Saturday Evening Mail, Volume 28, Number 25, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 18 December 1897 — Page 13

•rUSES FOR

—:REINDEER. is

afttOpbSlVlON* TO STOCK ALASKA WITH THEM.rg^^

riJtfean* of Food Snpply ud Trsn«porUtlon—Work of Tr. Sheldon Jacluon. How B«auurk*bl« Country Will B«

Made Habitable—A Useful Arctic

[Special Correspondence.]

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.—The recent departure of the revenue entfcer Bear for the relief of the arctic whalers has directed anew the attention of the conntry to that most northern and western of oar possessions, Alaska. It may seem a paradoxical statement, bnt I find myself in closer tonch with Alaska here at Washington than when I was watching the sailing of steamer after steamer at Seattle for Dyea and Skaggnay. Though some 8,000 miles farther off, geographically speaking, I am very mnch nearer in point of fact so far as the securing

every department of our government has bad a man or- two up ia Alaska studying conditions there, which they were peculiarly well equipped for investigating.

Tho bureau of ethnology was perhaps the first in the field, followed by the geographical survey, the departments of tho interior and agriculture, the treasury department, the bureau of education, etc.

AlMka'a Future.

So it followed as a matter of course that when I wished to get late and authoritative information on that countxy I sought out the officials who have themselves made the subjects particular objects of inquiry. Tho first I approached was one of the last in the field, and by no means tho least widely known— in fact, one whohasobtaiuedworldwiuo recognition as an educator, Dr. Sheldon Jackson.

Ho has been largely instrumental in establishing the chuin of mission schools along the coasts of Alaska, having labored thoro for the pnst 14 years to place on a sure foundation those outposts of civilization. His latest achievonient has boon tho introduction of tho Siberian reindeer into Alaska and the securing to its inhabitants of a mea:.d of food snpply and transportation the benefits of whioh will be incalculable. Already, as the reports now come in of impending starvation in the Klondikw region aud tho inadequate transportation facilities of that isolated section, a thousand miles from a baso of suppliee, we perceive the wisdom of this measure of our government.

The Food Snpply.

Tho result of extended inquiries serve to confirm my own opinion that the outlook for its immediate future is very promising. There are roports of imminent starvation at Dawson and along the Ynkon, bat the prospective famine is owing to the neglect of tho miners themselves. They went in totally regardless of the future, unequipped aud withont money some of them. Many abandoned tuns of provisions along the routes, owing to the high rates for freightage charged by Indian carriers. jMany more started without sufficient food to last them over tho trail, lot alone working their olnim* after arrival. Regardless, however, of tho causes which led to this serious condition, the roblom whioh now confronts the null or ties is how to relievo the sufferers. some extent the evil may bo obviated by relieving tho congestion at Dawson aud sending the surplus population down the ukon to the different settlements along that river and to St. Michael's*. This is easier said than done, owing to the almost total lack of transportation facilities and of food enough even to supply the departing people. Very few indeed can stand the strain of that long tramp ou foot. Even if they could, they caunofc carry with them sufficient provisions for the trip. Nei-: ther is the situation improved any by the uso of dog sledges* allowing that enough of those ean be obtained for the!

Eeads

ur pose, for a team of dogs "eat their off" every 500 miles or so of travel. Yon have to carry as much provision along for tho dogs as for yourself,' and that complicates the situation terribly when there is «cant "grub" in the first place and insufficient beasts of burden in the second.

Now, there are at least two groups of white people at present in danger of starvation in the Ulterior and on the ooast of Alaska. One group consists of 1 tho Yukon-Klondike miners, the other of the whalers in the aretio to the north and east of ^Point Barrow. ter, tine northernmost point of land on our continent, there is a native village of some ISO people, a mission school of the Presbyterian church, under the supervision of the bureau of education, and a government refuge station. Mora than 2,000 sailors have been wracked on this inhospitable ooast during the decade past, and in such a region, where the temperature sinks to 60 car ?0 degree* below aero, poor Jack has pretty "rough sledding," with nothing to eat and no friendly gToggery to take him in and thaw him out. Death, either from freeaing or starvation, was sure to be his fate. About ten years ago the then captain of the revenue cutter Bear had his attention oallod to the terrible fat) in «rtore for shipwrecked Milan in this region, with no poasible soooor

A REINDEER TEAM. set about securing them provisions of information goes. The reason is that enough to last until the next whale and

AttM8Ult

cj?

nearer than 1,500 miles away, and part ly through private aid and by a con gjressioual appropriation he succeeded in getting money encragh for the erection of a building large enough to sheltei 100 men at a pinch.

Timely Relief.

Here we come around again to the main problem—how to transport men .and provisions over mountains and plains covered with snow and oceans with ice in the depth of winter and with the temperature so far below the freezing point that it can't be captured with an ordinary thermometer. Seven or eight years ago Dr. Jackson happened to land on King's island, off the Alaskan coast, on his return from a cruise in the same little cutter, the Bear, which is now plowing the waters between Unalaska and Cape Prince of Wales or butting the ioe floes perhaps still farther northward. He found the natives of that island in the last stages of starvation, driven to the necessity of eating their sledge dogs and the corpses of their relatives who had died. Now, dogs and relatives are both dear to the average Alaskan, but the dog is the most cherished object of his life, and, like the late lamented Artemus Ward, he would rather sacrifice all his kin, even his mother-in-law, than make sausage meat of the oanines.

Seeing the islanders in this terrible strait, Dr. Jackson began to inquire how he could provide this country with a food supply that might prove a safe reliance for all future time. He first, however—and the commander of the Bear—filled the poor wretches up with blubber ana tallow candles, thus appeasing the pangs of hunger, and then

walrus season. The reason that the shores of Alaska, formerly teeming with seal and walrus, whales and wild ducks, are now so desolate is that the white men have come up here and hunted them out—formerly a reliable :rce of food supply, from which the native could draw enough in pummer to carry him through the winter. Now that supply no longer exists, and the native is reduced to the neces' rity of beg'

!ng

from door to door dur

ing the winter months, an exasperating and discounting condition when there aren't any doors and nobody to beg from.

Siberian Reindeer.

Vast herds of reindeer once ranged the uplands and millions of wild fowl haunted the shores, but now the deer are quite near extermination and the wild fowl also on their la&t legs. This being the case, reasoned the doctor, what existing animal or animals might be available to supply their place? The Siberian reindeer, in short, was the animal he pitched upon to supply this long felt want in the aboriginal larder and the hiatus in transit facilitiea

His horculean endeavors are too reoent for recounting here, by which the indefatigable doctor first obtained an appropriation from congress, then permission to use the Bear to chase the reindeer along the Siberian coast, then the bringing to this country of the first reindeer in 1891, and the subsequent installation of several reindeer stations ft points on the coast as near the vast Tundra, or arctio highlands, as possible. Today, through persistent-search in Siberia and the natural inorease of the animals, we have in Alaska not less than 1,500 reindeer, cared £A- by trained Lapps and Eskimos and under the supervision of intelligent Americans of Norse origin.

Most men might have been contented with the bringing over of some 500 or ao of the reindeer, and then, as the Irish alderman of Boston proposed with the pair of gondolas, "let natnre take her coorse." But, no the doctor will not be satisfied until we have a herd, or herds, of at least 100,000 deer, these to be scattered among tho various tribes or native settlements in bunches of 100 or so, each bunoh under tho eye of a trained herdsman.

It is estimated that there are 400,000 head of reindeer in Lapland, subsisting over 26,000 neople, and from which the government gets a tax of $1 a head, or $400,000. Perhaps there is no animal on the face of the globe that is so utilizable as the reindeer/ from the tips of its horns to the ends of its toes. Its skin has hair so soft as to more resemble fur and so light as to be in request for the making of life saving apparatus, while smoked reindeer tongues area luxury that even an American need not despise,, and then there is the milk from the does, which is so rich that the doctor was compelled to reduce it with water. He introduced an innovation in the process of milking, also, for whereas the native Siberians have a habit of sucking it from the reindeer founts with their Hps and then injecting it into a vessel like a John Chinaman sprinkling clothes, now the deer are milked standing up in a civilized fashion.

Lastly and chiefly the reindeer has both speed and bottom and can travel three times as fast and far aa a dog— 150 miles a day in emergency and average 100 miles easily. Subsisting as it does upon the tundra mfc^a^ which there is sufficient on tW^p^JS^of Alaska for 10,000,000 head, and needing no supply of food to he nuren on a

ir.hiTuT Journey, like the dogs, it is with good

reason urged that the reindeer is the ooming animal for our arctio possessions. The initiatory steps have been taken to establish a line of reindeer stations all along the Alaskan coast from the Mackenzie river to Bristol bay, and

not only that, but also a line of rein-1Jacfc

desr expresses from points on the into tho interior. Now fear the application of these desultory remarks. Alaska has already twice paid for itaelf in gold and tut •sals. It contains rast areas yet unexploited and from which not less than $90,000,000 in gold will poor out next summer from the mines of the Yukon. The futons of this rich country and the lives of hundreds of its inhabitants will, be grsdtly benefited by the introduction of the Siberian reindeer.

DURING THE WAR.

tihriftnuu at the South When Prices Were High. The Christmas of 1861 at the south was not so much different from those that pre ceded, bat the Christmas of 1862 found the Confederate money at a heavy discount Wood was $45 per cord and turkeys $11 each, but even at those prices many wen still able to enjoy them, and there wen still some toys to give the little folks Then came the bitter year of 1863, with the fail of Vicksburg and the defeat at Gettysburg With sad faces, harmonizing well with their dresses of coarse black stuff, the women of the south devoted themselves to picking lint and spinning and weaving for husbands, fathers, broth ers and sweethearts in the field Christmas cheer—such as could be obtained— cost a fabulous sum, for one bright golden dollar was then worth $38 in Confederate money Sugar was from $5 to $10 pet pound, turkeys $50 apiece and flour $2£ per barrel "Christmas, 1864—the last Christmas oi war times—dawned, and what a gloom festival it was for the people of the south," says a southern lady "Of manufactured products we had practically none Oui hairpins were made of long, black thorns, with a ball of sealing wax on one end. We had made into dresses every scrap of available material, and now our gowns consisted of window curtains, 'homespuns' and paper muslin or colored cambric that had once done duty as a lining, while our feet were incased in homemade cloth shoes At a Christmas dinner In a typical southern home that day the festive board presented a turkey that had cost $200, a ham worth $300, hominy and potatoes at correspondingly high prices and black molasses—as dessert—at $60 per gallon The Confederate dollar was then worth just 2 cents in gold Wood was $100 a cord, beel $35 a pound, flour $600 per barrel, butter $40 per pound and sugar $30 per pound. Ail was silent in the negro quarters. There was no singing or dancing there as usual The slaves, having all heard of 'de 'mancipation poclaration,' knew that they were free and had all scattered away. Desolation seemed to reign over everything

A COMEDIAN'S PLIGHT.''

Adventure That Befell Nat Goodwin on a Christmas Night. The most eventful Christmas I ever passed was in 1891 We had played in Utica Christmas eve and were to leave on an early n\orning train for Poughkeepsie The company caught the train all right, but it was frightfully cold and a blizzard was raging. I decided to wait for a later train, which would roach Poughkeepsie about 6 o'clock. Instead of clearing up, however, the storm grew worse, and the train that I waited for never came. It was stalled in a drift up the road somewhere I began to realize then that it was a cold day for me in more senses than one.

I tried to hire an engine, but didn't sue ceed, for there was none I finally gave it up in despair and went back to the ho tel. George Appleton, my manager, was made of sterner stuff than I, however, and in about two hours had organized a party of storm bound passengers and persuaded an other railroad to make up a mixed train and try to get us through to ttyj uncom plcteil bridge at Poughkeepsie We would be landed on the opposite side of the river, they said, but we could get across to the town by the ferry. The depot was about three miles outside of Utica, and it took us three hours and a quarter to reach it? There was no fin? in the cars wo secured, and mighty little in the engine At 8 o'clock Christmas night we were dumped out at the landing opposite Poughkeepsie

Tho river was full of jagged masses of ice ond the ferryboats had been compelled to stop running at 6 o'clock There was

TI1K GUAUD WAS OBDURATE,

no possible way of crossing except by the half finished railroad bridge, and that was guarded at either end by watchmen, who had orders to allow no one to pass Moreover. there was no approach to the bridgo, whose ico clad buttress arose abruptly from the river's edge to a height of a hundred feet or more The other passengers stopped right there and sought shelter in a neighboring hotel. I wanted to follow their good example, but Appleton wouldn't let me He said we had gone too far to turn back then, and. besides, a sturdy small boy at tho hotel had offered to show us how to climb to tho bridge Ho was rewarded in advance, and then we set out to battle with fate The small boy took the lead, Appleton followed him, 1 made a close third, and my valet, Jack? formed a kind of rear guard to look after my remains in case of accident Our small guide led us straight to the huge buttress of the bridge, which was built of massive blocks of stone arranged in terrace form from its broad bass to its narrow apex. These terraces were about 15 feet high and covered with Ioe and snow It was impossible for a man to climb tLem unaided, but the boy was equal to the emergency. After prowling about for a few minutes be found a ladder which had been used by the workmen I can't begin to describe the difficulties and dangers of that climb, but at last we scrambled to the top, with clothes torn and hands bruised and bleeding Fortunately the watchman was walking toward the middle of the bridge, and we had a chance for a good start before be could stop us After a short breathing spell Appleton,

«d

F. A. On

I began our perilous journey

along the narrow footpath that stretched across the ghastly looking ironwork, but before we had reached the middle of the bridge the watchman Mopped as and ordered as to go back We pleaded and protested and argued, bnt it w» of no use Be wouldn't even take a bribe Hereupon the boy Jack loudly called my attention to the fact that the water looked awfully col^ down below Appleton quickly added that under certain circumstances it would make an excellent plunge bath, and 1 chipped ia with a flippant remark about it being a to 1 chofc.

That watchman evidently thought we meditated murder or some equally desper-

TEBBE HAUTE SATURDAY EVENING MAIL, DECEMBEB .18, 1897. 11

ate crime, tor nis eyes rainy nuigea irom their duckets as he backed away from us as far as the narrow footpath would permit. We brushed by him instantly and continued on our way without any further interference from him The watchman at the other end of the bridge, however, proved of different metal. He was as big as two of us. and we didn't dare to attempt any bluff with him. He was even more obdurate than the other fellow. It began to look as though all our labor was to be in vain when Appleton whispered to me to run while he engaged the watchman in conversation. Well, I scooted, and so did Jack, but we didn't scoot far, for we were brought to a sudden standstill by the abrupt termination of the bridge at the bubtrees It was a sheer 100 feet to the ground and there was no ladder. I gave it up again and could have wept scalding tears if it hadn't been so cold. Appleton, how ever, succeeded in pacifying the watchman and came to our rescue with grim determination in his stride. He boldly jumped down the first terrace and called upon Jack and me to follow. Jack did so, but I hesitated. That 15 feet seemed like a precipice, and the landing on the next terrace looked awfully hard and insecure I didn't dare to jump, so 1 compromised by taking a kind of toboggan slide on my coat tail. It wasn't as exhilarating or is fascinating as many other slides I have "had, but it was quite as exciting. In this way I reached terra firma in a somewhat dismantled condition. Incidentally I bade a tearful goodby to my trousers next day.

It was about two miles from tho bridge to the opera house, and we had to foot it, because there wasn't a vehicle abroad that night. We ran most of the way to keep from freezing, and after frightening a oouple of women into hysterics, because they misunderstood our hurried request for information, we arrived at the theater at a quarter past 9 and proceeded with the performance. As there was no time to change I went on just as I was, looking like a scarecrow on a Massachusetts farm. The audience was good natured, though, and readily forgave me when they learned what had,happened NAT C. GOODWIN.

An Early Christmas Drinking Song. The following verses from the original in old Norman French are said to be the first drinking song composed in England:

Lordlings from a distant home, To seek old Christmas are we come. Who loves our minstrelsy And here, unless report missay, The graybeard dwells, and on this day Keeps yearly wassail, ever gay

With festive mirth and glee.

Yale Cakes.

Yule dough, a kind of baby or little Image intended to represent the child Jesus, made of paste, was formerly baked at Christmas and presented by bakers to their customers "in the same manner as the chandlers gave candles." They are still called Yule cakes in the county of Durham, England.

Proved a Blessing. X'

"I had severe pains in my head, caused by catarrh, and was confined to my bed for a long time. I was advised by a friend to try a bottle of Hood's Sarsaparilla. It proved a great blessing. The second bottle cured me and I am now entirely well, and value Hood's Sarsaparilla very highly.". JACOB STUTSMAN, Goshen, Ind.

HOOD'S PILLS cure all liver ills. Mailed for 25c by C. I. Hood & Co., Lowell, Mass.

Finest Trains South.

Queen & Crespent Route Florida and New Orleans Limited. Standard coaches, through Pullman sleepers, cafe, parlor and observatiqu.j cars, .from Cincinnati daily.

Grand Raffle at Alex Sandison's, 677 Main street, on next Thursday and Friday evenings, December 23 and 24. ^/-%. $

Wassmuth & Roeael, at First and Ohio streets, have a big stock of Candies, Oranges, Apples, Nuts and other Christmas Goods at prices the very lowest. Homemade Mince Meat that will make your mouth water, and a full stock of nice, clean Groceries V" ...

Blur's Pharmacy has an elegant line of goods suitable for the holiday trade, including Cameras, Pocket Books, Card Cases, Cuff and Collar Boxes, Photograph Albums, Perfumery, Cigar teases, Toilet Sets and they especially call the attention of the ladies to their fine stock of Cigars, which are in boxes of all sizes to suit. Call at Baur's and inspect their stock, llifisilllsii fMel. 428. &&

Wilvert, 713 and 1115 Wabash avenue, manufactures all of his Christmas confections. They are all pure.

For Christmas Presents in the way of Diamonds, Watches, Chains and Gold Spectacles, do not forget to see Long, No. 642 Wabash a?e.

-•:-b To C«re CoMtipaktioa Forever. M»Ouon«ti CutftOttbanle Kte orSSa. If CC.C f»a to cure, dragga** refund mooer

1 What's Better

-s

t~"-'

Don't let whiskey get tho best of you. Get the best of it at Dodo's.

ift

674 Wabash Avenue. Telephone 90.

4':

Pennsylvania Coke, Kindlings, All Sizes Sewer Pipe

M. J. RUSSELL, Manager.

FOR A CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR A FRIEND THAN A BOX OF

ood Cigars

SE For instance, one of these popular brands: MARGUERITE, VELVET, !W^. X/AURA B,

VINCIBLE

^lllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllF

GEO. REISS. Druggist

IS HEADQUARTERS FOR

Made from Pennsylvania crude. Does not smoke, char the wick nor emit disagreeable odors. Free delivery.

Tel. 282 COR. SECOND AND MAIN

*P. S.—I am the only agent for this oil. dlers. Try it.

DODE CHECK, President. IKE DOTY, Cashier.

The Bank

CABS, BUSSES, BAGGAGE WAGONS, At all hours, day or night.

erre Haute Transfer

CARL KKIETENSTEIN

Southwest Corner Fourth and Chefry Streets

Oils, Glass, Paints, High-Class Drugs, etc.

SOLE AGENTg FOR TIIE FAMOUS

I SEW POULTRY HOUSE*

Everything Fresh and Clean. Come and see us. Delivery to any part of the city.

THOMAS & SON, 644 Lafayette *444444444444444444444444

BURKES & RAY

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL

Agents for 80UDAJT, PYRAMID and

NILE BICYCLES

yple JH^xchange

i&Tw

^MERRY CHIMES, REINA CUBANA, AMERICAN STANDARD,

IRMA, BELINA, JACKSON CLUB,

All made here in Terre Haute by

Maurice Hegarty

"is

'\s

719

Main St.

It is not sold by ped-

South Sixth Street

DRESSED POULTRY, EGGS, FISH and GAME

Telephone 291.

GOAL

BRAZIL BLOCK,| LUMP, ANTHRACITE, SMITHING, 8TEAM

JOHN HEENAN, Proprietor.] .. THOS. L. JOHNSON (of Jofanson Station), Clerk

950 Wabash Avenue

CIGAR AND NEWS STAND

OAS AND STEAM FITTER. 109 South Sixth Street

723 MAIN STREET

ifct. I'1-.

Sporting Events Reported Daily. 8nb*crlpllon# to all Periodical* Solicited.