Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-09
STRANDED ARCTIC
FLYERS GIVE TRIALS
Party of Eight, Lost Two
Months, Face Starvation
! Before Reaching Safety.
Continued From First Page,

The following are extracts of public
interest taken from the report of Nc
Alpine to Thayer Lindsay Of Toronto,
covering the time from when the two
planes left Beaverly Lake until the
arrival at Dease Point
Text Of Reports.
"At Beaverly Lake in the early morn
ing, September 8, visibility was not good
and all regretted the unfortunate mis-
adventure which resulted In the loss OF
one of the planes at Churchill, and the
consequent delay of over week during
which there had been splendid visibili-
ty. On account of the possible approach
of the freeze up it was decided to take
advantage of local breaks in the
weather and to push on If necessary.
little by little, until we reached SAT-
ty of the magnetic compass, due TO
local attraction in this section, de-
pendence had to be placed on the sun
Compass and the plotting OF the course
required undivided attention ana THIS
duty was assumed by Pilot Boadway.
Should it be impossible to get frequent
enough shots at the sun, LANDING
was Ia be promptly made. Furthermore.
If for any other reason, the plot OF
either machine desired conference, ne
was to land and the other would lol-
low. The personnel OF each plane was
as follows: rY,or,rson
Mechanics A. D. GOODWIN, H rI,.sa.
Pearce. editor of the Northern Miner,
and n. F, Baker, on his way TO take
charge of our bases in the western
90 r A O.. Pilot s. r. Macmillan,
Mechanic A. A. j. Milne, Pilots 4. A.
Boadway and C. d. II. McAlpine.
an the morning the visibility oecame
fairly reasonable and q start was ma ,,',
ON the way to Lake Pelly. We usually
,,asseS through several narrow banks Of
snowstorms. but we were able 10 geC
SIN every few minutes and we WSIe
rioht nm our course at Lake Pelly. Inc
weather ahead looked similar to what we
had been having and we proceeoeo. AMe
proposed course was SomewnaI no.S.I
Of the direct map course OF butn .sat
River. The reason for TINS was ui INA.
the mans of that section are naturally
NOT accurate and we wished to aVolo
any possibility Of passing south OF
T3afh,irst Inlet We had been informed
of a large lake south of Bathurst Inlet,
and therefore when we passed near =. .
lake approximately so miles slong py 81
miles wide we in @. +. a. q: WonoeEeu
whether the map might be SO Iar
wrong that this was the very large lake
mentioned to us. A check Of the course
there and then showed this 70 De ma
nossible and therefore that this large
lake was unmapped.
Lake ON Traders Map.
.1ater, at Cambridge Bay. we found
that this lake was marked on a private
man of one of the traders and that OF
that time we were also on our course.
soon after passing this lake the
weather had begun to look threatening
and we in c. F. A. Q; decided 10 lan e.
Just at the moment there was no saIe
landing and we continued, expecting
To land any minute. Here piece OF
had luck occurred. Hitherto only min
I,tes. almost seconds, would go by pc
fore we had a safe lake, ana now we
went on and on with no safe place 10
land. ,r
creased and the visibility got poorer anu
poorer, and we could not get our GouL VIZ.
from the sun and we were flying bInoy
depending on the unreliable Magnetlc
cofIiuass and the general direction OF
fhe rivers which were supposed 10 ruh
approximately in o northeasteriy olrec-
ton. We knew, however, that the sIUIn.
was forcing us farther ana Lai. lie
north of our course and all eyes were
looking out for a safe lake. At last
1alre sppeared which was muddy put
MOI, so bad as what we had been passing
over and which looked Semi-safe, SO
landing was made.
"Just before landing visibility cleared
somewhat and open water nau Deeh
spotted to the north. Under usuai COil-
DAYS 81 necessary for better hying con.
ditions. The weather, however, mac
turned much colder and this little axe
was already beginning to freeze. LIE
storm was again almost on US ana the
history of this section Is that pao
weather lasts several days. We had no
time to lose whatever else was 70 nt
done. It was certain we had to get out
of this lake quickly or run the risk OF
being frozen in In the barrens. All
throlIch we had been forced to ny al
most blindly and for time agreed we
were north of our course, but now Lar
west we had been able to make against
the increased wind, which was now pc
coming o gale, was AN uncertain guam.
tity. In any event we must make sai'
water, which freezes later;
a"There were only two alternatives, TO
nv west or north. Our course lay west.
but as aforesaid, we were not certain
how far we had been able to make In
a westerly direction and, furthermore,
If we went west we were headed lnto
the storm, which was Impossible OMr
only course was, therefore, to ny north
and this the more reasonable also be-
cause open water had been spotted
there in the far distance before landing.
we reached the coast and landed az
the first sign of habitation, which
proved to be the tent of an Eskimo"
Diary Proves Prediction.
The McAlpine statement that the de-
cision was to hit for the coast rather
than chance being frozen IN on an
inland lake is clearly shown by the
diary of Richard Pearce.
."The following night ice started 70
form on the lake near the place we mao
landed.
Until September IL there was no
living weather Meantime the Eskimos
demonstrated to us that we were APP
proximately 30 miles from 2 tIaome
post. We found out afterward that m
stead of the four hours motor ooat
trip it was much further. They said
the post was on the same side OF tne
coast as we were, which, while con-
fusing to us, made us gamble the last
of our gasoline. The plane which was
sent of toward the post was forced 10
return when it was found that we mac
misunderstood the Eskimos ana IL
would be folly to try TO attempt
crossing of the open sea with q Scanty
gas supply. the total of the two planes.
"Col. McAlpine then called all menu
bers of the party together and dealt
with the urgency of the situation IN
which we found ourselves. He SAID that
strict discipline would be necessary. J.,
"He asked Thompson, Goodwin ana
me, the three members OF the party
who were not personnel OF Dominion
explorers, whether they were willing 70
throw in their lot with the Dominion
explorers as one unit. To this all
agreed. Mai. r. Baker, the most prac-
ticaIly exnerienced in the North, was