Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-12-12
ton routes can procure trained deer for

ton routes can procure trained deer fol-
the purpose.
The first thought Of the miner in Gen.
trail Alaska is to secure a good claim,
and his next thought Is the question Of
food supply-whether he can secure
enough provisions from the warehouses,
where they are brought by boats and in
other ways, to enable him to work his
mine continuously. With the exception
of fish and a limited quantity Of wild
game, and a limited quantity of garden
vegetables, there is no food in the coun-
try; all bread stuffs and the large rpor-
ton Of the meat supply and fruits must
be brought into IL from the OUTSIDE.
Now, 1t should be remembered, that
there are no roads in Alaska, as they
exist In other sections of the United
States, and that, with the almost IL
limitable area of bog and swamp and
tundra and frozen subsoil, it will be i'm
possible to make and maintain roads, ex-
cept at q cost that is practically prohi-
bitive. In summer the supplies, loaded
into small boats, are pulled up the creeks
or packed on mems shoulders. In winter
they are hauled on dog-sleds. This costs
heavily. In addition to the expense, the
carrying capacity is limited-a load is
from 100 10 125 pounds per sled per dog,
a
and If the route is a long one, without
intervening stores Of supply, dog team
can scarcely carry more than food suffi-
cient for themselves. SO far. they have
failed In supplying the miners with sum-
cient stock Of provisions.
The only possible solution of the ques-
ton of reasonable land transportation and
rapid communication and travel between
centres hundreds OF miles apart in sub
Arctic Alaska is the introduction and
utilizing OF domestic reindeer The deer is
TO the far North what the camel is to
desert regions; the animal which God has
provided and adapted for the special con-
dtions which exist The greater the de-
gree of cold, the better he thrives. Last
winter a party Of reindeer hauling nine
sleds made a days journey with the tenn
perature at 70 degrees below zero. A deer
with 200 pounds on the sled can travel
up and down the mountains and over the
plains from one end OF Alaska to the
other living off the country where he
travels. Last season an expedition or
nine deer, drawing nine sleds. was made
through Alaska, lasting during the four
winter months, and making total dis
tance of 1900 miles. during which the
deer were turned out at night efter a
days work TO find their own provision,
which Is inc HGtiVe moss AOidlOAlu AaA'Bi-
ferina) covering all that region.
The great mining interest OF Central
Alaska cannot realize its fullest develop
ment until the reindeer are introduced In
sufficient numbers TO do the work of sup
plying the mines with provisions and
freight. and giving the miner speedy COM
with the outside world. 1t
now takes from fifty TO sixty days TO car
~ the mail between Juneau and Circle
City. With the establishment OF relay
stations at suitable distances reindeer
will carry the same mail in four or five
days. The reindeer is equally important
to the prospector. Prospecting at a dis
tance from the base OF supplies Is now
impossible. The prospector can go only
so far as his supply Of provisions. blank
cts, and tools, which he carries on his
own shoulders will last him; then he
must return for a fresh supply. With ten
head Of reindeer, packing 100 pounds each
(making half a ton OF supplies), he can
be gone for months penetrating regions
hundreds OF miles distant, his deer mean |
while grazing wherever night finds him
and them.
with Alaska fully stocked with this |
animal, the hardy Eskimo ana |
the enterprising American will develop |
grazing and mining industries that Will |
amount TO 100000 annually. and all this |
in regions where such industries are now /
only developed sufficiently to show their |
great possibilities.
SHELDON JACKSON. NJ D.,
United States General Agent of Educa-
ton in Alaska.