Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-04-29

,~s&ses- poleon was caught
Ss3SA-1A and crushed in the ice
May 5. 1885 The crew
~EEsg~ took to the boats, four
@@EzE In number, two of
l[-= which were picked up
.--E-@ by another vessel. The
~--~ eighteen men on the
-r~- two o.her boats under
went unheard-of hardships Only nine of
them succeeded in reaching the coast. and
eight Of these were so badly frozen that they
soon died. The sole survivor, J. b. Vincent,
was adopted by family Of natives which had
a herd of domesticated reindeer. With them
he renamed over two years. On a board,
which he sent as a message along the shore,
this arctic Robinson Crusoe carved some
letters with knife. On one side was "lss7.
j. b. V. Blk. Nap. Tobacco give On the
reverse side was "S. W. c. Nav. 10 m. Help
come" The piece of wood eventually reached
the Z. s. s. Bear and told the story: "lss7. J.
L. Vincent Of the bark Napoleon is ten miles
southwest Of Cape Navarn. Come to his
rescue. Give the bearer some tobacco for his
trouble"
The Bear, when the message was received,
was at Port Clarence, Alaska. 1t steamed over
at once to the coast of Siberia and rescued the
lost man. Congress subsequently made an ap-
preparation for the purchase of presents with
which to reward the natives for their care of
Mr.. Vincent and his comrades. The Bear
made special trip to Cape Navarin for the
purpose of conveying these gifts. On arriving
messengers were sent in every direction on dog
sleds to gather the people together. The arti-
cles distributed consisted Of 1000 yards of
drilling, 500 yards of calico, 100 packages of
glovers needles. dozen hand looking glasses
1850 pounds of ship bread, half barrels of
sugar, barrels OF molasses, / chest OF tea, 6
dozen combs. dozen packages Of linen thread,
dozen tin pals and pans, dozen iron pots, 2
Kegs OF nails, with hammers. files, gimlets, saws
and other carpenters tools. dozen rifles and l
half-dozen shotguns. lbs pounds of powder 300
pounds Of lead, 2 bags of shot, 20. 900 caps,
l.0oo cartridges. axes. hatchets. butcher knives,
dozen fox traps. dozen pipes, tobacco, snuff,
box of snow goggles. package of fish hooks
and lines and box Of children's toys Total
value 81, 900.
AN UNsELFIsH RACE.
1t may readily be imagined what vast &C
emulation of treasures these things repre-
sented to the natives widely separated as they
are from civilization and its resources Never
theless, when the gifts were being distributed
they manifested the most remarkable unselfish-
ness. There was no disposition to grab and no
one seemed TO think that somebody else was
receiving more than himself. The more fire.
quent expression of anxiety seemed to be that
nobody should be overlooked These are the
II.
They also hunt the whale, the walrus and the
seal, using spears, with ivory points set in bone
sockets. Powder and lead are so diff
cult for them to obtain that they use them
very sparingly, sometimes taking great
trouble to recover the bullets in order TO
employ them again. Tie men shave the crowns
OF their heads, leaving fringe of coarse, black
hair around the forehead and Sides which
gives them the appearance of many monks.
They are said to do this in order that the flying
~ rhatr bnsy AZ
Wild reindeer when they are hunting. They
have no chiefs, their organization being
Patriarchal. II one man accommodates more
deer than his neighbors his wealth gives him
certain amount of influence Poor men who
have no deer of their own Join his band and as
sist in caring for his herd in return for food
and clothing. The dress of both men and
women consists of large skin shirt and pair
OF skin pantaloons.
COMMISSIONER JAcKsoS's TRIP.
Commissioner Sheldon jackson, educational
agent for Alaska. accompanied the gift-distrb-
uting expedition described. These data are
obtained from his report on the subject, which
is about to be issued. From Cape Navarin he
journeyed on board Of the Bear to the Arctic
ocean, anchoring off Cape Franklin That
region is great graveyard of ships During
the last twenty years about eighty whaling
vessels have been wrecked on the American
side of that coast and twenty on the Asiatic |
side: In 1871 thirty-three ships were caught |
on the ice near Cape Franklin and abandoned. |
BY their destruction 200 sailors were cast |
helpless on the ice-bound shore, with a scant |
supply OF provisions and 100 miles of solid ice |
pack between them and escape. There was |
then no refuge station at Point Barrow but |
fortunately they were able to get south along |
the coast until they met some ships which took |
them of. Chronometer cases from the lost |
fleet have since been found in use among the |
natives along that shore as receptacles for |
various household purposes.
Within the last twelve years more than 2 600 |
sailors have been wrecked on that Arctic coast |
Nearly all Of them have been fortunate enough |
to find vessels within reach to carry them south
ward to civilization, but the occasion is likely !
to arrive at.any season when they will be COM
PEELED to winter in that latitude This to
large body OF men would mean slow starvation
and death. They could not subsist on the
country, and no power on earth could reach
them with help when the long winter had set
In. Fortunately, to provide against such a
tragedy, Congress has recently provided money
for the establishment ola refuge station at Point
Barrow, which is the most northerly point of
Alaska building has been erected. thirty
by forty eight feet and one-story high which
will accommodate fifty men comfortably and
can shelter double that number if necessary.
The walls, roof and floor are made double as a
protection against the intense cold A store
house is also provided, with provisions enough;to
last 100 men year, as well as clothing and coal.
THE HAZARD OF WHALE FISHING
1t seems astonishing that men should be
willing to adopt SO hazardous a method OF
getting living as whaling is nowadays in those
far northern waters. But the risks do not de-
ter the bold hunters from pursuing these val
liable mammals into the most remote accessi-
BILE regions OF eternal ice. Annually they fol-
low the whales around the most no rthern ex-
tremity of the American continent and some
vessels have even ventured to pass the winter
in the Arctic ocean. The value Of the fishery
consists not SO much in the oil taken as in the
whaebone, which is obtained from the mouth
Of the animal. This is worth from 81 so to IS
pound. The product of a fair-sized bow
head whale ut present prices will fetch about
$4,000. A good-sized whale weighs 100 tons
and yields about 1000 pounds Of whaebone.
His tongue is Is feet long, feet thick and
gives IL barrels Of oil His open mouth is
from Is to 20 feet across. The blubber forms
a coat around him from 10 to 20 inches thick.
1t is 4 feet from the outside Of the body to his
heart and the latter organ is ZIG cubic feet in
size. His brains viii fill barrel
A few years ago whales were plentiful in the
North Pacific, Boring and Oshkosh seas. The
steady pursuit of them has driven them into the
Arctic ocean. where they try in vain to find
safe refuge in the Ice. In 1852 the whaling
feet OF the Pacific comprised 27s vessels and