Leaves Vivid
Account Suffering
Of Bering’s Crew
c
Wednesday. July 15 marked
the 200th anniversary of the dis-:
covery of Alaska. On that Thurs
day. in 1741 just Dast noon. Vitus
Bering, commander of the expedi
tion and of the flagship. St. Peter,
entered in the ship’s log. “At
12:30 we sighted high snow-cov
ered mountains and among them
a high volcano N by W (which he
named S’. Elias). Topsail wind,
clear, with passing clouds; car
rying top-sails, staysails, foresail
and mainsail; sounded in 190
fathoms, no bottom.”
The much neglected history of
the discovery of Alaska has been
overshadowed in America by the
development which was taking
place at the same time on the
eastern seaboard where thirteen
colonies were struggling for a
foothold. But for a harrowing
•tale of suffering, privation and
death, one other tale of. voyage
and discovery could surpass the
pathos and misery of the 77 men
and officers of the St. Peter who.
in company with their sister ship
the St. Paul commanded by Al
exi Chirikof, sailed so confident
ly out of Petropavlovsk, Avacha
Bay on June 4, 1741 in search of
new lands for Russia.
Chirikof, after sighting islands
off the coast of Prince of Wales
island and losing 15 of his men
to natives off Lisiaski Strait, re
turned to Kamchatka on October
10, but gallant Bering, after his
discovery of the mainland, ran
into terrific storms on the north
Pacific which delayed and buffet
ed him until at last his ship, with
its cargo of scurvy-ridden, half
starved sailors was tossed on the
island which now bears his name
and died there December 8. Lieut
enant Sven Waxel took command
after Bering’s death and from his
report, submitted to the Admiral
ty College in St. Petersburg on
his return to Siberia in Novem
ber 17742 we have an eloquent
record of the misfortunes which
overtook them.
Shortly after starting out on
their expedition the two ships, on
June 20, 1741, were separated by
storm. Each went its way, as by
pre-arrangement and Waxel, af
ter describing the discovery of
land and their decision to im
mediately set sail for Kamchat
ka as stores aboard ship were
running low, tells of their trials
among the Aleutian chain where,
endeavoring to set ia straight
course for Avacha Bay, they
were continually forced south by
raising land. At last, with most
of the crew dead or dying, Cop
per Island was sighted, but find
ing no anchorage there they went
on to Bering Island hoping they
had at last reached the shores of
Kamchatka. They were doomed
to disappointment. Excerpts from
Waxel’s report follow:
Waxel’s Report
We and our men were great
ly weakened from the severe at
tack of the scurvy and at the
end of our strength and in great
danger, for it may be said at
(that time the ship was without
control. Of our men there were
only eight who, with great pain,
could look after themselves, and
of these three, one of them be
ing the Captain Comander’s man
could come on deck. All the
others were sick unto death. We
had only six barrels of water on
board. As to provisions we had
no sea biscuit or such like and
only a little flour, butter and
meat. On top of this the shrouds
on the maiinsail above the oathar
pings on the right side were all
tom, and therefore we could not
carry any sail on the mainmast
and, as was noted above, there
was no one to do any repairing.
At the particular time of our
misfortune the wind was con
trary for getting around the cape
seen by us. Therefore, on Nov
ember 5, realizing that we were
in a bad state to remain longer
at sea and that it was dangerous
to wait for fair winds because
our men were giving out so fast
that we feared we should be left
without any help whatever and
the ship would be lost with all
on board, the Captain Command
er called together for consulta
tion all the higher and lower of
ficers and those of the men who
• "* Lv' Vy/7 " - '
200 YEARS AGO
V - .
;-** T Titus bkring certainly would not know Alaska today. Since that
--2r » July day two hundred years ago when he sighted and named
Mount St. Elias towering from the mainland of Alaska, this great
\ land has undergone a transformation . . . has been revealed as a
land of natural riches beyond tbe dreams of the early explorers
... has gathered to its broad acres the pioneers of today —the
miners, fishermen, loggers, merchants, business men, doctors,
farmers, school teachers —the men and women whose vision sees
Alaska as the land of TOMORROW. The Alaska Steamship
__ Company is proud to have served Alaska during the period of
- greatest progress in this two hundred year history. As astounding
' as Alaska’s development has been in the past, The Alaska Line is
confident that the Territory’s future progress will surpass even
the most enthusiastic expectations of its most ardent supporters.
ALASK A STEAMSHIP COMPANY
were still able to drag themselves
to the cabin. The members of the
crew announced that because of
their sickness iand feebleness
they were no longer able to do
their work at sea. Taking this
into account the Captain Com
mander and the higher and low
er officers agreed to look for an
anchoring place where we might
winter in order to save ourselves
and not be entirely destroyed by
such a dreadful disease. All the
men agreed to this and we sailed
before the wind towards the land
and drew near it about five
o’clock in the afternoon and an
chored with the small bower ir.
12 fathoms of water and paid out
about three-fourths of a cable.
It broke about 80 fathoms from
the end, and we were carried by
the surf 5 fathoms, when we let
go another anchor with the same
result, and we were carried by
the surf over the reef closer to
the shore into 4 Vi fathoms, where
we let fall the best bower and
paid out threefourths of a cable, i
By this time we had 49 of the
crew on the sick List. On Novem
ber 6 we lowered the longboat
and moored the ship, but only
after great difficulty since we
were so shorthanded. After this
week, with the help of those men
who although with some effort,
were still aible to be on their
feet, wie did our best to transport
the sick ashore and to put up
for them tents made out of sails.
When 'these were up we took the
sick Captain Commander ashore
on November 8. . . .
Bering Dies
.... At' this time the Capt.
Commander sent Constable Ro
selius with two other men to fol
low the shore in a northerly di
rection to determine whether the
land on which we were was part
of Kamchatka or some island;
and, if Kamchatka, Roselius was
to continue on his way until he
came to an inhabited place and
there carry out such orders as
the Captain Commander gave
him. Roselius was so weak that
he did not go further than 30
miles from our camp and return
I ed without news ....
.... On December 1 the Capt.
Commander sent the sailor An
j chiugov with two other men
j along the shore to the south to
| explore and to learn whether the
! land on which we were was the
mainland or some island. They
came back on December 27 with
out any definite information. . .
.... On December 8, by the
will of God, Captain Commander
Bering died of scurvy from
which he had been suffering for
four months, and we buried him
on the island where we lived. I
succeeded him in command, and,
with the assistance of Fleet Mas
ter Khitrov, every effort was
made 'to find out where we were
but, owing to bad weather and
other serious obstacles, it was
not before the month of April
that we knew anything certain.
As soon as we were sure that
we were on an island, we made a
general inspection of the St.
Peter to determine whether she
was in good condition for going
to Kamchatka and whether it
was possible to get her into the
water. Our examination showed
that the vessel was so badly in
jured that she could nat be re
paired, that we had nothing to
repair her with, and that we had
not the facilities for getting her
off since she was buried in some
thing like seven feet of sand
above the keel. We took council
together as to how to get away
from the island, and we found
no other means (since the island
was bare and treeless) than to
break up th eship and make out
of her for our voyage to Kam
chatka as large a vessel as the
timber would allow. To this plan
all agreed, and we went to work
in April and continued opera
tion until May 5. . . .
Winter Trial
.... On the island we lived
poorly because our dwellings
were holes made in the sand cov
ered over with sail. The gather
ings for wood were particularly
difficult, for we were obliged to
search for it,along the beach and
carry it on our backs as far as
10 or 12 versts. While we were
there we and nearly all the men
in our .command suffered great
ly from scurvy and for such a
tong time that some did not ful
ly recover before spring when
there were found some greens
which could be used for food.
During the whole winter our
food .because we had no other
provision, was, we might say,
very poor, difficult to obtain, and
not fit to eat. We had to hunt
along the beach sometimes as
far as 20 and 30 versts in the
hopes of killing a sea animal,
sea crtter, sea lion, or hair seal,
which is commonly called the
tulen. Having killed the beast we
had to carry it on our backs the
same long distance back to our
camp. If we could not find live
animals to kill we had to content
ourselves with dead ones that
were washed ashore, such as sea
cows and whales ....
.... On Aug. 10 we launched
our newly constructed ship
which we named the hooker St.
Peter, and we rigged it on Aug
ust 13. Having taken on board
all the men to the number of
46, we started, with God’s help,
on our way to Kamchatka. On
the night of August 15, while out
at sea, the vessel, owing to her
poof construction, sprang a big
leak so that there was soon about
two feet of water in the hold. We
were in great danger, and to
lighten the ship we threw out of
the hold cannon balls and shot.
I
we got rid of some of the water.
When the leak had been some
what attended to we proceeded
on our course. On August 26 we
sai'ed safely linto the Harbor of
the Holy Apostles St. Peter and
St. Paul ....
By means of buckets and pumps
Salmon Industries
Face Highest
Market in Years
“Big Ed-’ Willkie. "little bro
ther” of Wendell Willkie, told a
fish story recenty in Fairbanks.
Stripped of embellishments,
the story is that Alaska’s salmon
industry is headed for its biggest
year in a quarter-century —if a
god catch develops.
Canned salmon is almost as
much in demand in wartime as
ammunition, hence, the fish mar
ket, boomed by battles abroad
and the increasingly militaristic
trends in the United States, is
clamoring for more.
Willkie is vice-president of
Libby, McNeil, and Libby, in
charge of the giant packing con
cern’s west coast and Alaska op
erations. He passed through Fair
banks enroute to Libby canner
ies in the Bristol Bay area.
Big Demands
The cannery executive said
England alone is asking for
1,500,000 cases of salmon which
cannot be supplied.
The total pack at Bristol Bay
to date is only about 750,000 cas
es, ibut the run is known to be
late.
Willkie said he was hopeful
that, if a good catch did not de
velop before the scheduled close
of the season, July 25, the Bureau
of Fisheries would authorize an
extension. He said if the late run
! i
is normal. Bristol Bay should end'
| the season with a pack ranging'
. between 1.700,000 and 1.200,000 j
i cases.
Beyond its effect on the fish j
market, the war has already!
swept the United States into its j
whirlpool, in the opinion of Will- j
kie. He said the presence of !
United States troops in Iceland
virtually places this country in a I
position of belligerency.
Coperation Imperative
Recognizing this, individuals1
and industries should put aside ;
their interests on behalf of the ■
national defense program, he
said, and any hesitancy to coop
erate in the prosecution of de
fense measures should be regard
ed as criminal negligence if not:
treason.
Wilikie flwe to Anchorage with
Lavery Airways. He plans to re
turn to Fairbanks about July 26.
He will then fly to Southeastern
Alaska to other Libby operations.
He expects to return to Seattle
about the middle of August.
Enroute to Alaska, he left Ohic
ago last Monday, arriving in Fair
banks Wednesday night aboard
the Pan American Airways Lode
star from Seattle.
WHITNEY TO BE
PAROLED AUGUST 11
OSSINING, N. Y., July— Rich
ard Whitney, onetime head of
the New York Stock Exchange,
will be paroled effective August
11th.
Whitney has been serving in
Sing Sing prison a sentence from
5 to 10 years for larceny.
On August 11 he will have serv
ed three years and four months,
the legal minimum, less time off
for good behavior.
The State Parole Board acted
on Whitney’s parole at a meet
ing in Sing Sing Prison.