Captain Wilkins Tells
of Polar Explorations
(Cantnued from Pape 1.)
ships across the ice. After be com
pleted his trip, those of us who were j
left on the coast went to the east and
there saw the Eskimo* who had never
before been in contact, with white peo
ple. When we approached them we
thought that they , would be very shy, j
but much to our surprise they were'
in a way quite hospitable, helying us I
with our dog teams. *4Ve could eon-1
verse with them but very little, but
they were very free with, us. How
ever, we could not convince them that
we were people of a different rale,
they insisting on believing that we'
were Eskimos from some other part
of the land, because they did not know
tha there were any people in the
world save Eskimos. We found when 1
we came t< know. something of them
that they had- just as great a love
ir*d feeling .for their relatives and
kinsmen as-, we. had.. I like to travel,
among these, people*, and I may say
that I find human beings differ very-;
little in every part of the world
“The Eskimos in the North are for
the most part very interesting. Some
of their stories helped us in the belief
that we would find land north of
Point Barrow. They told us that
man yof their people had traveled out
over the ice and had never returned,
and many of their stories indicate
that land exists there. Some Es
kimos, hoWevcr, say that the fact
that Some of their people went out
over the ice and never returned
showed that they had died and gone
to,*a better land. This is more or less
a religious belief of theirs.
“Wheh. I returned thektrthe follow-,
ing year I missed one man whom I
liked very much. I asked for him and
was told that he had died—that one
of the men had killed him. I was
much surprised at this, so the man I
told me that this friend of mine had '
a habit of teasing every one, and one
day he saw this man hammering a
knife out of native copper, and he
started to tease him, -saying that he
ought to have someone who knew
something about knives make the
knife for him, ending by saying that
the knife would not work. The man
jumped up, saying, ‘I’ll show you
whether it works or not,’ and stuck
the knife into the’teaser. - All the Es
kimos thought it a splendid joke, and
when I remained serious the killer
said that any man ought to know bet
ter than to tease a man when he had
a sharp knife.
“As yet it is not possible to get
machines that are large enough to
carry food, supplies and gas, but it is
possible for me to set out on this un
dertaking with less difficulties to face
and it will be much less dangerous
for me than for the others—especial
ly living on the food of the country.
In 1913, when we went to Point Bar
row, the best way seemed tor be- to
travel by airplane, but at that time
few people thought them useful or
serviceable, so 1 had to abandon the/
idea, and the other parties on the ex
pedition saw to it that I didn’t men-!
tion airplanes. It is only just now
that the whole world is beginning to
believe that the conditions in the Arc
tic and Alaska arc not nearly as se
vere as they would like to believe. It
was only yesterday that I got a tele
gram from some of my friends in
Detroit asking why I was not com
plaining of the cold. Very often when '
they know that it has been my privi-!
lege to go north and south they ask'
me. which pole I like best, the North ;
Pole or the South Pole. They seem to j
believe that even on this trip we are
traveling to the North Pole. We are
looking forward to a new pole that is
even farther away than the North
Pole, which is even more difficult to
approach than any other place on the
northern hemisphere. Our slogan on
this expedition is “Progress." It is
indeed surprising to see how few peo
ple realize the difference between the.
North and South Poles.
"It is very difficult to say whether
one would prefer to be in the Arctic
or. in the Antarctic. On my first op
portunity to go North I did not un
derstand to which end of the world 1
was going. When in Indi I got a tele
gram saying that 1 was to leave on a
polar expedition with Stefansson, andi
7. not knowing the difference between1
the Arctic and the Antarctic, thought
I was going to the Antarctic, when 1
found that 1 was really going to the;
Arctic.
“There is a good deal of difference]
between the Arctic and the Antarctic I
Although I have had only two years’!
experience in the Antarctic, these i
years were to me just as interesting j
and just, as pleasant as the three and ;
a half years which I sitent with the ]
f .skinios. Of course,.there are no peo-!
pie in the. Antarctic, or no polar hears,
but you have there something that is ,
just as interesting as people, and that1
is the penguin. You cannot, of course,
understand their language, but you
can interpret their actions. I found I
them very interesting, indeed, as has :
everyone else who lias ever watched ■
,,.-m. They are very much like neo-;
de in their actions, and ooe instance;
which plainly indicated this similarity !
was at the time of the Scott Ant-;
arctic expedition in 11H10, when one of i
the party, an Englishman, was sitting [
on the shore drawing and one of the 1
birds came up and looked at him and,
walking away and picking up a peb '
bie, packed it very gravely back and ;
placed it at the foot of the gentle
man. It wasn’t until two weeks after 1
that that we really understood the
story. A'l the lady penguins in the i
spring come to the shore first. Two
days later all the gentlemen penguin
come ashore. Then if a gentleman 1
penguin sees a lady that, he rather
fancies, he goes off and picks up a
little pebble and presents’ it to this '■
lady penguin. Thus this Englishman
had occasion to say that even the pen
guin pay tribute to an Englishman.
“Penguins have many other hahits \
which make them just as interesting j
as people. One of these habits is1
water dozing. They will sit at the ^
edge of the water in the sunshine and
doze by the hour. One day I hap
pened to be watching them and a spry
one flew down among them, knocking
three or four of them over in the act, ;
after which there followed a regular :
Fresh Vegetables
Plenty of Nuts
Choice Canned Goods Meats
Fresh Garden Seeds
i
frame of tag-.
“It is almost impossible to say how
numerous the penguins are in the
South. There are millions of them.
They build up on high cliff sand go
out to sea to get their food. There
is a continual stream going to and
from the water in search of food, and
they go and come in one direction to
avoid confusion. These penguin look
very much like gentlemen in dress
suits, with their white fronts. Often
you see them sitting down on their
tails chatting by the hour. They have
their domestic quarrels just as people
have. When there is a consultation
of any kind between them you see
them pairing off in groups, talking
like everything, the older aristocratic
looking ones together, etc. You will
always find looking very wise and sol
emn. They are very sensitive about
their appearance, and there is a eer
tain time each year when they lose ail
their feathers. Those just starting to
lose their feathers go around hiding
behind rocks. It is very amusing and
astonishing to see the penguin com- j
ing baek for the first' time with new
feathers.
“Work in the Antarctic is very
much more easily accomplished than
in the Arctic. In setting out on an
expedition in the Antarctic one would
not need to worry at all about food,
because the seals are very numerous.
But if you are living on seal in the
Arctic it means that you must have
considerable experience. We had to
learn our method from the Eskimos, I
“It is difficult, of course, to try to
tell something about the Arctic and
the Antarctic and tell you those
things which people are interested in,
and I find it difficult to know just
what to say and what not to say.
Perhaps you will be interested in
’earning just why I am so interested'
and concerned in polar regions. 1
happened to be born in Australia,
whore we suffer fro mdrought sea
sons. There were many thousands of
livestock there, and when one of
those seasons came thousands of
these animals died. It seemed to me,
•is a small boy, that something
should be done. The study of me
teorology seemed to me to be the so
lution of the problem. Meteorology
is becoming more and more of a sci
ence. If we could gain knowledge of
the conditions that would enable us
to forecast seasonal conditions so as
to take advantage of the good years
and prepare for the lean or drought
I
I Tokotiia
| Cigar Store
j-—
i
Tobaccos
Cigars
* Soft Drinks
I ■
| Fred Dubois
| Proprietor
i ’
| CHARLIE’S !
j LAUNDRY j
McGrath, Aianka *
I A Bath in a Real j
Bath Tub «
i |
| Shoe Repairing
8 Sign Writing j ,
t i1
Paper Hanging
; ----- j
j Charles Rebhiin {<
t The Handy Man .
years, it would be of some purpose.
It seemed to me that the place to do
that work would be in the Antarctic
and in the Arctic, so some years ago
I set out to establish meteorological
stations in the polar regions. I went
to see about a wireless service, be
cause we needed this to be able to
send back our reports and thus for
conclusions. I was told that it would
take at least five years to get the
wireless. After five years I came'
Iwick and made inquiries and they said
that it would take another two years,!
and it seems now that it will take an-j
other two years before we can estab-:
lish regular wireless stations. There i
is an area lying north of Point Bar-!
row 1000 miles square and another
area lying between New Zealand and
Cape Horn, and these two areas need
to be explored before wc can actually
carry out the plan we have in mind,
and it is only since the development of
airplanes and the wireless tiiat we can
actually go very far. Some years ago
a station was set up in Africa, and j
observations from that station showed j
relations from Cape Horn to India,j
and even as far north as Egypt. It;
has been thus indicated that if we!
had a sufficient number of stations in
that region we could forecast seasonal I
conditions from every part of the
world.
“It is not an e tablished fact, and
it remains for us to go on with the
work, and we kn :v that we must go i
ahead with the work in the North and
the South.
“Of course, no one can deny that
there is a good <1 :d of romance in ex
ploration as wel as science, and a
^ good deal of adventure. Sixteen years
ago T f -sf r. t out in search of adven
ture, the type that you read about in
stories. In expeditions, however, you
get a good deal more hard work than
you do adventure. Most adventure
comes through ignorance or incompe
tence.
“I am very pleased that so far
everything from the airplane stand
point has gone just as we anticipat
ed. The hospitality that has been
shown to the member.-, of our expedi
tion and the help that, we have re
ceived has been marvelous, and if
there is anything that can help us it
that feeling—the spirit of the people
of Alaska. I feel sure that in carry
ing out our investigations, even if we
cannot carry out our plans, we will
have at least done something to ad
vance civilization.”
PROFESSIONAL
Mrs. Jean McLean
Notary Public
Tokotna, Alaska
mry
Front Street, Tokotna
f Mrs, Fred Dubois - Prop.
I
I
I
j Rough and Dressed Lum
! her cf All Kinds '
I
i
!
i
!
I
I
i
l
I
i
!
mm m mg *•* mm ** m • m m mm mm m «e»s> aiaiii
ALASKA u$f£»d liAviliAeiiiN
COMPANY
Operating Light Draught Steamers
On the Kuskokwim.
Capt. Wallace- Langley, Manager.
A Dredging or Hydraulicing
Proposition, Yankee Creek
About 7 miles Ions, extending from No. 1 below discovery to
the* mouth of the creek.
Pay located all along- for a distance of about three miles from
upper end, and pretty well prospected and cross-cut.
Average depth of ground is from 7 to 20 feet. Top is all block
muck,that can be scraped freely. No rock bigger than one’s fist.
Ground will go from 15 cents to $1 per square foot of bedrock.
Ditch on the ground, 3 miles long, together with water rights.
Ground is pretty well cleared. There is also a drain, 3 miles long.
Also a water right on Keady Bullion creek, from which water can
be brought to Yankee creek with a, ditch less than a mile long
(4,900 feet), with a pressure of 120 feet, being 1600 feet to the
work from the ditch.
After doing away with muck there will be from 4 to 6 feet «f
dirt to handle.
Only about $11,000 has been taken out.
Prospecting work during the past winter has resulted in finding
values that run up to $1 per Square foot of bedrock.
I will either sell the ground or give a lease on it. If the prospect
is satisfactory to the buyer, a cash payment will be expected.
Fer further information, terms, etc., call on ground, or write or
telegraph me.
ED NOLLETTE,
Tnkotna, Alilska.