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

great deposits of tusks. teeth and bones of
mammoths, specimens Of which he brought
away.
In the e>er-frozeu sou of arctic Alaska bu-
ried food will keep for indefinite period
without deteriorating. In 1882 Lieut.. Ray. U.
5. N, dug well to depth of thirty-eight feet
near Point Barrow for the purpose of observ-
ing the temperature OF the earth. To the very
bottom OF the hole there was nothing but frozen
sand and gravel At the bottom the tempera-
ture remained. winter and summer. uniformly
at IL degrees Fahrenheit. At depth Of twenty
feet tunnel was run ten feet horizontally and
room ten By twelve feet in size was excayated
for cellar. Birds and meat placed in this
room freeze solid and stay SO until taken out
and thawed FOR cooking. DIR. Jackson de-
scended into this unique storage house and
assisted in taking out several reindeer and dog
ems of elder ducks, which were conveyed to the
Bear. making n very welcome addition to
the fare on board the ship.
Owing to the difficulty Of digging graves In
the frozen soil a common method OF burial is
TO wrap the dead in seal skins. which are Sc
curely tied and fastened above the ground in
the forks OF poles or elevated platforms so high
above the earth that wild animals cannot reach
them. Rows of such graves are sometimes
seen extending for miles along the beaches.
The Eskimo of arctic Alaska are still in the
stone age. The manufacture of arrows and
spearheads from fiints is a living industry.
Stone lamps, stone hammers ana chIsels anu
TO some extent stone knives are still in ordinary
use. The natives of the Interior being TO a
great extent nomads. live in tents most of the
time. In making winter house a cellar from
twenty to twenty-five feet square is dug to n
depth of five feet At the corners and along
the sides of the excavation are set posts of
driftwood or whales bones On the outside of
these poles of driftwooi are laid one upon
another up to the top. Other tinibers are placed
across the top, forming the roof or ceiling
Against the outside and upon the roof dirt and
sod are piled until the whole has the appearance
OF large mound. In the center of the dome is
an opening eighteen inches across Across this
is stretched the transparent bladder of seal or
wairus. Thus the opening furnishes light TO
the room below.
NO MARRIAGE CEREMONY.
There seems to be no special ceremony among
these Eskimo connected with marriage. Among
some OF the tribes the husband joins his wife s
family. and is expected to hunt and fish for
them. If he refuses to give to his father-in-law
the furs he takes he is driven out of the house
ana some one else more active and obedient is
installed as husband OF the girl Sometimes a
Young woman has ten or twelve husbands be-
fore she finally settles down. Wives often
exchanged. The foundation of their whole re-
llgious system is belief in spirits and demons
Every animal hunted, every phenomenon of
nature, every event of lite requires a religious
observance Of its own. At the mouth of the
huskowine river an old woman was &C
cused OF being witch. So her
own husband pounded her to death,
cut up her body into small pieces. severing
joint from JOINT, and then consumed it with oil
IN her fire. The head and front of this super
natural business is the shamau or sorcerer He
is believed to be the only one who can control
the evil spirits and protect the people from
them. The sorcerers are divided into seven
degrees. being graded apparently according to
Their knowledge of spiritism, yentriloguism.
feats of legerdemain and general cunning Ii
is claimed that those of the seventh degree are
immortal and can neither be killed nor
wounded; that those of the sixth degree can be
wounded but not killed. The ordinary sor-
cerer belongs to the lower degrees. and only
claims to go into frances, in which state his
spirit leaves the body and roams abroad for the
purpose OF procuring the information his pa
irons are in search of. As rule these sor-
cerers are inscriptions frauds, thieves and
murderers.
DIFFICULTY ABOUT TINE.
The location of schools IN a region where the
winter time is one long night presents new
problems. The constant need of lamps in the
school room is a matter of course. But great
difficulty Is experienced in the confusion of
time which arises from the absence of the sun
to mark the alternate periods of day and night
without a marked difference in the light be-
tween noon and midnight all knowledge OF
time among barbarous people becomes lost
They know no difference between o'clock a.
m. and 9 o'clock pm. Consequently. when the
school bel! rings out in the arctic darkness at
clock am. some of the pupils have Just
gone to bed and are in their first sound sleep.
Reused up and brought to the school room
they fall asleep in their seats.
DIR. Jackson was much struck with method
OF making sausages which is practiced on the
Pribylov Seal Islands. After the seals are
killed the flesh is cut from the bodies and
carried home, where it is sliced into thin strips
and hung on poles to dry. When dried it is
stuffed into the stomachs of sea lions which
have boon cleaned and prepared for the pur-
pose. After filling each stomach with dried
meat seal oil Is poured in. filling up all the
vacant spaces. Thus is made huge sausage
from two to three feet in diameter This is
slowed away for winter Use. The intestines of
the sea lions are cleaned by the women for a
different purpose. After being cleansed they
are hung ont 10 dry. and when dried they are
split lengthwise, forming bands 8 to inches
wide and from IS to 100 feet long From these
strips are made the famous waterproof coats
worn by the people, which are much lighter
stronger and dryer than rubber coats. resisting
rain longer and better. Among the Eskimo of
the arctic the larger intestines of the waIrus
are used.