stefansson-wrangel-09-18-033-001

MONDAY, MARCH 24, 1924

Honeymooners to Spend Two Years
on an Island in Frozen Northland

NEW YORK, March 24.—There
was a woman who went to
South Africa as a bride and enjoyed
a perfectly delightful honeymoon.
Taking a bride to the South Sea Is-
lands or the Riviera, or some such
impossible place, has become more or
less customary to those who are not
limited to Niagara Falls—but here's
a man who is going to take his bride
on a honeymoon in the Arctic. And
it's going to last two years at that!

He is Capt. Harold Noice. His
bride, who was Miss Frances Alli-
son, once spent a brief time in Nome,
Alaska; but she has enjoyed or en-
dured, as the case may be, no other
much colder weather than she has ex-
perienced in her home on Englewood
Cliffs, N, J., or in the Adirondacks.

Capt. Noice is an explorer, from
lore and from experience. He re-
turned from Wrangel Island only re-
cently, after he had headed a relief
expedition there that arrived just a
bit too late to serve its purpose. Mrs.
Noice is a musician of ability and
also is well known in society.

She is keen about this honeymoon
idea. The prospect of spending two
years with her husband, sharing him
with no one or nothing but a few
scattered Eskimos, is delightful to
her. He, too, is keen on the same
grounds. And the Eskimos, who,
have had nothing whatever to say
about it, also are probably certain
to be keen, because Capt. Noice ex-
pects to benefit them in many ways.

The honeymooners are going to
live on an island. A bit of a place
it is, hardly more than a blot on the
map which shows the northern coast
of North America many times mag-
nified from the usual map. It is
called King William Island, and it
is just at the end of the Northwest
Passage.

Speaking of the Northwest Passage
recalls, too, that Mrs. Noice, when
she goes north, will have an added
distinction. More than being the
first white woman to spend a honey-
moon on King William Island, she
will be the first white woman ever
to go there, and she also will be the
first white woman ever to attempt
to negotiate the Northwest Passage
—itself no harmless outdoor sport.

They will leave New York in a
trifling sort of schooner, which is
called, the Frances for obvious rea-
sons. They will ramble south along
the coast and go through the Pan-
ama Canal. Then they will go north
along Vancouver and the Canadian
shore to the Behring Straits, through
Coronation Gulf, passing Victoria
Land, to King William Island. They
plan to arrive in summer so as to get
settled before the real rough weather
comes along.

Busy weeks have been spent pre-
paring for the voyage. The Frances
has been completely overhauled; food
and stores of all kinds have been
taken aboard. Nearly 20,000 pounds
of hard tack have been stored aboard
to provide for a crew of eight to last
two years.

As unusual and unique as the voy-
age is, it will also be one of great
importance, for Capt. Noice and his
wife expect to record Eskimo life as
it really is.

Discussing his plans, he said:
“The Eskimos cling closer to the
Stone Age than any other race, but
their numbers are decreasing, and as
the hand of civilization reaches out

[Two images, captioned: Captain Harold Noice and Bride. (Below) “Honeymoon'’ Island.]

toward them their life slowly, begins
to change.

“This is a last chance to repro-
duce the old life and record the prim-
itive existence of a strange race. It
has been said that in one sense the
Eskimos have no history, but I have
faith in their tradition.

“It is largely with a view of record-
ing their history, of collecting relics
of their past, that we set forth on
this expedition. Already the evil in-
fluence of so-called civilization has
reached toward them. Trappers of
the Hudson Bay Company are begin-
ning to invade this territory, and
soon the Canadian Mounted Police
and white settlers will appear, and
gradually the Eskimo race will dis-
appear, like that of the American In-
dian. Much of their past "is lost in
obscurity, and it is the mystery of
this we hope to solve.”

Capt. Noice called attention to the
Eskimo clothing. On gala occasions
the men wear a jacket closely re-
sembling our frock coat. This gar-
ment was in vogue among the Eski-
mos hundreds of years before it was
a part of our wardrobe. It is prob-
ably 1,000 years old. It is a loose-
fitting coat, but tightly fitting at the
waist; it has a hood and a lengthy
tail reaching to the heels.

The Eskimo tailor never takes a
single measurement; he has a won-
derful eye and can so scrutinize a
figure as to be able to turn out a
well-fitting suit of skins without so
much as a single "try-on."

Mrs. Noice intends to make a spe-
cial study of the primitive music and
native songs of the Eskimos. They
have a rude drum and a monotonous
chant, consisting only of the funda-
mental note and minor third, but
there is an appealing quality to their
music which is practically unknown
to the civilized world.