Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1892-12-09


North on the revenue cutter Rush. Mr..
jackson has held this position since 1885,
and he spends every summer in Alaska
inspecting the schools in his jurisdiction.
The subject in which he is principally
interested just now, however, is the in .
PRODUCTION of the domesticated reindeer
into Alaska, and the trip from which he
has just returned has been largely de-
voted to furthering that project. He has
succeeded almost beyond his expecta.
tons, having procured n herd of 175
reindeer and established them ut n station
at Port Clarence.
DIR. Jackson first became interested in
this subject few years ago when, after
making a trip to Siberia, he was much
struck by the contrast between the con.
dition of the native Siberians and that
OF the Esquimaux. With very little ap-
parent difference in race characteristics
and climatic conditions tho general
prosperity and wel-fcd appearance o.
the native Siberians presented sharp
contrast TO the general destitution of the
half-starved Esquimaux. Seeking the
cause he became convinced that the
more favorable conditions of existence
enjoyed by the Siberians was due en-
tirely to the vast herds of domestlcated
reindeer OF which they IRE the possessors
and which, in TACT, are their only wealth.
To the native Siberian the reindeer is
everything. 1t is food, raimcnt, shelter
and means OF transportation. The
females supply him with milk, although
he makes neither butter nor cheese. lie
uses the carcasses for meat With the
skins he not only makes his clothing and
shoes, but even the tents and huts in
which he lives.
j On the Alaskan side the Esouimou.
fifty years ago, found no difficulty in
feeding and clothing himself. Whales
and walrus were plentiful, and the Esqui.
mau, who is essentially n fisherman, could
easily supply his simple needs. But the
whaler came and hunted the monster of
the deep so vigorously that it has become
scarce or has been made wild, and no
longer comes near to the shore, where
alone the native, in his light canoe, can
pursue what used to be his Legitimate
and easy prey. When whales were scarce
the EsquimauX could fall bnck on the
walrus, but the whalers, too, when whales
were short, took to hunting the walrus
Tor its ivory. One whalcr informed DIR.
Jackson that lie had killed ms many no
2OOO warus in one season, so that it is
no wonder that in occasional seasons re.
ports come to hand that the natives in
our northern possessions IRE threatened
with starvation.
MIR. Jackson became convinced that
the only hope of temporal salvation for
the Esqmmaux lay in introducing and
propagating the reindeer, and tenc,ing
and training the natives III the habit OF
herding and caring for them.
When seen DR.. Jackson said: "Either
we must teach the Esquimuux in the far
north to be self-supporting or the Gov.
ernmcnt must take them under its pa
ternal care and provide them with RI
tions and clothing, for our whalcrs and
hunters have deprived them of their
natural food supply. The whale and
the wairus arc fast disappearing before
the harpoon bomb and the breech -loading
rife. The patcrnal system of treating
the savage makes him shiftless, and the
care OF him, once undertaken, becomes
perpetual, if his race does not become
extinct. The other alternative is to
teach him to become dependent.
You cannot teach the Esquimau in the
regions farthest north to till the soil.
There is no soil to till, for the earth is
frozen the whole year round. Ibelievc
that the problem can be solved by
teaching the Esquimau to breed and !
herd the reindeer. -. rs -, p.
"There have always been wild rein
deer both in Alaska and in Siberia, but |
all modern experiments at domesticatinp
the wild reindeer have been failures.
How the progenitors of the present vast |
herds of the domcsticated animal in ST. |
IBERIA were first reclaimed we do not
know. 1t is something that is lost in
the mists OF history. Apparently the |
wild and the domesticatcd reindeer are
the same, except that the wild animal is
always OF dark reddish brown, while
the domcsticatcd animal becomes vurc.
gated in color, striped and spotted like
our domestic cattle.
"Thc value of the reindeer to the S. |
berian native is incstimable. 1t is his
only source of what is in his country re.
gardcd as wealth. The animal will live
and feed itself where nothing else can.
Its iood is a rich, thick moss which
covers the earth all over to depth of
about two inches with carpetlikc vel.
vet. The reindeer will easily paw
through twelve or eighteen inches of
snow and find this food in abundance.
In Siberia the natives live entirely on the
milk and meat of the reindeer and seal
oil. With this food they manage not
only to exist in what to them is comfort
without vegetables or flour, which are
but they are free from
scurvy or other kindred ailments, and
many of them are us fine specimens of
physical manhood rs can be found on
any part of the globe. Ten reindeer are
the ordinary provision which n father
makes for his SON to give the latter
start in life when he marries. One hun
dred reindeer and their natural increase
will support any ordinary family in the
kind of comfort that is to be found in
the Artic regions, where have found