The Wrangell sentinel. (Wrangell, Alaska) 1909-current, 1939-04-07
Juneau =Empire)

Rounding out an airplane cruise
of some 5000 miles from Juneau to-
the top of the continent, Point Bar
row and return. a party consisting
of Major Paul S. Edwards of Seat
tie. Officer-in-Charg Of the Alas
ka Communications System, Mrs.
Robert Bender of Juneau and Mrs.
John Cross Of Deering arrived back
j in the Capital City Monday even
ing
With John Cross of the Northern
Always at the controls, the winter
filters went into the Arctic on a.
flight unusual for this time of the
year. IN fact, their plane was, with
, one exception, the only one visiting
, Barrow this winter.
Others who were on the far north
, flight with the three who returned
to Juneau were J. D. Nelson, Gem
: eraI Freight Agent of the Alaska
! Steamship Company and, for part
of the journey, Boris Magids, KOtze-
bue trader.
Banquet at Barrow
At Barrow the party was received
by Charles D. Brewer, pioneer
King of the Arctic" and veteran
trader; and others, including Master
Sergeant Stanley Morgan, Farthest
North representative of the U. S.
Signal Corps Service and Alaska
Communications System, and Mrs.
Morgan. The sixteen whites of the
village gave a banquet in honor of
the party, presenting a menu, say
the travellers, that would rival a
feast at the Waldorf-Astoria - the
bill included delicious reindeer roast
and ieecream made of canned cream,
frozen in the open at 35 degrees be-
low zero without aid of ice.
While flying hundreds of miles
over the snowy wastes without a
sign of human habitation, the party
occasionally sighted herds of rein
deer, and was particularly thrilled
by the sight of a huge herd Of
reindeer estimated at 1000, being
attacked on the flanks by rowing
wolves near the Noatak.
Two hundred miles Southwestern
ly from Wainwright, an unusual
scene from the plane was series
of vast terraces, looking, said the
travellers, like some vast project of
man.
Get Polar Bear
Among the places touched on the
cruise was Point Lay, between PIT.
Barrow and Cape Lisbourne, where
a hunting party was staged by the
natives, who mushed far out over
the Arctic ice. Travelling 20 miles
off shore with dog team, the hunt
ers got out to the broken ice lanes,
headed by Bob Tuckfield, noted Es
kimo of the region and famed as a
hunter and most highly educated
native of the region.
At this extreme limit beyond the
national jurisdiction, and in what
was termed the international seas,
Major Edwards had the thrilling eX-
perience of shooting a fine, large
polar bear, measuring eight feet.
With a 1920 he plugged the big
fellow in the heart. Tuckfield shot
two polar bears.
After the pelts were recovered it
was a long hard mush of Il hours
back to the mainland, and the party
did not make the village before l
a. m. 1t was a beautiful night, with
most marvellous display of northern
lights, a perfect Arctic setting, said
the major.
! On return to the village, Major
Edwards had the skin of his bear
dressed, and brought the pelt back
with him to Juneau as a present for
Gov. John w. Troy.
Major Edwards made the trip as
a tour of inspection of stations un-
der his jurisdiction in Northern and
Interior Alaska.
Every outlying village or COM
munity in Alaska should have two
way radiophone connections with the
nearest large town or city, and 4
will make strong recommendations
to that effect" the Major said
Utterly Cut Off
81 found numerous places" he
declared, where the people who are
devoting their lives to a heroic
frontier service-mining, prospect
ing, trapping, fishing, and the like
ARE utterly cut off from all COM
munications They have no way of