New Britain herald., 1930-12-05
New Mystery of Arctic hffles Trappers and Po- lite-Opened Grave Adds to Seemingly Solution les Riddle.

h"o W. Service remarks-Gnd the cvc"- lastirE silence of the regions under the a:ctic circle cloaGs some strange mysteries. But the northern lights do nd tell of the queer sights, our does tho arctic silence get vocal aboutits mysteries. There is noth- ing t do, usually but guess.
 FaI lip in the heart Of one of the most lonely places on. earth--in the Lake Angikuni country. 800 miles northwest of the port of Churhill, on Hudson Bay-a whole tribe of Eskimos has vanished. SomePhere, somehow, the endless desol;tion of Canada's northern Barren Lands has swallowed up D men, women and children.
 It 5 one of the most puzzljng mysteries that has ever come down out O the arctic. The news of it has jIst reached The Pas, on the fringe of civilization.
 It vas discovered when one Joe Iabcle, a. rowing trapper of the Barren Lands, came upon the tribes ebantoncd camp. Its tents, made of Caribou skins. were still standing. lnsid were hides, clothing. cooking ulenslS. even riflcs--thc most priz- cd possessions of any Eskimo. There was no sign Of violence, no slgn of trouble. The place was simrl empty.
 Mounted Police Join Search
 Th, Royal Northwest Mounted police have taken up the hunt, and W hite trappers have been asked to he or the lookout. But pothing, so far ias been learned.
 .Io, Labelle admits that stumbling the Gecps. A man doesn't get the creeH readily when he spends monts at q time trudginG by his ione icross the Barren Lands where there 's never q house or human being or anything 10 break the whlt'-rimmed silence; bC- Joe La belle got creepy, just the same. The enpy sky and the silent rocky plan held a mystery, and the trap per lidn't like it.
 Zen when he spicd the tent col onN. Labelle says, he scnsed that ther was something wrong He had beached his canoe on the edge Of tle lake, a hundred yards or so disttnt, and he let out hail of Greting as he walked up. But then was no answer. Then two haltstarved husky" dogs crawled out and came towards him, They did not Snarl and bark. as huskics usully do with stranger; they c1elt up, winning dolcfully. The bodcs of seven dead dogs were ly- ing around.
 4 Village of the Dead"
 There were six tcnte. made out Of kin" he says. "l'll admit that vhn 1 went in the first tent was g ,itle jumpy. Just looking around I c'uld see the place hadn't known any human life for months, and I expected to find corpses inside. But thee was nothing there but the peDonal belongings of a family. A couple of deer parkas (skin coats) VeH in one corner. Fish and deer holes were scattered about, There wee a few pairs Of boots, and an irol pot greasy and black Under one of the parkas l found a rifle. It lad been there so long 1t was all rusy.
 The whole thing looked as if il had been left just that way by peo- plewho expected to come back. But the' hadn't come back.
 I went outside and looked over the rest of the camp. l tell you, I wal puzzled. l. figured there had ben about 25 people in the camp, but all signs showed the place hadn't been lived i'll for lnearly F mnths. As I strolled about, with thtse two walking skeletons of dogs following me, 1 found the other terts in d similar state.
 Recalls Evil Spirit'
 T tried to figure out where those Lsiimos had gone to. They hadn't ncycd 10 a new territory, or they would have taken their equipment. especially their guns and their dogs. Then l thought of the Lskimos' evil spirit Tornrark, who has an ugly mans face with two long tusks sticking ID from each side of the nose. The natives live in fear of Tornrarh, and they were charms to ward hin off, I though about Tornrar'' and had to make an ef- .oit to put the picture out of my min }.
 'I walked into another tent. One aide had been ripped to ribbons by the wind. On the floor were three fox skins. made worthless by rain and snor and mud, Under them was anoher rusty rifle. Those two rifles seemed strange-the last thing an Eskimo ever parts with is his rifle. One of the dogs brushed against my legs and whined. and l thought ot that Tornrark again and got outsid,
 "I went down to the lake and wondered if the whole tribe hard got drowned But that sounded silly. unles they had all committed suicide, which didn't seem likely. Then I fond one of the most pug zling things of all.
 Grave Is Riddle
 Tt was an Eskimo grave. with cairn built of stones. But for some reason tn. grave had been opened i The stons had been pulled off of l one side and there was nothing in side the oirn at all. l had no way Of telling when it had been openeI. or what had been done with th" body it hld once contained And l couldn't tgurs out why 1t had been i desecrataj.
 T stsed ground all afternoon. trying tc figJre things out. There | were II, signs of any struggle {