46 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



The " town " Teller is a strange place, consisting of large 

 wooden sheds, some stores, more saloons, and still more empty 

 and dilapidated houses. The town was "boomed" on a report 

 of gold, which, however, did not turn out as well as the pro- 

 moters had expected, and two-thirds of the houses are now 

 empty. There were some very nice people there, and we spent 



WORKING ON THE QUARTERDECK IN PORT CLARENCE. 



a pleasant afternoon. In the evening the boys from shore 

 came out to the ship, and we stayed up late, having quite a 

 good time. 



We were lying off Teller from July 15 to July 22, as we 

 were rather early, and it would have been useless to go north 

 just yet. We had some trouble with the crew in this place the 

 cook and Parker were trying to run away. The cook had got 

 shore-leave the first night we were lying there and refused to 

 come back on board. Storkersen came on board and told me, 

 and he and Thuesen brought the cook back by main force 

 according to my orders. In justification of the man it may be 

 said that he was drunk, but some days later the trouble began 



