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stefansson-wrangel-09-20-057-001
Maurer
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Dear Delphine:
I have recently written you a long letter. This is merely a note of thanks for yours of November 13th, enclosing a copy of Fred's letter to you.
I see the emphasis on the shortage of food more than I had expected. Still I think the interpretation we discussed at Cleveland is the correct one. I imagine his mind worked about as mine would have under the circumstances. I would have felt that the people on the Island were quite safe to leave, since they had nearly enough food to last them till mid-summer and would certainly be able to get some game when the daylight came back. I still feel sure, however, that had they considered the journey to the mainland very dangerous they would not have made it, knowing that they were almost certain to get game on Wrangell Island eventually - although perhaps only after a period of some privation.
I take it that if he had written a long letter, going into all details, he would have assigned several reasons for the trip - one the expectation of perhaps seeing me on the Siberian coast (see Crawford's letter), second the desire to communicate with the outside world for various reasons, one of them being to get orders from me by wireless in case I were not in Siberia. The third reason would be to relieve the commissariat on the Island by taking away half the party and the dogs on a trip which, while it certainly had some dangers, was nevertheless in their minds not a desperate venture.
I am very glad to have Fred's letter, for I am perhaps more anxious than anyone else to understand thoroughly not only what happened to everyone in the party but how they felt about what did happen.
I hope you are over the severe cold you had when you were in Cleveland. If you are not, be sure to save your strength when you have a bad cold. There is nothing so good for it as complete rest.
I would very much like to have a copy of your picture of the three boys taken in Seattle. If you will send me the better one of the two (if there is a difference), I will have a negative made of it, returning to you the picture itself and also one or two copies.
Mrs. F. W. Maurer, 911 Robbins Avenue, Niles, Ohio.