Decatur Democrat, Volume 50, Number 42, Decatur, Adams County, 20 December 1906 — Page 7

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HWAY up under the arctic circle is Santa Claus Land. It is the land of ice and snow, of sleds and reindeer, of queer little huts In which live queer little people, the Eskimos. There can be no doubt that this is Santa Claus Land, because the old saint who comes down to the warmer and more lovely lands of all the world every Christmas eve and leaves many gifts for the children is himself dressed in heavy skins and furs, just as the Eskimos dress, and he rides in an arctic sled drawn by swift little reindeer. Santa Claus Land is very unlike ours. It has no pretty gardens in summer nor any green fields or forests. On the contrary, it is always bleak and barren. The winters are very long and very cold. In the northernmost parts the sun is seldom seen in winter, the night being nearly six months long. The people dwell In huts built of ice and snow during the winter and in tents made of the dried skins of seals I and reindeer during the summer. The reindeer supplies them with their only ; means of. “rapid transit” during the ! long arctic night when the sledge dogs grow sullen «Nd drowsy. It travels in the darkness as well as in daylight , and gives rich milk, which may be made into butter or cheese. When slaughtered the reindeer’s meat is eaten, and his hide is made into clothing for the Eskimos or stretched over poles and dried for use in making tents. All the people of .Santa Claus Landudon, women and children—are clothed in reindeer skins or sealskins. In summer they wear one suit and in winter two suits. All wear big hoods, called parkas, of fur, and in these hoods the mothers sometimes carry their babies. In certain parts of the frozen regions the babies are carried on their mothers’ backs, next to the skin, for warmth, while elsewhere it is the cus- i tom to carry the infant about in one of the big deerskin or sealskin boots of the mother. Reindeer, sure footed aud fleet, are the motive power for freight and passenger trains in the great w’hlte north. They can travel from 50 to 100 miles a day, drawing laden sleds. In Alaska, which is Uncle Sam’s section of Santa Olaus Land, there is a reindeer mail and

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express sled, which travels ninety-five miles a day all through the winter. The reindeer was introduced Into Alaska only about a dozen years ago by the Rev. Dr. Sheldon Jackson, who, under the authority of the United States government, brought a small herd from northern Siberia. Since then Dr. Jackson has brought thousands of rejndeer into Alaska, and they have multiplied rapidly. They are now very generally employed in carrying the mail, in the transportation of supplies and in carrying passengers between the various njinV CL’AWSJ ■ w - ;; y W i 1 Off OB : .WAP 0 W- OIng towns and camps. The native Eskimos also find them very valuable as a food and clothing supply. In late years the Christmas tree has been introduced among some of the Eskimos where the Christian religion is taught by missionaries. This makes it very handy for Santa Claus, -wholives there, of course, but usually it is a most difficult matter to get the tree. Sometimes a poor little bush is carried hundreds of miles on a reindeer sled

to reach the hut, or igloo, of an Eskimo family. . Eskimo children, however, are by no means lacking in merriment. They have their games, quite different from ours, yet played with just as much zest. One of their favorite games is football, though they play it in a manner quite different from the American I college method. The children get a I big old glove or boot, stuff it with waste fur or bits of skin. Sew up the opening and kick and cuff the crude ball about over the frozen snow in great glee. Eskimo children also indulge in coasting. They use no little sleds, however,, but simply slide down the steep snow banks on their knees, which are well protected by the thick deerskin breeches worn by all. Sometimes they tumble over and go down headforemost, but there is seldom any injury to their little bodies, owing to the remarkable thickness and softness of their garments. Sometimes the Eskimo men step outside the hut into an atmosphere many degrees below zero and enjoy a wrestling match, which keeps them warm enough, no doubt. Inside the hut the men and women squat around the fire, telling tales handed dow r n from ancient times or singing quaint songs of folklore. The Eskimo children, except at one or two points in Alaska, go to no school. But from their infancy they are schooled in the various items of daily labor vyhich it Is necessary for all of them to know. They learn how to gather fend dry moss, to catch the scant driftwood that comes their way and to extract blubber. These three things are their only fuel. The boys learn how to fish and hunt and the girls, in a crude way, how to cook. One of the chief duties of the women is to tend the soapstone lamps, which both light and heat the huts in which the Eskimos live. These must be well fed with hunks of blubber. The little girls learn lamp tending when they are scarcely old enough to toddle. Later they become proficient in the curing of walrus meats and the drying of fish. The girls also learn how to prepare the feathered skins of certain birds for fashioning into soft and comfortable underclothing.

Vat first\ sicht [ 2p EDITH M. DOANE I I Ccrpyr ght, 190 i, by Ruby Douglas ? Hr—■ *■ »■■« «■ »■ «■ « . * » To be ;in with, she was easily the i prettiest girl at Lake Wahconset inn. Then, again, she was Mrs. Baker’s I niece, ar i Jimmy Marshall had known I Mrs. Ba ter since he was a little boy, ■ for she and his mother were old , friends. So it became the natural ■ thing fcr him to row with her and ■ dance uith her and take her on long drives i i his touring car; not that he particularly admired her, he assured himself,’but he liked to row and dance I and moior, and she was company. Besides, she was a nice enough little thing, and it was less trouble to ask her thaij to bunt up another girl; then, too, it probably pleased Mrs. Baker to have hiin pay her niece some little attention. So. considering that all girls bored him and he had no inclination to pay ' serious Attentions to any of them, it is ' not to be wondered at that he was first I amusedf then anuoyed; when Mrs. Ba-1 ker, who was a simple, lovable soul, I cornered him on the wide porch one I morning and asked him if lie were in love with Priscilla. “Certainly not,” he answered decidedly. “She’s a mighty nice girl, and of course I like her immensely, but as far as being in love with her is concerned I most certainly am not.” "He glanced at Mrs. Baker’s plump, troubled features. “Whatever put such an idea in your head?” he demanded. “Surely there ’has been nothing in my actions”— “No, I suppose not—that is, as young people act nowadays. And of course I don’t mean to meddle—but I couldn’t help thinking”— “Don’t think any more,” he said gayly, “for such an idea has never entered my head—nor Priscilla’s either.” “No, I suppose not,” returned Mrs. Baker doubtfully. There was a perplexed frown on her usually placid face. He glanced at her sharply. Was it possible that Priscilla attached more importance to their friendship than he did? That was the worst of girls—they were always expecting a fellow to fall in love with them. Still, Priscilla dmn zT^. 11 I Lx X. \ i I rW 6 iAmH // -ii iwi 1 I >' IPI V : 11 n®«w/' J\ 1 “SHALIi WB TRY TENNIS OR THE CANOB THIS MORNING ?” hadn’t seemed that kind. Perhaps she had grown to care for him before she realized it. She couldn’t help it, of course, poor little girl! She must never know that he suspected her feelings. It would be hard enough for her when she found how indifferent he was without that. And with a troubled face and hands thrust deep in the pockets of his flannels Jimmy Marshall betook himself to the lake. Mrs. Baker also was troubled. In the workings of her simple mind two and two made four. Jimmy had devoted himself unceasingly to Priscilla. Why should he have done so unless he were In love with her? Besides, young men were always in love with Priscilla. He was proud and would naturally deny It—dear boy! She would speak to Priscilla. Jimmy was the son of her old friend, and Priscilla should not flirt with him so outrageously. So it was that Priscilla, stopping to speak to her en route to the lake, found her distinctly aggrieved. “Priscilla,” she began, with as near an approach to dignified severity as her 200 pounds would allow, “I desire you to stop flirting with Jimmy Marshall.” “Nonsense!” returned Priscilla. “You needn’t speak to me like that, Priscilla. He is entirely too nice a fellow for you to treat as you do unless—of course if you like him it’s different,” ■ Mrs. Baker ended mysteriously. I “I suppose I like him well enough,” ! | returned Priscilla carelessly. “I never I I thought much about it. Why, what’s i the matter?” I “He w’as just telling me—l don't know that I should repeat it to you,”, said Mrs. Baker conscientiously. “Tell me. What did he say?” Priscilla was becoming interested. “Well, I don’t know that he said it in so many words; but, Priscilla.-he is In love with you.” I “In love with me!” gasped Priscilla divided between gratification and die 1 may. j

“Yes, and ft’3 too oa<f,~ coniuruea Mrs. Baker, with rising Indignation. “Really, Priscilla, it’s a shame. It wilj break his heart, and liis mother will blame me, and it’s dreadful.” “I don’t see what I have done.” returned Priscilla crossly. It was a pity that a girl couldn’t be decently polite j to a man without his going and falling I in love with her, spoiling everything! Os course everybody would blame her, she reflected in annoyance as she continued her interrupted way to the lake. Jimmy Marshall saw her coming and . went up the path to meet her. With ! troubled mind he had thought the matI ter over and decided it.must lie broken I off at once; not so suddenly as to j arouse her suspicions, of course, but gently. He would make a casual re- ■ mark or so about business, then in a couple of days pretend a sudden business call and leave. Os course she would feel terrible, but it would be i easier for her in the end. Dear little girl! He was surprised at the wave of tenderness that swept over him. “Shall we try tennis or the canoe this morning?” In spite of himself his voice sounded forced and unnatural. “■Whichever you prefer. Suppose we say tennis.” returned Priscilla, trying j to meet his eyes carelessly. Then to i ner dismay she blushed scarlet while ■ he grew unaccountably red. | How plainly he showed it. How i blind she had been, thought Priscilla I contritely; * j How heartless in him to want to leave her, thought Jimmy, not daring to look at the lovely flushed face. Jimmy looked very grave during the next few days. It was no little thing to have blighted a young girl’s affections. even unconsciously, and when she was such a dainty little thing as Priscilla—so sweet, so sensible, so far above the average in every way—it became a pretty grave proposition. Indeed. he sometimes wondered if he were not in honor bound to marry her anyway. In the meantime Priscilla, under Mrs. Baker's accusing eye. wilted perceptibly. Probably everybody thought she was glad she had wrought so much mischief. Well, she wasn’t. She never dreamed he would take it t so to heart. And he was such a big, lovable fellow. Mrs. Baker was right. He was too good to be treated so shabbily. | Jimmy had marshaled his casual remarks about business through two days of painstaking effort and arranged his departure for the third. In order to avoid hurting Priscilla’s feelings he asked her to go for a farewell ride on the lake. He would be very friendly, he resolved, and gentle, but he must contrive to let her see that this was the end. I It was while he was wondering just how he should manage it that the accident happened. They had almost reached the wooded shore opposite when there was a quiver of the boat—a startled cry from Priscilla—an overturned drifting Idly on the the lake. “Don’t be frightened! We’re near shore!” cried Jimmy, shaking the water from his eyes and striking out In | her direction. Somehow they reached the opposite bapk, he holding her close, I while she clung to him half wildly for protection. “I—l was so frightened!” she said in a wabbly, half hysterical voice, shivering in bis arms. Suddenly at touch of her a strange, sweet madness seized him, and he covered her face with kisses, holding her tight, while she, bewildered by a new, shy happiness, lay passive in his arms. It was some months later that a matron said in Mrs. Baker’s hearing, “Jimmy Marshall and his wife seem desperately in love with each other.” “Yes,” responded that lady placidly, “it was a case of love at first sight. I know of what I speakTbecause I was with them when they met. Indeed, I mdy say that I saw it from the first,” she added, with bland conviction. Power of Imasrinatlon. It is conceded by scientists that imagination has much power as a curative agent. A concrete example occurred in the experience of Sir Humphry Davy. A man went to him suffering from paralysis to be treated by electricity. When the patient had seated himself Davy, as a preliminary, placed a small glass thermometer beneath his tongue to take his temperature. The sick man thought that this was the instrument for curing him and declared that he felt it run through all his system. Davy, curious to see what lasting effect the imagination would exert, did not undeceive the man, but sent him away, telling him to return daily to have the treatment repeated. The man did as he was told and returned daily *to sit in a chair with the end of a little thermometer tucked beneath his tongue. In a few days the paralysis was completely cured by the patient’s own imagination. — A Floating-, Furnace. Many a mysterious disappearance at sea is believed to have been caused by fire in the coal bunkers, the discovery coming too late to admit of the Are being mastered. For instance, fire broke out on the Ada Ire'dale, a vessel engaged in the China trade, which many years ago set sail from a Scottish port for San Francisco, carrying a cargo of coal. When the vessel was some 2,000 miles from the Marquesas islands, in the Pacific ocean, the cargo was found to be on fire. All efforts to extinguish the conflagration were fruitless, and the crew was driven to the boats. The ship, by this time a floating furnace, was left to its fate and drifted, still burning, a distance of 2,420 miles, to Tahiti. Finally taken in tow, she was convoyed safely into port, where for more than a year he; cargo still smoldered.

I WON AT BRIDGE J J WHIST j [Original.] I The steamer had but a couple of days more before reaching port when the sun, which we had not seen since our departure, broke through the clouds and bathed us all in a delicious warmth. Something else burst forth at the same time—the sunshine, for me, of a face. She came on deck for the first time, and her dignified father put her in a steamer chair, arranged her wraps and sat down beside her like a shepherd dog beside a lamb. Perhaps he saw me looking at her. At any rate, that’s what I was doing, for I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. Such refined dignity, such repose, such gentleness! It must have all come down from generations of gentility. Why had the weather kept her below till the voyage was nearly finished? I must make the most of the brief period left to secqre an acquaintance. Alas, the sun went down in clouds, and so did my hopes! She did not appear on deck again. I did not even see her leave the ship. W’inter came and the usual round of gayeties. An invitation—bridge whist at Mrs. Peabody’s—came, among others, for me, and I resolved to accept. On entering the card room the first face I set eyes on was the steamer girl. I was surprised and, though delighted at my luck in meeting her again, pained to see her in the company. Mrs. Peabody is ultra fashionable, and the people she entertains are very “smart”—that Is, the women drink cocktails, smoke cigarettes and gamble. If you ask why I go with such people, I reply I am a man and can go anywhere without soiling the feathers of my angelic masculine wings, but had I a wife she should not go to Mrs. Peabody’s. I at once sought an Introduction to the steamer girl, Miss Delaplain, and soon saw that she was out of her element. When a cocktail was handed her she started and declined it. I I caught Mrs. Peabody frowning at her as she did so with an expression which, being interpreted, meant, “You don’t get invited here again.” Several young I bloods had been chatting with Miss Delaplain when I was introduced to her, and they must have been putting On their up to date society manners, for she looked ruffled, and when I addressed her deferentially she figuratively nestled to me as one would cling to • lifeboat. Miss Delaplain and I were at first partners. I saw at once that she knew | very little about the game, and I soon suspected she didn't know she was playing for money. When we changed ' partners her new vis-a-vis soon made I her aware of her. temerity in playing a game she did not understand. At r every misplay he would scowl at her and did not scruple to indicate that he | was wroth.' After the evening’s amusement I was * about to take my departure when I met Miss, Delaplain wearing a countenance that told of troub’e. | “What shall I do?” she said. “I have been told that my loss at bridge I whist is ?105. I had no idea I was playing for money.” “And my gain is exactly the same amount. Though I knew that we were playing for stakes, I do not feel at liberty to accept my winnings.” “Why so?” “You for one did not know that you were risking anything. The money you lost may have gone to me. You are in an unpleasant position. So am I. There is away out. for both. Let me turn in my winnings to cover your loss.” There was no trouble in persuading her to accept the terms, at least temporarily, for she had no money with her, and she told me she would need to break the matter to her father, who would be greatly shocked at hearing that she had been gambling. I bade ,her good night after asking permission to call and, going to the hostess, paid her loss. Two days later upon opening my morning mail I found a note from Mrs. Peabody inclosing a note and a check for SIOB from Mr. Delaplain in payment of his daughter’s loss at bridgA whist. Mrs. Peabody called my attention to the fact that the amount was $3 more than the loss. I supposed this to be an error until, referring to Mr. Delaplain’s note, I saw in a postscript on the second page, “The $3 is to cover the supper.” What should I do with this amount? It did not belong to me and was intended as a snub for Mrs. Peabody. Should I return it to her, calling her attention to the snub? Such a crime would preclude the possibility of my attending any more entertainments at her house; I thought the matter over and concluded to accept the consequences. I inclosed a check for the surplus amount with Mr. Delaplain’s note, underscoring the postscript with a blue pencil. A week later I met Mrs. Peabody face to face on the steps of St. James’ church. She gave me the dead cut. My decision Was more»than one relating to Mrs. Peabody. It included the smart set of which Mrs. Peabody was a distinguished member. Something in the old fashioned demeanor of Miss Delaplain told me that if I adhered to the smart: set I wouldn’t be a fitting companion for her,- and I knew that after her first experience she would not get lost among, them , again. My withdrawal proved to' be no loss to me, for in time I became engaged to Miss Delaplain. I was g|ad to be privileged to return in gifts the amount of my gain at the bridge whist, which I always claimed I had won from her. Besides thp money, I won a wife. NATHAN WHITE HOWE.