The record-union., 1897-08-24


they have embraced Christianity and
have become an Industrious, sober and
thrifty lot of people.
The story goes that a short time after
the island had been given them it was
discovered that a large mountain on
it was so fabulously rich in gold as to
be veritable mountain of gold.'
Miss Black, who has visited the island
and been all over it, says the story of
the mountain of gold is absurd and
there is nothing to it.
She has also been up in Alaska, and
this is what she says of women going
up into the Klondike country:
81 would never go to the Klondike. 1t
is no place for woman. They cannot
wear clothes enough to keep themselves
warm. 1 would not go up into that
country for anything in the world"
THE QUEENS LAST TRIP.
VICTORIA, Aug 23-The steamer
Queen left this morning on her last trip
this season for Alaska. She was
crowded with passengers, freight and
horses Fifteen passengers were left
here, as there was no room on the
steamer for their horses AMI outfits.
REINDEER EXPERIMENT.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 23.-Some in
terest!ng statements relating to the
gold region of Alaska and the reindeer
experiment there are brought out in
the annual statement of United States
Commissioner of Education Harris,
submitted to-day.
Touching on the Importance of ey-
tending the introduction of reindeer
into that territory, the report says the
reindeer stations ought to be able to
furnish 500 reindeer trained to harness
at once for the use of the miners on
the Upper Yukon River.
1T was my purpose" the Commits
sioner goes on, 'to detail three of the
skilled herdsmen and thirty reindeer
to the Yukon region the present sum-
mer''
If this arrangement is carried out as
instructed, an important experiment
will be in progress during the coming
year at the gold mines. The plan of
the bureau has been to arrange a rein
deer express connecting towns in a
line from Behring Straits to Kodiak Is
lands. Superintendent of Reindeer Sta
tons Ejollmanni last September proved
the practicability of this by making a
trial trip on this route. Two of his
party were able to take the steamer at
Katmai, sailing to Sitka in March
This arrangement once completed, it
will be possible for business companies
in San Francisco and other cities to
hold communication with their whal-
ing neots during the winter north of
the Arctic circle. There have been
maintained in Alaska twenty day
schools under the supervision of the
Interior Department, with twenty-three
teachers and an enrolment of 1,267
pupils. A public school was opened at
Circle City in the Yukon mining dis
trict, but the Departments agent, writ
ing from st. Michaels, says he is afraid
he will be forced to discontinue it. be-
cause of the exodus of that city's pop
ulation into the region nearer the re-
Gently discovered mines
The influx of miners into the Yukon
has caused a demand for reindeer for
freighting purposes. In the original
plan of the purchase and distribution of
reindeer reference was had to secure
a new food supply for the famishing
Eskimos of the Behring Sea and the
Arctic Ocean region, but it is now
found that reindeer are as ESSENTIAL to
the white man as to Eskimos.
The wonderful Yukon placer mines
are situated twenty-five to 100 miles
from the greater stream. Provisions
brought from the south and landed on
the banks of the river are with great
difficulty transported to the mines on
the tributary streams. Last winter
mongrel dogs for TRANSFORMATION pur-
poses cost from 800 to 5000 each, and
freight charges from the river to the
mountaln range from Il to 20 cents per
pound. The trained reindeer make in
day two or three times the distance
covered by dog teams, and have the
advantage that they can use the abun-
dant moss as food