Anna Magnella Thomas, wife of Rear Admiral Charles W. Thomas, USCG (Ret.), a Fellow of the Arctic Institute of North America, died at Tripler Army Hospital, Honolulu, Hawaii, 20 October 1966. Mrs. Thomas was born in Denmark in 1903 and in 1930 became a registered nurse. She served in the Danish Military Nursing Corps until 1938 when she was appointed to the Crown Colony hospital at Ivigtut, Greenland. In addition to Ivigtut patients she also gratuitously attended Greenlanders from the village of Arsuk and U.S. Coast Guard and Naval personnel at the Naval Operating Facility at Grondal. During her eight years in Greenland she became proficient in the Greenlandic language. In 1946 she married Captain Charles W. Thomas, then Commander Greenland Patrol, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. She was commended by the U.S. Navy for services to U.S. Naval and Coast Guard personnel during World War II. In addition to her husband, she is survived by a daughter, Trina Anne (14) and a sister, Mrs. J. M. Leroy, wife of Commander Leroy, U.S.N. and three sisters and a brother in Denmark.
The articles include: 1) information on the hydrographic work carried out by the Cancolim expedition in the Canadian Beaufort Sea and Amundsen Gulf; 2) an account of the first Greenland Provincial Council election by N.O. Christensen and Trevor Lloyd, reprinted from Arctic Circular, v. 4, 1951, p. 83-85; 3) T.P. Bank's description of the last four years of anthropological and botanical expeditions from the University of Michigan to the Aleutian Islands; 4) a list of the 18 projects studied in 1951 from the Arctic Research Laboratory, Point Barrow; 5) the founding of the Stefansson Library at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire; 5) the potential use of lichen woodlands in Labrador for domestic reindeer grazing by A.E. Porsild; 6) the announcement of an essay competition run by the quarterly scientific review Endeavour; and 7) a notice that a complete set of Meddelelser om Grønland is for sale by an Arctic Institute Associate.
The news items include: 1) a summary of round table conference concerning Eskimo affairs that was held in Ottawa on May 19-20, 1952 (reprinted from Arctic Circular, v. 5, no. 4, 1952, p. 41-43); 2) information on the Canadian ice distribution survey by J. Keith Fraser (reprinted from Arctic Circular, v. 5, no. 5, 1952, p. 56); 3) a summary of two articles written by Provst Aage Bugge (an obituary of Provst C.W. Schultz-Lorentzen and a book review of a novel, "Kateketen Johannes", by Karl Heilmann) that were published in pamphlet no. 79 of Meddelelser om Den grønlandske Kirkesag; and 4) a notice that the Shorey Book Store of Seattle has issued a catalogue of their books on Alaska and the Arctic.
The news items include: 1) a new twin-screw icebreaker that will be built for the Canadian Dept. of Transport for supplying northern stations; 2) the launching of the C.D. Howe, a new Canadian Eastern Arctic Patrol ship; 3) the laying of the keel of the new Royal Canadian Navy icebreaker which is under construction; 4) archaeological work on Cornwallis Island near Resolute Bay; 5) the trial of two young Netsilik Eskimo men on charges of assisting the suicide of a woman, who was the mother of one of the men, with tuberculosis; 6) the announcement by the U.S. Transportation Corps that they are sending modified half-track vehicles north to test their usefulness; 7) various articles about Greenland affairs including the creation of funds for increased cultural relations between Greenland and Denmark, population statistics of Greenland, the establishment of air transportation between Greenland and Denmark, the construction of vacation homes for convalescing Greenlandic children, and the free distribution of fresh vegetables - a gift from Danish market gardeners.
The R.C.N. ice-breaker which is being built at Marine Industries, Sorel, Quebec, will in many respects be similar to the United States Coast Guard Eastwind Class. The R.C.N. ship will include, however, some modifications which have been suggested by experience with the U.S. ships and by observations of the behaviour of these and other ice-breaking vessels. The ice-breaker will be 269 feet long with a breadth of 63 feet, 6 inches. Displacement will be 5,400 tons, and the maximum draught 29 feet. It will be propelled by a 10,000 hp. diesel-electric system. The machinery layout will be similar to that of Eastwind, but the bow propeller will be omitted. Accommodation will be provided for a crew of 13 officers and 160 other ranks and for a number of observers of officer rank; for this reason the Ward Room will be enlarged and improved. The vessel is not expected to operate single-handed against enemy concentrations, so the gun armament which was a feature of the original American ship, is to be considerably reduced. This will allow more room for quarters and stores, together with increased provision for radio and radar. A flight deck aft will take helicopters of the type now in use in the R.C.A.F. If necessary, a seaplane can be carried in place of the helicopters. As a result of experience in recent years, the shell plating on icebreakers has been increased. The new R.C.N. ship will have plates 1 5/8 inches thick and of special high-tensile steel. It seems inconceivable that any ice could penetrate such a massive steel wall, but in case it did there will be an inner skin protecting the vital parts of the ship. As with the U.S. ice-breakers the Canadian vessel will be fitted with heeling tanks as a safeguard against being frozen in. Temperatures at sea in the Arctic are not, of course, so extreme as those inland, but even so, special steps are necessary to maintain suitable temperatures inside. In the R.C.N. ship this will be effected throughout by four inches of fiberglass insulation in place of the cork formerly used. The boats carried will be of two types, motor lifeboats for use in open water, and Landing Craft specially strengthened for use in ice, where stores and personnel have to be landed. Experience has shown that this type of vessel is very useful under arctic conditions where the ice-covered beaches are very hard on conventional boats.
Describes the Northumberland Strait train ferry Abegweit owned by the Canadian government and operated by Canadian National Railways; the Hudson's Bay Company vessels Rupertsland, intended for use in the Eastern Arctic, and an as yet unnamed Western Arctic vessel; and a new Canadian government vessel for the Eastern Arctic Patrol, also as yet unnamed.
"News From High Latitudes" includes brief reports or correspondence on a number of expeditions or scientific research efforts in both the Arctic and the Antarctic. Many of the news items relate to transportation and communication issues and include such topics as shipping at Churchill; reforms in Greenland; H.B.C. trading transport in Arctic Canada; Norwegian polar activities; news items from beyond the North Pole; roster of Arctic specialists; free ride to Arctic port; Aklavik on the air; Canadian need for qualified scientists and administrators in the North; explorers in Carnegie Hall, New York; new land in Foxe Basin; French expedition to Greenland; French Antarctic expedition; university seminar in North American Arctic; Antarctic whaling; Alaska railroad being modernized; trichinosis from polar bear meat; new Arctic fishing bank; and short-wave to Antarctica.
