Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-05
LOST EXPLORERS
ARE SAFE AT POST
8 Missing in Canadian WiIdS
Reach Isolated Trading
Camp Afoot.
Special Dispatch to The star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, November s.
Col. c. D. H. MacAlpine and his seven
companion explorers are safe and sound,
| but 1t may be q month before they can
| can be brought out to civilization.
| This definite word, coming from the
officers of the Western Canadian Air
| ways Co. last night, dispels all doubt
regarding the finding of the eight men
who left Baker Lake September in
two planes.
In one plane were Pilot C. A. Thomp-
son, Maj. Baker, Mechanic Goodwin
and Richard Pearce, editor of the North
ern Miner, who went north in the in
terests of the Western Canadian Air
ways Co. In the other plane were Col.
MacAlpine, Pilot Stanley Macmillan,
Chief Mechanic A. G. Milne and Geolo-
gist A. d. Roadway of the Dominion
Explorers Co. The object Of the men
in the two planes was to explore the
mineral fields in the barren lands.
On Victoria Island.
All Of these missing men have been
found on the southern shore of Victoria
Island, about rs miles from the north
coast Of the main island in the Arctic
Seas.
From there, once reached by the
pldAlCS AlOW at bAlI ACSCuC UdsC at odJAl~
| urst Inlet on the mainland, 1t will be
an easy trip to transfer them to the
mainland. Another hop will take them
back to Baker Lake, where the search
began.
The difficulty in getting the men out
is due to the difference in weather con-
ditions in the north and the south.
From Baker Lake north the lakes are
all frozen and all the flying is done on
eli dc Tn 6A at nVRh E1rNVst-
age and Churchill, there is still open
water, and until this freezes 1t is i'm
possible for Ski-equipped planes to land.
The rescued men and the rescue
planes will be tied up in the north until
ice forms in the south.
Float Flying Closed.
It is estimated that this will take
about four weeks. The Western Cana
dian Always Co. has Just closed its
sf1oat flying season at Cranberry Port
age, and 1t Is usually a month after
this happens before ski flying can be
undertaken.
This means also that no planes from
the south can go into the north. There
is no chance of the explorers being
brought out by boat, as the fact that
they. crossed from the mainland to
| Cambridge Bay indicates that the straits
and channels in the northern seas are
frozen. A suggestion that dog teams
might be used is secuted here as in
volving more hardships than they are
likely to experience anywhere in the
! north.
Nov that We are certain they are
safe and well, we are not concerned
about the time 1t takes to get them
out" an offlcial of the Western Cana
dian Always Co. said They will
probably be taken to Baker Lake at
once, and there, where there are plenty
of supplies Of all kinds, they can wait
comfortably till conditions are perfect
for flying back"
Imperfect Communication.
Meanwhile, the only means of COM
municating with Col. MacAlpine and
his men is by radio, and that is liable
| to interruption. One of the mysteries
of the news Of their safety is why word
was not received long ago from the
radio station at Cambridge Bay. There
are two. theories to account for this.
The FIRST explanation is in the radio
system. The broadcasting station at
Cambridge Bay is on an old boat Of
Amundsen's, the Baymaud, which has
been lying up there for some years.
1t is f1rst-class set, but the operator
has been away on furlough.
There Is, however, on the Baymaud
young amateur operator, Jack Nc
Kinnon, who has been flashing mes
Sages of various sorts at odd times
to the Hudson Bay Co. setamer Fort
st. James, at King William Island,
about 200 miles east He is supposed
to have got through with the news
OF the party's safety.
Message Relayed Out.
1t was from the Fort St. James that
the message was relayed to Churchill
and thence to the outside world. 1t
is probable that the party has only
recently arrived at Cambridge Bay.
They crossed from Dease Point, on the
mainland, by ice, and may have been
| delayed there waiting till the ice
formed.
How they got to Deass Point Is still
unknown. 1t is east of the mouth
of Bathurst Inlet on which, about half
way down. is situated the Hudson
Bay post the explorers were making
for.
1t Is possible that coming up from
| the South they missed the narrow in
let. Pilots who have been over the
route say that a very slight error would
| lead to this. If so, Col. MacAlpine and
his men few up to the shores of the
Arctic, landing at Dease Point.
Subsisting on Game.
| 1t may be, however, that they travelled
inland on the barren lands and that
for the last few weeks they have been
tramping laboriously over the bare
rocks, living on caribou, FISH and what
ever birds or other game they could
bring down.
The fact that they made their way
from Dease Point to the radio station
at Cambridge Bay suggests that they
were not actually lost It indicates
also possibility that they were disccv-
cred by Eskimos and taken by them to
safety.
Some three weeks ago the Hudson
Bay Co.'S officials at Cambridge Bay
sent out adYiceS To ESkinoS In the