LONELY PRIEST

Grey River Argus, 11 September 1940, Page 6

LONELY PRIEST

A BRUSH WITH RUSSIA. VANCOUVER, August 9. The establishment by Soviet Russia of an air base on Big Diomede island, the most north-easterly portion of Siberia, in the Bering Sea, has drawn sharp attention to Little Diomede Island, five miles distant, the most north-westerly portion of Alaska, and the possible menace to American territory of the new air base. Little Diomede Island has one white man, the Rev. Thomas Cunningham, a Jesuit priest, born in Dunedin, New Zealand, who has ministered to the Eskimos on the island for several years. Two years ago, Father Cunningham was hunting with Eskimos in a umiak, or walrus-skin boat,, when they were caught in the ice and forced to land on Big Diomede. Arrested by a Soviet Russian official, he was charged with trespassing on Russian territory. He threatened to protest to the United States Government, but was informed that he would be given no opportunity of communicating with the outside world. At his insistence, Father Cunningham was shown the authority for his arrest. Not understanding Russian, but knowing the Soviet official woula be illiterate he translated the document, through an Eskimo interpreter to indicate that the document conveyed no authority for his arrest. The Soviet official, convinced that he was without jurisdiction, released Father Cunningham on condition that he would till up and sign a form, giving information about himself, which he did—in Gaelic. The missionary disclosed these facts when he was in Nome, which he visits once a -year to report on the condition of the Eskimos.