LOST TIDES OF
ARCTIC INTEREST
TWO EXPLORERS
D’STAFFANY BROTHERS BACK IN
SEATTLE FROM FIVE YEARS
IN NORTHERN WILDS
After visiting King William Land
and the Queen Maude sea, far to the
» Eastward in the Arctic, Lyman De
Staffany, and his brother Gus DeStaf
fany, arrived in Seattle last week, ac
cording to thqf following clipping from
the Seattle Times. The two men
found indications that the Arctic is
receding toward the North Pole, leav
ing a much wider expanse of land at
the top of the world. They visited
tribes of tall, angular Eskimos, with
brown hair and beards, and who prob
ably descended from ancient Viking
explorers.
The story in full follows:
Has the moon lost its tide-raising
force at the top of the world or is the
Arctic ocean receding toward the re
gions around the North Pole?
These are some of the Questions puz
2ling the minds of Lyman de Staf
fany and Gus de Staffany, Montana
foitune hunters and fur traders, who
ai rived in Seattle last week from the
mysterious Arctic where they spent
five years among the Eskimos in King
V illiam Land and on the shores of
Queen Maud Sound.
The two ' adventurers found sea
shells ahd other indications of marine
life miles in the interior. It was evi
dent here had been great tides, many
thousands of years ago, which extend
ed far into the interior of the Canadian
Arctic. There was beach sand an
hour’s walk from the shores of the
ocean, and shells covered with silt.
“We came to the conclusion that in
prehistoric days great tides swept in
to what is now the interior of Arctic
•Canada,” said Gus de Staffany, who
made scientific observations during
his long stay near the top of the
world. “I was startled by -what I
discovered on our journeys. It is
probable the Arctic Ocean covered a
wide extent of the land over which the
Arctic tribes of the Queen Maud Sea
country now roam.
r~~
High Tides of Long Ago
“We talked over the results of ou
observations and came to the conclu
sion that many thousands of year;
ago, tides probably hundreds of fee
high, swept far into what is now callet
the Canadian Arctic. What causet
these tides during the prehistoric day!
of Mother Earth? Is the top of th<
world leaning at a different angle?
Did the Moon, thousands of years
ago, have a tremendous tide-raising
power which it has now lost? Is th€
Arctic Ocean receding toward the
North Pole? These are some of the
questions we asked ourselves.
“We found the ruins of an ancient
stone village three-quarters of a mile
front the mouth of the Inman River
of the Eastern Arctic, probably the
home of Eskimos of the stone age, as
the Arctic natives of the present day
live in snow houses and tepees made
of skins. Nope of those we talked
with knew who built the stone houses
or when they were constructed. They
were there when their fathers came
and the covering of sand and silt
showed that it had been thousands of
years since they composed the center
of a village which probably was locat
ed at the mouth of the Inman River.
Ruins of Stone Houses
“The Eskimos said they found some
ruins of stone houses in King William
Land which also probably belonged
to an ancient tribe of the Arctic long
extinct. Across the Inman River
from the ruins of the stone houses we
found a large cave in which natives
of the Arctic many years ago had
lived. Here we found pottery used
by an ancient people.
“Knud Rasmussen, the Danish ex
plorer, who recently made a trip thru
the Arctic from Greenland, and who
has written a book on the ‘People of
the Polar North,’ was with us two
weeks. We showed him the ancient
save, but he did not see the ruins of
the stone houses. He investigated
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the different types of natives of th(
r Eastern Arctic, and took many pic
tures for a book he said he planned tc
3 publish.
t “We were interested in the strange
1 tribe of Eskimos we found on the
1 south shore of Queen Maud Sound,
i They had light brown hair, eyes and
s beards, and angular features.
“We found native men more than
i six feet tall, who showed little re
semblance to the Eskimos of the
Western Arctic regions, who have flat
noses, jet black hair, slanting eyes,
and other characteristics of the Ori
ental. It is probably these strange
people are descendants of the Vikings
who found their way into the Arctic
from Europe centuries ago.
The Eskimos of the Eastern Arctic
are honest and honorable in all their
dealings with trappers, traders and
adventurers, although few men from
the outside visit their country. We
were the first white men some of them
ever had seen as we went to sections
of the Eastern Arctic never before in
vaded by Americans or Europeans.
“Foxes and wolves are the only ani
mals that live in the Queen Maud Sea
Country and in King William Land. In
the dead of winter the wolves are
the greatest menace to hunters and
trappers. They travel in large packs 1
and stalk a man just as a hunting dog
points for quail.
Danger from Wolves
“When the wolves see a man com
ing they divide the pack and then as
if by signal, rush their victim. For
this reason it is more dangerous in the
open plains than in the hills or ra
vines. I have known the foxes to be
come so crazed with hunger as to rush
a team of dogs being fed and attempt
to steal their food.
“The Anderson River of the Arctic
is certainly a fisherman’s paradise.
The current runs swiftly and all you
have to do is to place your net in the
water. Soon it is filled with Arctic
white fish, averaging nine pounds to
ten pounds each. From September
1, until about October 8, we caught
three thousand white fish and incon
nough, the. latter weighing up to forty
pounds.
Interesting Region
“You may go to the jungles of Afri
ca, to the winds of the Andes and to
the ancient cities of Asia, but in no
place in all the world will you have
the strange experiences of the Eastern
> Arctic. It is worthy of a scientific
expedition for its history is as ancient
as that of China.”
District Attorney from
Fourth Division Will
Argue Case, California
Julien A. Hurley, U. S. district at
torney, Fourth division, passed thru
Saward Sunday en route to San
Francisco where he will argue before
the court of appeals, the case of
U. S. vs. T. H. Deal and United
States Fidelity & Guaranty Company
of Baltimore, Md., (a corporation).
'Mr. Hurley said the oase arose from
the first postoffice robbery case in
Fairbanks when the sum of $10,000
disappeared. This suit is by the
government on the postmaster’s bond
to recover fom the postmaster and
the Surety company, $10,000. The
Government has already recovered
$15,000, it was stated, wihich includ
ed the interest and cost of the case.
The Surety company has appealed
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the case to the San Francisco Cir
cuit Court of Appeals. A firm of j
California attorneys are representing
the company.
Barndollar Goes East
On Railroad Business
B. H. Barndollar, legal adviser to
the general manager of the Alaska
Railroad, was among those arriving
in Seward Saturday en route to the
States on the steamer Alaska. Mr.
barndollar will go direct to Wash
ington, D. C., he informed the Gate
way,. where he will meet Noel W.
Smith, who is now in Seattle. The
exact time of their return to Alas
ka was doubtful, Mr. Barndollar said.
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