Evening Star Newspaper, October 31, 1923, Page 14

i Lone Woman’s Diary Reveals Tragic Life on Wrangel Island Necessity for Keeping Records Had Been THE side of my throad. . . (illeg ble) is hard a little. Knight wants me to go out to the traps but my eye |is very ach so 1 can't go out when my eye is that way because in even- ,ing T could hardly stand the ach of | my eye and one sidewt head. If any- thing happen to me and my death s known there is beaded strap for Ben- nett’s_school book bag—for my only son. I wish if you please take every- t.ing to Bemnett that fs belong to |y me. T don't know how much I would be glad to get home-to fol o] d kin for my boot sole: T thread out of sinew and I gather bis- cuit crums together and take them to eat, soles already Knight said na was feel bad. evenin, ng got nothlnt but I sew rack behind the case of biscults Very clear and sunshine, “April 16. * * * got my boot and soak them, and pril 17. I guess Knight s feel worse b dldn ¢ have tea, this 3 he sald he was headacl The stupendousness of her task to bed early d 1{thinking that t | wood for today, .sleep some until ning, then I'll go make cup of t and go to bed again; o'clock I weake up again it was in the morning. know it's morning.” As the diary goes on it more and more a prayer on paper— pmething written not to men but to 1 night, and 1T was haven't enough nd 1 said to myself so about 10 I was glad when I becomes nett and I wa swimming pool—I 80 1 hear people singing in church. If the Lord only will be there some day.” On May 10 Ada fears that Knight's| end has come. “This morning when z Knight was very sick. 1 “Ma; was' pretty near daid this moraing, | Knight looking at some pi d we see a picture of the 'wimming and Bennett says sh I was home east of camp and I (eider) ducks flying weet. And I saw arry me home I |® Skin for my new boats. Poor Knight's ot up|ing enlr ink he| fry T that's all west and T saw white owl and I cut terrible plight this time is revealed in the follow- | And T was out to the traps toda | days ne aon't 100k 1ike he is goin but didn't ses nothing. 1 w e e s i Sapven’ 1 vas over | to saw nwn Idare | over me going | sea guil v long. 1f I happen untll ship comes oh thank the living true God.’ fiying | — o | (Cortinued in The Star 'l\:u-mn ) (Copyright, 1933, in United States 5 Nori News, Herata, Nacion, for | for 9 one biscut th Ameriea, by e e uth America, by La AlL rights veserved.) Impressed on Her by Men Whom She Survived. ‘April 30th. And it's still blowing hard this last day of April. Knight In still living like any body. So if appen to get back home T don't | know how much I would be glad. God is the only one would brought me home again. There is no one pity me in this world but God, even there 1s no hand would help me but God. “May 1st. Still blowing a little but not much. I can see sun shining through the little hole. And I read the noted (notes) that I write some time ago this winter about Mr. Knight and it says If Knight live untill May I would bé glad s0 it hap. pen that he still living. He was just dieing in frist (first) part of Febru- ary and now he s still lving untill | May 1st day. And If the ship comes | next summer I don't know how much | I would be glad No one in the civil know with what joy Ada Blackjack greeted the first sign of spring. In | the arctic it Is the snow bunting, in stead of the robin, ch brings the first message of spri Ada writ. Apr. 2rd. My eye is cthn. bettar and swelling is going dow: | "“April 4. My eve {5 Just the same as yesterday, but my stumok is on bum, and T don't feel pain in my throad, but my eye was fogy today. 1 haven't been out for three days. “April 8. T got up early this morn- ing and then chop wood, and I went to the traps and caught one frozen fox, nothing but skin and bone, and 1 open can of coal oil and I finish one side of yarn glove for Galle and start ancther side.” hough the three boys who at- tempted to get to Siberia for rescue are long since gone, Ada's faith in d [thelr return persists. She goes on making clothes for them just a though_ they might drop in at any minute. She watches the progress of Knight's digease with growing anxiety. She has no hot-water bottle but makes a bag of canvas and fil it with fine gravel. By heating this|evening, and the sheer horror of her situa- tion is sometimes almpst more than Ada can bear: “It's hard for woman to take four man’s place, to saw wood and to hund for something to eat for Knight. * ¢ ® This s the worstest life 1 ever live in this world * . and_trying my best in e famabing * Ir Knight happen to die wlmt will I do fere in this island all alone? He Is laying In his bed since February 9, and now, April 21st. he s lpoks bad. And it's a long time yet till we might see uhl]l come. Well, God knows everything.” The coming of Sunday seemed to make her recall more vividly her life in Nome ) Apr. (sumhy). I didn't go out today. 1 just wash my halr and read the Bibil, and I think of folks | are in cliurch 'this morning and this and mow I'm writing 11 District National Bank 1406 G Street Another Pay Day— If you have a Savings Ac- count, one of the first and pleasantest things you'll do is to‘add your promised sum to your bank account. If you haven’t a Savings Ac- count—take the money you'll let slip away in needless spend- et g and open one—HERE. . Begin right NOW—for once A8 - 5 ¥ b | Wk pecany you form the habit you'll C. J. Gockeler eagerly keep adding to your N. L. Sansbury regources—muking the future , safe and providing yourself LHomas £ anc with the money that will make Hilleary L. Offutt, Jr. you financially independent. Vice President and Cashier The “Friend’y Bank” BY HAROLD NOICE, Leader Wrangel In peditior 9th. My eye swolen up and one There are two documents without )a e of my face Ach, it start yvesterday which no record of the tragic expe- |2hd today it much ach. 1 dition of Wrangel Island would be complete. Ome fs a slim volume of | 1 chop only three. notes—less than a dozen sheets of | ‘“30th. T didn't go out today and typewriter paper, pencil-ruled and | (¥R, ';,;\;{:;;,‘23;‘,1 sewn together with white cotton| “Mareh thread. The other is an old cata- logue. l are Ada Blackjack's diaries in her . now I can feel it yesterday and to- X it pretty good cut of wood and 24 swealen and 1 took out ship paket | and get bore achd (boric acid) and cotton and bandage. “April 1. I didn't go out teday be- ed world can | written curious, Robert N. Harper bues 0 Am ‘Y"Ia«,R 1-3' Everybody who saves is en- thusiastic about it—and we pay interest on Savings Deposits at the rate of 3%. “I was out getting wood. 20 out to the tr . Wind blowing | from west. Clear and sunshine. On | third of Mav Knight eat Polar bear | ub paw And T dreamed last night | vas with lots of people and Ben T didn’t| was out to chop wood today and i 1 saw snow 'ird, oh, my, how I was | - ] glad to e snow birds come and 1 a 4 . was over to the traps and didn't see | anything, even track and I open aj o can of biscuits. v 3 ‘ Feared Being Left Alone. g 1 1 The fear of being alone, hois | always In her mind, enters even into | her dreams—dreams which seemed all the more significant to her from the - fact that Eskimos attach a supersti #‘04 { tious importance to them day 4th. Wind Vell, 1 U'W QA ')swzl/‘\ ""‘—4) fi \ and 4 i o = o] Pl . | W 5/ ‘/fi W'a L'- Lo Conmtenitly, too: e’ aveinis ot | ul /‘m'a vy £7 A Ahy (o2 . k.\..(,p& a1 A M 608 to 614 ELEVENTH ST. “Always a Step Ahead™ Women’s Fashion Footwear Dictates Stylc and Value Supremacy Tell the Story in a Few Words [e——To[——[o[——=[c]l——]———=[o]—=l8]—J— [0 [c——= o [c—— [ [c——15] Kuight kept + of 3 ht. simile of the last entry he diary of l rne Inig ack, the ¥ the diary for the Stefansson Expedition Co s lonk as ke could wield a peacil, and {h Fakimo woman, who Proved to be sole surviver of the cxpedition. the American who died while marooned on Wrangel Island in the arctic. . dylng. turned over th to Ada she can make comfortable. broken English with a pencil so dull | cause m ce is swellen and Close from swollen that at times the words are scarcely | &¥¢ 1% s > s | legible. | | Crumbs Become Preei o sland | With the. diminishing supply of During her two vears on the islans food, even the crumbs become pre- |1 guess 1 was so weak I was almost the Eskimo girl had seen her com- clous to Ada and her companion. Re-|feanting. And this morning when I panions writing in their diaries day | gaidless of her own lluess and her | wake up from my deep slecping 1 “ = E Ry Iking of orebodings of Knight's approaching | look at watch and it was 4 hyhaay jand/heszaithem Malis 1 take ship paket out|death she keeps falthfully to the|o'clock, and the inside of the house the necessity of keeping their re my eye one that is v detalls of her dafly activities. |was %6 dark, to 1 said to myeelf ords. One by one, as Knight suc- |swellen is going down a little and one pril 14. 1 was out to the traps did I sleep that long, because 1 went cumbed to scurvy, she had taken over | all of his chores. Now he charge her with the only remaining task— that of keeping up the diary. While his hand was fast becoming too w to hold a pencil Ada started her own record of their life and death strug- gle on Wrangel Island. This record of Ada, in its pathos and horror, forms a climax to the story of the ill-fated men of the ex- | pedition. A woman and a dying man | cut off by a hundred miles of ice | from the nearest human heing! | Diary Is Reproduced. 1 shall reproduce the quotations | spelled s they were written, with | only such punctuation as will make | them understandable. The first entry i{s headed: in March 14, Knight ceased to keep has to do with what is to them a | vital matter. “The first fox 1 caught was !n| 21 and the second March 3 and 4 and 5. That makes four white foxes. And then, in March 13 1 caught three w e foxes. That makes seven foxes altogether. Four- teenth I got headach all day. I am taking aspirin, It scems didn't work. Oh, in_13th I got new army pant. On 12th of March I set ecight places of traps. Fifteenth I was over to the traps. No sign of fresh tracks, and I put new sole on my felt slip- pers, and washed the dishes and 1 feel'very much better than yester- day. Very clear all day. “March 16th. T have not feeling well for three days. First day it was headach and then 1 had stumpick trouble and today I feel much better. I_was over to the traps. Last night Knight told me I can keep the Bible. He said he give them to me. Very nice day so far, “March 18th. ‘I caught one male fox today. Fat one, too. wash my head. " And oh yes 1 got snow glasses today. “18th. 1 was over to the traps and found that fox had been in trap and she run away with tie trap. And I haul two sled load and chop wood.” Polar Bear Appears. ‘The polar bear for which Knight had been longing so desperately ap- peared too late to be ol any use. It came on March 26, when Knight was utterly helpless and before Ada had learned to shoot, “26th. This morning about 11 o'clock I saw a polar bear on the ice, and 1 saw three foxes one with trap on her foot. I haul one load on sled and saw four cuts off log and chop wood. I pretty near finish my belt. Undoubtedly, at this time, Ada was quite sick herself. There is the pa- thos of a sick child in the entries of the next few days. 27th. _Oh_my’ my o'clack in evening after 1 had cup of | tes. Apr. 26th. T was out today-and sawed wood. And when I was haul- ing wood home 1 was almost feanting. him warmer and more | Iliness Frightens Her. Ada’s illness frightened her. She thinks that she is gong to die, and her dia tury to a o of longing tolbe Stinome, To the smart dressed women of Washington who have not yet made the acquaintance of our new Shoe Department we espe- cially appehl If you want the last word in Footwear—style. quallty and value—come in and mspect the wonderful etyleu we are now showing moderately priced at $8.50. 11T —take ch};nces—gamble-—experi- ment with doubtful fuels, when you can make a sure bet on— AMOCO-GA In constant use since 1916—the original special motor fuel. And it has stood the test, under all sorts of conditions. 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