Evening star., 1949-03-18
Stars, Men and Atoms
Greenland Fjord Called
Palm Beach of Arctic
But Islands Usually Mild Winter
Turns Colder This Year
By Thomas r. Henry

Bv lh0mGS N. Henry
The headquarters of the Greenland Com.
mand of the United States Air Force
located almost on the site of the first white
settlement in the Western Hemisphere-has
been having tough winter.
It wouldn't seem so. of course. to anybody
who has endured the rigors of Minnesota or
North Dakota, and there have been no
snow storms comparable to couple in TIE
District Of Columbia. But the temperature
quite frequently has gone below zero in the
NarSarssuak ford, which It. Col. A. j. Boot,
deputy commander of the base. calls the
Palm Beach Of the Arctic" and from whose
broadcasting station goes out several times
each day the Voice of Sunny Southern
Greenland"
1t was different last year, the soldiers say.
Then the average temperature was better
than that of central New England and there
was not nearly as much snow. It wouldn't
have been bad winter resort for folks
from New York City who found Florida
beaches too crowded or expensive.
The idea that all Greenland is cold-at
least the southern parts one Of the first
illusions to be shattered when one flies out
Of the 23-below chill of a Labrador dawn to
land five hours later in what seems like
early spring in Central New England.
Typical american" City
rather typical American small city is
functioning along the narrow ford, winding
inland for about 10 miles through low noun
tains, where the Icelandic sea king, Erik
the Red, in 982 AID. established the first
colony in the New World and where his son
built the first church. Purely by accident.
it is likely, Erik had hit upon the ideal spot
in the Far North-probably lot better than
any place in his native Iceland.
Erik always has been given credit for
perpetrating one Of the great real estate
swindles in history. Going back to Iceland
after three years of exile he named his new
found country Greenland" because he
thought the name would be an indacement
for his hard-pressed fellow countrymen to
buy farms from him. Greenland sounded
good after "Iceland"-but the actual names,
everybody has thought ever since, should
have been just the opposite. since 80 per
cent of Greenland is covered with an ice
cap one or two miles deep.
But from the evidence in Greenland ac-
cording to officers and soldiers who have
seen the country at all seasons. Erik may
have been quite sincere. For he had entered
the ford in midsummer when meadows Of
tall grass stretch several hundred yards to
the foot of the mountains on each side,
when almost jungles of stunted birches and
alders were in full leaf. and the mountain.
sides were covered with brilliantly colored
carpets of bluebells, buttercups and dande-
lions. Probably the victims of Erik's sales
manship were not too badly disappointed
and couldn't have been dragged back to
Iceland The fact is that they stayed in
Greenland for 400 years, and part of the
time appear to have been quite prosperous.
Ideal Winter Climate.
Nobody knows what finally happened to
them. There is generally held theory that
the weather changed for the worse and that
to what it was in Erik's day.
A "city" with all the comforts Of home has
been built on Eriks old farm site. There
are, of course, certain drawbacks which
gripping GIs make the most Of The place
is terribly isolated. 1t is reached only after
a 500-mile flight over one of the worlds
stormiest seas. Time schedules for such
flights in winter are quite exacting. A plane
must leave Labrador early in the morning In
order to land here in daylight A landing
in the dark on the air strip alongside the
narrow ford, hemmed by treacherous noun
tains. would be nearly impossible. 1t may
take as much as two weeks to get here. with
bad weather and a scarcity of transport
planes.
There are no towns for weekend leaves.
Once in Narsafssuak one is there to stay
for year, unless in case Of an extreme
emergency.
But one thing which nobody is likely to
kick about in Southern Greenland is the
weather. It comes about as near being an
ideal winter climate-barring an occasional
Blizzard sweeping off the icecap-as can be
found ANYWHERE