engineer
Munroe, who was left in charge, to
send a party to Herald Island in
search of the mates party, but no