The San Francisco call., 1897-11-07

them all in their power, out IL requires
strong stomach to retain what those
people consider delicacies. / have known
many white men to die among The natives
simply because they could not swallow
the food the Indians subsisted upon.
Imagine great hole dug In the earth
as large and deep as a good sized room.
This Is partly filled with water, and into
1t the Indians dump fish, seal fat. hale
blubber and anything else in the way OF
food that comes to them. II is allowed to
decay to such an extent that it is scooped
out with a wooden paddle and the putrld
ruass eaten raw. The stencil arising from
these pits is something awful, but the
more decayed the food is the better the
natives like it. The water covering this
mass is covered with a green slime thicker
than that covering the most siagnant
pools.
Under such circumstances / doubt very
MI uch whether he whalers would attem pit
the journey before succor reached them.
There are no whales left in the Arctic
now, but the men could undoubtedly kill
seal occasionally, and by making trips
into the interior they might add few
carriboo to their stock of provisions. The
worst feature of that country is the total
lack of wood
There is absolutely no timber in the
whole region, and the only fuel the men
Will be able to get is from the ships. Ii
the ice between the ships and shore is
solid they will be able to get every thing
on board to the station. and if the vessels
are crushed IN the ice large part OF their
spars anc hullS may be got ashore.
such Journey as the relief expedition
would have to make | DO not regard as
particularly hazardous, provided it takes
with 1t all the available reindeer. There
are many places along the route where
The animals can break through the snow
and browse; at other times they would
have to be fed. But as they could be util-
lzed as pack animals they could carry,
with the aid OF dogs and sledgesr sufficient
fodder to last until Point Barrow was
reached. 1t is said that dogs and re n
deer DO not get along we'll together. That
dlffloulty could be obviated by dividing
the expedition into two divisions sending
the reindeer ON ahead and having the og
teams follow.
81 am convinced that such an expedi-
ton would be the means OF saving money,
II not all the Imperiled lives, and the
Government should take prompt meas
ures to rescue these men, or at least make
the attempt. Over million dollars was
spent in rescuing the members of the
Rodgers expedition, when not nearly as
many lives were at stake, and the qucs-
tion of expense ought not to figure now"
mand such an expedition? Captain
Healy was asked.
Lieutenant Stoney OF the navy" was
tn reply.
Would you undertake it2"
Most willingly if l should be called
upon. At least | would undertake the
sea expedition and believe l could reach
he north coast of Norton Sound or even
Cape Prince OF Wales without much diff
Guilty"
Would you be willing to lead the land
partv?''
Yes. if / were asked TO do so, but it
would be an unusual proceeding for a cap
tain to leave his ship for such long
period"
What, in your opinion, would be the
best ship for such an undertakingP
THE cutter Bear is as well fitted for
battle with The ice as any. She is due at
Puget Sound from the north in few
days, and ought to be in good condition.
But ii the Bear is not available then anv
OF the steam whalers now in port would
answer admirably. 1t is not question of
an available ship, though, or men to COM
mand it, so much as il is to have the Gov.
ernment do something ct once for the
relief OF the poor fellows who will surely
die unless relief is sent to them."
If relief party is TO be sent out a start
should be made at once" said Captain o.
j. Humphrey of the Pacific Steam Wha-
ing Company Yesterday. 1.-The obstacles
IN the way are very great, but that is no
reason why the attempt should not be
made. There is no one in the country
knows the Arctic batter than Captain
Healy, late of the Bear, and no one would
ge: farther north than he. o. course
there is no telling how far south the ice is
frozen, but one thing is certain, the longer
delay there is in making Il start the less
chance there Will be OF reaching the i'm
prisoned men. 1.-THE Govern ment is will
ing to lend helping hand to the miners
in Dawson City, how much more willingly
should it reach out 10 help the whalers.
The latter are all American sailors, on
American ships, while Dawson is a Cana
dian township with mixed populate
Zone thing is certain, the United States
Government did a criminal act when it
sold out the Point Barrow relief station,
leaving the whalers and Indians to shift
for themselves.
''Once the reindeer stations are reached
don't think there would be much trouble
in getting TO Point Barrow. Each deer
can carry from 100 to $50 pounds and as
there are over 500 of them In the two
nerds there should be no trouble in send
ing on prov sions. 1t would take too long
to reach the Bear ant; get her provisioned,
SO one of the steam whalers now in port
should be secured and sent away at once "
There is no hope for the Jessie HI.
Freeman. Orca, Belvc dere ami Rosario"
said Leon Blum of Roth, Blum 81 Co.
Next spring they will go to pieces like so
much kindling wood and nothing viii be
LETT. OF course long before the ice begins
to break up the crews will leave the ves-
sells and take up their residence on the
beach. The force of the ice will pile the
sand up to height of fifty feet on the
beach, so you can imagine wnat chance
vessel would have.
''The captains of the jeanette ana
Karluk did everything in their power for
the i'm prisoned whaler-. When they saw
tn at they were in dangerous place they
landed every ount of supplies that they
could spare at Cape Smythe. 1t would
not go great way among 800 men, but
still it was better than nothing. On ac-
count of leaving those supplies at the
cape both the jeanette and Karluk were
short when they reached San Francisco.
'In regard to sending relief to the men
frozen in something should be done at
once. or course no one can tell whether
Point Barrow can be reached until the at
tempt is made, and the sooner the better.
The Government is to blame for selling
out the relief station and now 1t should