stefansson-wrangel-09-13-073-001

COPY.

28th September 1923.

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

Dear Sir,

Although we have not met, I am looking forward to making
your acquaintance, and in the meantime I should like to give
you particulars of the circumstances under which the fund for
the Wrangel Island Relief Expedition was raised in England. I
have not written to you before, but have kept in touch with
your cable correspondence with Mr. Stefansson.

When Mr. Stefansson found he could not return to America
and therefore had to organise the relief expedition by cable,
he was unable to get support from the English Government, and
I understood through my Company (The British Wright Co.Ltd.)
to pay the expenses of the relief ship. This was after the
Lomens cabled to Mr. Stefansson saying they could secure Alex
Allen’s new good boat 70 tons, 9 knots, for 1000 dollars trip,
2000 if successful. The sum voted by my company was 2500
dollars, which was expected to enable Allen to sail immediate-
ly if the sea was clear and bring back the party on Wrangel
Island. One thousand dollars of this money was cabled direct
to Nome by Mr. Stefansson on the 19th July and reimbursed by
the British Wright Company, and the remaining 1500 dollars was
held available for cabling as soon as we could hear that the
first 1000 had been received and the vessel would actually sail.

A week-end cable of the 22nd July from Mr. Stefansson’s
secretary in New York said you had informed her that Allen’s
charter had sailed, and the only other suitable vessel required
7000 dollars for outfit and wages, and 7000 additional to pur-
chase the ship in the event of freeze-up. The cable of the
24th July stated that complete cost would be 10000, and a
cable of the 26th July gave more explicit details of the cost
of charter, namely:- "TERMS CHARTER THOUSANDDOLLARS FOR TWELVE
DAYS FOLLOWING NINETEEN DAYS EIGHTYTHREE DOLLARS DAILY THERE
AFTER FIFTYSIX DOLLARS DAILY IF FROZEN IN MUST PURCHASE VESSEL
SEVENTHOUSAND FIVEHUNDRED CREW REFUSED GO WITHOUT ONE YEARS
FOOD AND AMMUNITION COST OUTFIT APPROXIMATELY TWENTYFIVE HUNDRED
TENTHOUSAND CREDIT MUST BE DEPOSITED BANK AUGUST FIRST TAYLOR
THINKS SEVENTHOUSAND PROBABLY SUFFICIENT.”

After receipt of this cable and the several panic cables
following, including your cable of the 30th July communicating
Noice’s intention to broadcast worldwide appeal for help, I
decided to advance the entire 10000 dollars required for the
outfit, charter and security in case of the ship being frozen
in, and would reply on collecting this amount afterwards by an