harold-noice-01-02-10-002

Facsimile

Transcription

Status: Indexed

-2-

It was true that I hired the Teddy Bear not as a
rescue ship but as a supply ship. This has never been disputed
and never will be. I thought at the time that the boys were in
no danger and we know now that they were not. Of course, if you
had reached the island some of them might have come out with you,
although it is likely that most of them would have stayed. But the
journey from Wrangell Island to Siberia in January, 1923, would have
been made by the three boys at the same date and in the same manner
even if there had been a thousand tons of food on Wrangell Island.

I quite understand the misapprehensions you have been
under and have no hard feelings in the matter. Everything you say is
based on a misunderstanding. If we had been talking together you
would have found that we differ on no point. It is entirely unnec-
essary for you to point out that I am no great authority on navigat-
ion around Wrangell Island. I have never claimed to be.

It is rather too bad that you should have taken as an
attack upon yourself a statement I made when I was defending you
against charges made by Mr. Noice. When I referred to your late
sailing date, I made it clear that this was no fault of yours but
was due wholly to my difficulty in raising money. When I finally got
the money and sent it to Nome, ,you outfitted your ship and got under
way with remarkable speed. I have always said that and you will find
nothing in any of my writings which is not friendly to yourself and
which does not give you full credit for good intentions, great experi-
ence and adequate ability.

You will be glad to learn that Mr. Carl Lomen has finally
succeeded in interesting New York capitalists so that they have given
him all the money he heeds and more, for developing his reindeer busi-
ness. He was trying to get $290,000. and three men have already given
him $300,000. He also knows where he can get more. This will make his
reindeer business very prosperous. He will leave for Nome by the first
steamer next spring and I am expecting him to make arrangements again
on my behalf for the ship to sail to Wrangell Island. I wrote a week or
more ago asking whether you are open to be chartered. I would like to
discuss this with you before you sail north, although the immediate
arrangements in Nome will probably be in the hands of the Lomen Broth-
ers this year as they were two years ago.