stefansson-wrangel-09-13-036-001

C O P Y

LOMEN BROTHERS

NOME, ALASKA

August 23, 1923.

Mr. A. J. Taylor,
Bank of Hamilton Building,
Toronto, Canada.

Dear Sir:-

I am in receipt of a letter from Harold Noice,
dated Point Hope August 9th. from which I have prepared a tele-
gram to the North American Newspaper Alliance, as requested by
Mr. Noice. I enclose a copy of the wire which I prepared.

My letter from Mr. Noice gave considerable infor-
mation which I thought best not to transmit in a press wire. I
quote from his letter:

"Hearing favorable reports of ice conditions to
the north I decided that I would be justified in obeying Mr. Stef-
ansson orders to continue the colony on Wrangell for the purpose
of trapping foxes. I accordingly engaged one eskimo family and
two unmarried eskimo men to spend the next year on Wrangel and
purchased from Mr. Hall and others additional supplies which
would insure them provisions, guns, ammunition etc. for a two
years sojourn. Second mate Wells, as you know, had already
signified a desire to spend a year or two on Wrangell and was
quite pleased to learn that he was sure of having some companion-
ship.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looking at this from a purely commercial viewpoint I do not see
how it can fail as these men who are remaining are all expert
trappers completely outfitted for two years with two umiaks and
plenty of walrus hunting gear, sleds, etc. -------------------------------
I believe we will reach Wrangell in two days time. Our ship
has been placed in excellent repair and the engines are work-
ing perfectly. Our last run from Kotzebue to here was made
without a stop of any kind. What is of equal importance we have
perfect harmony on board now that Hanson is no longer with us.
So far we have gone according to our schedule and I do not an-
ticipate future trouble of any kind which will cause me to modify
my plans.”

The additional bills which I have received from
Kotzebue amount to more than a thousand dollars and I am paying
them to-day. You will appreciate that in the event Mr. Noice
is unable to get out this fall (which is hardly likely) the
amount of money sent will not be sufficient to defray all ex-
pense. On the strength of the requests received from you we
assured the creditors of the expedition that we had sufficient
funds to meet any emergency. If It became necessary to pay
full value of the boat, as well as other accounts, at the close