STEFANSSON AND WILKINS.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4011, 4 August 1931, Page 6

STEFANSSON AND WILKINS.

CANADIAN EXPLORER’S VIEW. GROUNDLESS FEARS. LONDON, June 22. The experience of the Nautilus in crossing the Atlantic has once again aroused fears as to the safety of Sir Hubert Wilkins’ plans, and Dr Vilhjalmur Stefansson, the Arctic explorer, has been interviewed on behalf of the London “Observer.”

Dr Stefansson says : “I feel in a measure responsible for this expedition, because I first put the idea into Wilkins’ head. Therefore I am anxious that everything should bo as safe as possible. There are dangers, but they are not where the general public expects them to be. The worst will really be over when Wilkins reaches the Polar region. Once he gets there he will he travelling the ideal way by submarine.” “Is there any danger from icebergs'!” Dr Stefansson was asked. “None whatever,” said Dr Stefansson. That is one of the commonest misconceptions about the Arctic, and about this expedition. There are no bergs in the Arctic. They are only found in the North Atlantic which transatlantic shipping frequents. The ice in the polar sea is not deep. It may he fifteen to twenty feet thick; none has ever been found that is more than sixty feet, and that is rare. . . .

“Even supposing Wilkins and his men become trapped under the ice; what can bo done? They carry drills which can bore through one hundred and twenty feet of ice, which is twice the thickness of any ice-floe ever known. By a device of Mr Lake, the crew could emerge from the submarine and make their way to the top. They can also dynamite the ice above them without damaging the ship, and by these same means they can also recharge their batteries through the ice. They can also repair damage to the hull from the outside under water.”