. Alaska and the Klondike. hen the history of that country iswritten, no page, from the beginning until now, will glowwith a brighter example of bravery, self-sacrifice and de-votion to duty than that which recites the story of therelief expedition to Point Barrow in the winter of 1897and 98. Only brief reference can be made to it here, andif the details were obtainable only from the lips of , the narrative would be meagre enough in thatembellishment which the recital of thrilling personal ad-venture contributes; for Mr. Jarvis is of the kind of whomheroes are usually made. Modest, qu
. Alaska and the Klondike. hen the history of that country iswritten, no page, from the beginning until now, will glowwith a brighter example of bravery, self-sacrifice and de-votion to duty than that which recites the story of therelief expedition to Point Barrow in the winter of 1897and 98. Only brief reference can be made to it here, andif the details were obtainable only from the lips of , the narrative would be meagre enough in thatembellishment which the recital of thrilling personal ad-venture contributes; for Mr. Jarvis is of the kind of whomheroes are usually made. Modest, quiet, never directingattention to himself and reluctant to converse on the sub-ject of his own exploits, it would be difficult, indeed, togain from him in conversation any adequate conceptionof the brave work which he did. In the fall of 97 eight whaling ships were caught inthe ice off the northern shore of Alaska in the ArcticOcean. Some of them were badly broken up by theice, but the men managed to reach Point Barrow, the. Lt. Bertholf Dr. Call Captain Jarvis 84 ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE most northern settlement under the American flag. Theywere without suppHes sufficient to carry them throughthe winter, and it was feared that they would all perishof cold and hunger. News of their desperate plightreached the States about the ist of December. The Gov-ernment at Washington saw the necessity of sending relief,but how to get it to them was the apparently unsolvableproblem, and who should lead the expedition was a noless difficult question. Captain Jarvis, then a lieutenant ofthe United States revenue-cutter service, was in the Stateson leave and at the bedside of his sick wife in Massa-chusetts. Her condition was serious. The Governmentasked him if he would go. He looked at his sick wife andsaid no. The chances were so desperate that the reliefexpedition itself could not reach Point Barrow that theGovernment did not like to order any one to make theattempt, but began to look for vol
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