stefansson-wrangel-09-11-038-001

Finnie

March 16, 1923.

Dear Mr. Finnie:

Your letter of March 12th was received to-day, crossing
mine to you of March 14th. I am very glad that the Captain Bernard
report is at last is your hands, as I know it will be before you read
this letter.

I can well see how the delays in getting this report have
seemed annoying to you. But Captain Bernard, although a very compe-
tent man in his work, has no literary gifts. It was hopeless to try
to get him to make a report in writing. As explained to you before,
he advised me by telegram and letter from Seattle that he was coming
East. At first he intended to come East directly and to start pretty
promptly from Seattle after arriving there from the North. Later he
decided to stay longer in Seattle. Thereafter he decided to come
East by way of Denber, which meant further delay. When he finally
got to Chicago he was taken ill and delayed so much that, although
he would have been in New Y_ork for Christmas in spite of all the
other delays, this last handicap prevented his reaching New York
before the 8th of January, upon which date I had to leave to fill
a series of between thirty and forty lecture engagements all over
the United States. When he finally got here I understood that the
stenographic report of the interview with him had been made in the
presence of my associate, Mr. Taylor. I now find that in even this
I was wrong, for Taylor had to leave New York before this could be
done. The report sent to you was a stenographic account of his inter-
view with Harold Noice, a member of my 1913-18 expedition who
happened to be in New York and who in my interests secured the best
account he could from Captain Bernard.

I gather from the last sentence of your letter of March
12th that perhaps it would be a convenience for you in making up your
report if I made out a brief history of the Wrangel Island enterprise.
I am dictating such a summary. If I make it too brief or too indef-
inite on any point, someone in your office can, if he wishes, fill in
details from my previous communications to the Minister of the Inter-
ior, the Commissioner, or yourself, all of which files are doubtless
available to you. For a still fuller statement there are also com-
munications from me which are probably in the files of the Prime
Minister.

Mr. O. S. Finnie,
Northwest Territories Branch,
Ottawa, Ontario.