stefansson-wrangel-09-25-007-001

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ORW Copy, giving original to Miss Hurst and sending first
carbon to Whitelaw - I did not have his address when
it came to mailing. I am sending this in two envelopes.
V.S.

[Right margin handwritten notes]
Send to
Whitelaw
Feb. 25. 1924
____
Handed to
Mr.
Reynolds
Feb, 26.
____
3carbon
sent to
Miss Hurst
Feb. 25
____

FIFTH WRANGELL ARTICLE.

For Crawford and Galle the winter of 1921-22 on Wrangell Island was
a new experience but for Maurer it was the third arctic winter and for Knight
it was the fourth. It is therefore in a way unfortunate that the only diary
saved from the general destruction - Knight's - is that of a veteran to whom
every polar curcumstance and adventure had become a commonplace scarce worth
writing down. The less seasoned men doubtless kept diaries recording more
vivid reactions to their more novel experiences.

It is only in rare spots that Knight gives us any indication of what the
rest of the party were thinking and feeling. To his mind the weather does
not seem to have been materially better or worse than ordinary arctic weather;
he was a little puzzled that bears should be so scarce in winter and spring
after being so common the preceding autumn and a little annoyed at seeing
fresh bear tracks so much oftener than the bears. But he never doubted that luck would
turn in good time. He was delighted with the ample supply of driftwood fuel,
a favorable contrast to the fuelless islands in which he had spent his other
three northern years. On the whole he was finding the winter about what he
had been expecting when he was writing me discontented letters from balmy
Oregon pleading that we should get together on some sort of scheme for polar
work. It seems likely that Maurer felt about as Knight did. If the younger
men had different views they at least did not annoy or otherwise influence
Knight with them enough to make an impression on his diary. Since the out-
standing quality of the daily entries is frankness, we may feel sure the whole
party took everything about as Knight did. If there had been disagreements,
bickerings, discontent, he would have recorded them day by day. Instead we
find in the diary comradship, unity of purpose and a jolly, matter-of-fact

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