A Barren Place

Wrangel Island, 400 miles northwest of Bering Strait, is a forbidding mass of naked granite rock (35x70 miles), rising more than 2,000 ft. out of the Arctic Ocean. A dreary and blizzard-swept place, of tragic memory, it is nevertheless popular because of its possible usefulness as a base for future Arctic exploration by air.

Not the Russian General of recent military fame, but a Russian explorer who hunted about in the Arctic Ocean for this mysterious land in 1921, gave the island its name. He had heard about it from natives of the Siberian coast. He did not find it, however. It was probably first sighted in 1849. It has always tempted the adventurous American mariner. A U. S. whaler cruised its southern shore in 1867, and it was explored in 1881 by Capt. Hooper, who took possession of it for the U. S. and named it New Columbia.

As far as such formalities go, then, Wrangel Island belongs to the U. S. But for 40 years it was so neglected and forgotten that when Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Arctic explorer, decided that it would be nice to claim it for Great Britain--that is, for Canada--a while ago, no one said him nay. The question of ownership is still regarded as "controversial."

It is just now announced from Nome that a new expedition is about to set out for Wrangel Island. This one will be headed by Carl Lomen, head of the reindeer industry of Alaska, to whom Stefansson is reported to have disposed of his interests. Lomen will bring back news of the second party left on the island.

The story of the first party, whose four men all perished, has often been told. Last year's relief expedition, headed by Harold Noice, brought back only the Eskimo woman, Ada Blackjack. It left on the island Charles Wells and 13 Eskimos. Nothing has been heard from them since, and Lomen will discover whether they have survived or whether they met the fate of the first luckless colonists. Besides this altruistic motive, Lomen has the inducement of obtaining Stefansson's share in the Wells party's fur catch. A trip to Australia prevents Stefansson from going himself.

Peary's commander, Capt. Bob Bartlett, with the Bear, is now up around Wrangel Island, too, on a voyage of reconnaissance for the U. S. Had not the airplane become so efficient, there would scarcely have been any rivalry between our country and Britain for the barren place.