Letter from Harold Noice to Griffith Brewer, 03 December 1924
Date3 December, 1924
ms numberStefansson Mss-91: Harold Noice Papers, Box 1, Folder 2
abstractCorrespondence, newspaper articles, and other material related to the ill-fated 1921 expedition to Wrangel Island.
City Club, 55 West 44th Street
New York City
December 3, 1924
Dear Mr. Brewer:
Upon my return from Brazil where I have been convalescing from an illness which was imminent when you were here last fall, I have conducted an investigation on certain charges made against me by Mr. Stefansson which I am told resulted in your demand that I be put under arrest. Believing you to be an honest man I am going to tell you in detail of my financial relations with Stefansson Exploration & Development Company, with the assurance that if you find my story contradicts Mr. Stefansson's you will not stop until you have satisfied yourself which is the true one.
I was in New York in the winter of 1922-23 planning to go north in the summer in charge of a moving picture expedition to Coronation Gulf. I had heard that the Crawford party then on Wrangel Island had left Alaska in 1921 with a rather meagre outfit conspicuous for its
lack of an umiak and other walrus hunting equipment, that two of the four men were but boys without Arctic experience and that the party was without Eskimo hunters. This knowledge was disquieting to say the least. When Captain
Bernard arrived in New York I heard more about the unfortuna[gap: ]
expedition and I also had a very long talk with Mr. Taylo
[gap: ]
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Vice-President of the Stefansson Company, who was here also, and I convinced Mr. Taylor of the absolute necessity for a relief expedition which should be equipped for serious relief work to leave Nome the following summer with instructions to get to
Wrangel Island at all hazards. And I advised Mr. Taylor to engage Captain Bernard and his ship for the trip and therefore avoid the danger of not being able to get another ship later on when time would be an element of importance, and when, perhaps, money would be difficult to get. Mr. Taylor agreed with me
absolutely and wired Mr. Stefansson, who was then on a lecture tour, urging him to grant authority to engage Bernard. But Mr.
Stefansson wired back that it was too early to make definite plans and that he was expecting the Canadian Government to finance theexpedition, so the thing fell through and Bernard left New York.
Matters dragged on until spring and still no definite plans had been made for the relief expedition. I had been unable to finance my Coronation Gulf project and had agreed to take command of the relief expedition. Mr. Stefansson tried to get money from the Canadian Parliament, then went to England to try his luck there. Not having received any
word from Stefansson
I began to get alarmed and at last wired Mr: Taylor informing him that if the company wanted me to take charge of the expedition they would have to give me time enough to get to the Pacific Coast
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in order to catch the S. S. Victoria scheduled to leave
Seattle on July 5th. It was then June 21st. On June24th I finally got word to come to Toronto for a conference and then proceed west. At our conference in Toronto Mr. Taylor asked me what arrangements I had made with
Stefansson concerning pay for my services and I told Mr. Taylor the question of money had never been discussed but that inasmuch as the company was at that time hard pressed for money I would donate my services gratis, especially as my chief interest was to save lives, if possible, and not the colonization of an island for England, but I agreed, however, to do everything in my power to further the interest of the company provided it did not interfere with relief work. I told Mr. Taylor I expected to earn money by writing a series of articles on my trip and asked him to try to secure a contract for me, and that I would reimburse him for any money expended on telegrams or office work when I returned. Mr.
Taylor was delighted with this arrangement and assured me he would endeavor to secure the most advantageous contract possible.
In regard to the expedition plans I agreed to endeavor to secure colonists for Wrangel Island and make the best possible contract with them for the division of their furs, but in the event of the company not being able to finance the expedition by the beginning of the navigation season we agreed to broadcast an appeal for help through the papers of the
United States and Canada on a purely relief basis for then the
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question would have become one of life and death. We knew such an appeal would not only injure Mr. Stefansson’s chances of getting England to take over the island but would injure his reputation as well for he had stated from the lecture platform that the boys were in no danger, that one of them might get an occasional toothache but they would never die of scurvy because it
was so easy to get fresh meat. However, we agreed to wait as long as possible and give Stefansson every opportunity to get funds from the government.
When I arrived in Nome in the middle of July there were only two ships which could be used for the Wrangel expedition. Both were badly in need of repairs which would take time and time was an element of vital importance for the Arctic navigation season is short and every day’s delay would mean a diminution of the chances of reaching Wrangel Island. By bent of rather forceful telegrams to the company I succeeded in getting $1,000 and the promise of sufficient funds to carry on the work. This enabled me to start repair work on the Donaldson and begin working on equipment. Then I received communications from the Russian Government concerning their claims to Wrangel and
threatening me with confiscation of company furs. Under these circumstances I did not care to assume responsibility for landing supplies and men on Wrangel Island so I wired the company for further orders. I received a reply forwarded from Stefansson to the effect that everybody in London considered fear of Soviet interference
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ridiculous, that the main purpose of the expedition was to continue trapping and other company business and that he was forwarding $10,000 that day. I accordingly organized the expedition on a business basis, securing a very favorable contract with the professional trappers I had engaged whereby in return for transportation and supplies they were to turn over to the company one-half of the
furs caught/ during their first two years on the island. The company's share in these furs would more than cover the entire cost of the expedition. That the company has since disposed of their interests in the Wrangel
colony is no fault of mine. I do not know the financial details of this transfer and I have never had any financial interest in the company.
In the meantime I had received telegrams from Taylor
reporting the progress he was making in regard to my newspaper contract and eventually received word that he had closed a contract for me for $3,000 and asked me to wire approval. This contract provided for the purchase of a 20,000 word story which was to be merely an account of my personal experiences, such as adventures in the ice pack, hunting experiences, observations made on the island, conversations with the Crawford party should I find them alive, etc. It was contingent on my reaching the island but was unaffected by anything else. It did not include any stories I might write on the basis of documents
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found on the island, but named me as one of the parties possessing a claim to use such material and bound me to give the Newspaper Alliance the first opportunity of purchasing further stories based on such material. This contract and telegrams relating to it clearly prove Mr. Taylor's good faith with respect to his agreement with me. If Mr. H. G. Wells had been sent to
Wrangel Island instead of me the Alliance would have probably offered him considerably more than $3,000 for 20,000 words, because Mr. Wells has written ten books to my one. On the other hand, if Captain Bernard had been sent to Wrangel the Alliance would probably have offered him
considerably less than $3,000 because the Captain has had no literary experience. Mr. Stefansson's claim that because I had been sent to Wrangel to do certain definite work for the company I was morally bound to turn over to the company any money I might make through my ability as a writer is absurd. It would have been equally absurd if the
American Museum who sent Mr. Stefansson north toccollect ethnological specimens had demanded that he give them the money he received from the sale of articles based on his experiences during the expedition..
Upon my return to Nome I sent out detailed information concerning the tragedy, clearly showing that all the men of the party had perished but that the tragedy was not due to the inherent inhospitality of Wrangel Island
, either in severity of climate or lack of game resources, and that I had, therefore,
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established the new colony of professional trappers completely outfitted with all things necessary for the maintenance of a happy existence for two years and ammunition for three years.
I received congratulations from Stefansson and the company stating that high personages in the British Government were delighted with my action. Then six days after I had returned to Nome
I received a cable forwarded from Stefansson instructing me to purchase the Donaldson outright and leave her at Nome to be used by the company the following year. I was unable to do this for obvious reasons and I was also considerably annoyed and astounded because the cables also stated that Mr. Stefansson hoped the
impression could be created that both the establishment of the colony and the purchase of the ship were for the sole purpose of being useful to the survivors of the Crawford party. I refused to perjure myself but when I met Mr. Taylor in Toronto upon my return from Alaska he explained the matter by
saying that doubtless it was only a political move on Stefansson's part to please the British authorities who for diplomatic reasons wanted the idea to get abroad that the colony had been established for humanitarian rather than for Imperialistic reasons, but who would nevertheless take formal possession of the island later on. Mr. Taylor was delighted with my management of the
expedition and said that, if I had refused to establish the colony in the face of such a tragedy as most other menwould have done, the whole project would have been ruined, but now his cable from
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Stefansson indicated that it would be only few weeks now before the government would take over the island and the company
would be reimbursed for the total expenditures shown on its books an amount in excess of $30,000. Not only this but the fact that the contract I had secured with the trappers would write off the total expense of the expedition made Mr. Taylor exceedingly grateful for my services. I turned over all the effects I had found on the island, records, diaries, documents, etc. to Mr.
Taylor who examined them with me, and I asked his permission to use the information contained therein in writing additional articles which I felt certain the Alliance would purchase from me. Mr.
Taylor thought it was the least the company could do to repay me for my services and it meant no money out of their pockets. He very gladly gave his permission with the understanding, of course, that as soon as I had used what I needed I would return the diaries to the company.
With this understanding I came down to New York
and had a long talk with Mr. Pickering of the Alliance, the afternoon of the day I arrived.^Note letter of Sept 26 day after I left Toronto
^ Mr. Pickering thought that instead of my writing a second series of articles on the information contained in the diaries it would be better to include the new material in the original 30,000 words and then expand the series, if necessary, agreeing to pay me an additional $1500 for this new material. This was satisfactory to me.
Mr. Pickering asked me if I had thought to secure written permission from Taylor because he would have to have confirmation in order
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to legalise the second agreement. I told him I had not thought of this angle at all but for him to write or telegraph Taylor
for the desired confirmation. Mr. Pickering got in touch with his representative, the editor of the Toronto Star, and asked him to see Taylor and have the agreement ratified which he did, and I began work on the articles. I did not receive my first payment until the work was underway and in the meantime Stefansson
had sent no money to the company which being short of funds wrote me a letter on
October first, asking me to send them a check to cover the cost of the telegrams and their stenographic work,as I had agreed to do which I did as soon as I got my first payment from the Alliance
^note letter of oct. 6 also^ and on October 8th the company having received the check wrote me a letter of thanks and acknowledgment, also
saying that they had just received a letter from Mr. Stefansson
which gave them,and also me, our first intimation that Mr.
Stefansson was expecting me to give the company the pay I received from the Alliance and states that a Mr. Griffith Brewer, the gentleman in England who put up all the money for the relief expedition was coming over with Stefansson for the purpose of going into the accounts of
the expedition. This was all very interesting but it was an outrageous presumption on Stefansson's part, especially in view of what I had done for him and his company. If Stefansson had got into trouble with Brewer it certainly
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was no fault of mine.
Stefansson had written me previously implying that/
in
my account of the tragedy I had not blamed the men who perished for mistakes which, if known, would remove the feeling that Wrangel Island itself was ill-suited for habitation,
and he had also given out the suggestion that it was his view,
presumably a move made for publicity, that no one connected with the company should make any money out of stories but should donate such money towards building a monument. Now if anyone should put up a monument it should be Stefansson himself or the company. They were the ones who benefited by the work of the boys who died and who, thanks to my work, had continued in possession of an island inhabited by a colony of professional trappers.
The commercial value of this colony on a basis of the fur catch alone was an asset worth in the vicinity of $15,000 to the company, and the value of the island itself was not less than $50,000.
note confirmation of this on page 311 - Stefansson book ["Total value of the catch of Wells and his companions in one year 10,000"]
Now it appeared that Stefansson was actually trying to get possession of my money, not for a monument but for some purpose best known to himself and I quite naturally resented it
very much indeed.
I had unfortunately mislaid the letters I had received from the company and had only the contract with the Alliance to support my case whereupon Stefansson claimed
^letter to Alliance as of Oct. 20?^
that it had been necessary to draw up a contract in my name because I was the one to write the articles, but that I had agreed orally to turn over the money to the company.
Stefansson's great reputation and the testimony of his officers convinced people that I was a crook and had taken advantage of a legal technicality. The officers of the Stefansson company now deny that they testified against me. They say Stefansson used their names without their knowledge or consent.
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Since my return from Brazil I have unearthed the letters and telegrams which clearly prove all of the foregoing contentions and I intend to bring suit against Mr. Stefansson for the recovery of the $1500 which he has prevented me from getting for over a year.
One of the many stories Stefansson has put into circulation with the apparent intention of discrediting me is that when I first arrived in New York I was penniless and that he fed me for two years. As a matter of fact I had made $4,000 in fur on my expedition/^of 1918—1921^ to Coronation Gulf and when I returned from the
Arctic in 1921 I met Stefansson who was then in financial difficulties and loaned him a considerable amount of money. Later on when I sold one of my Ethnological collections to the Heye Museum I again loaned him money. Stefansson eventually paid back the money in small checks. The only foundation for this
story was that during the winter previous to my departure for Wrangel Island I had borrowed funds from him for the purpose of finishing a book I was writing about his Canadian Arctic Expedition and had agreed to pay him out of the royalties of the book. Mr.
Stefansson was very anxious that I should finish the book and unless he loaned me money for this purpose I would have to discontinue that writing. The other day I met Stefansson and charged him with these lies he had been circulating. At first he
denied that I had ever loaned him any money and then apparently realizingthat as my lawyer and another
^a^ very well known scientist were present, and would remember his assertions, admitted that
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he didn’t know whether I had loaned him any money or not, but would have to ask his secretary.
Now, Mr. Brewer, I should be very glad to meet you and show you personally any documents you would like to see and if you have heard any other stories which discredit me I think you should give me a chance to state my side of the case.
Yours very truly.
Note - [: now you have ... ... with Pickering ...]
Letters Sept 26 -
Oct. 1 Just as soon as you are able to we shall be very pleased to receive your cheque covering whatever proportion you think is fair for our work + telegraph charges.
Oct. 6
Oct. 8
{ we need to [: ...] have received [: additionally ] please send us a cheque
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