The evening times., 1898-03-01
LANDING THE REINDEER.
On Solid Eearth With Their Gu
riously Coated Attendants.

riouSly Coated ATTENDANTS.
New York. Mar. IA curious crowd
was at the foot of Sixth street, Jersey
City. yesterday morning and afternoon
to witness the disembarkment of the sSi
reindeer brought here by the United
States Government the steamship
Manitoban on Sunday last to be used in
the Yukon Valley for the transportation
of food and mails i'm the northern part OF
Alaska.
The big ship reached her pier at 10
o clock. The crowd gaZed with interest at
the Laplandcrs, Finlanders and Norwegi-
ans, who came with the herd to act as
drivers of the animals, and who were ac-
companied by their families. 1t was
found that the tide was too low TO allow
the ship to get alongside the pier, and the
stock barge p ID. Lefever was tied up
TO the pier and the Manitoban brought
alongside of her. Gangways were run
from the steamship to the barge and
thence to the pier.
All being in readiness, the reindeer were
led from their pens on the upper deck
and on the main deck TWO or three at
| time. Halters of rawhide were placed on
the animals and with a Laplander,
Fmlander or a Norwegian leading the an
imal by leash ten or fifteen feet long
they were forced down the gangways to
the pier, struggling and jumping as
though they were Texas steers instead or
supposedly well-behaved animals from the
far North.
Once on the pier the Laplanders and
! their fellow drivers lost little time with
| the. unruly animals. In some cases the
deer went along without further trouble,
| but many of them struggled ana held
back Their drivers know the nature OF
the animals thoroughly, however. and
paid little attention to their objections.
| Hauling the deeS along as though they
were inanimate objects they trudged
| ahead until the cattle pens were reached,
/ when the deer were driven into the pens
! and the men returned to the ship for
| more animals.
| The cavortings and struggles OF the
| reindeer. while affording much amuse-
ment for the sightseers. was nothing to
! the fun which was provided by the APP
pearance of the Laplanders, Norwegians
and Firms with their women and chill
| dren. The clothing of these men, women
| and children was what chiefly attracted
| the notice Of the sightseers.
| With few exceptions their coats. which
| extended below their knees. were made
| of reindeer hide. the hair being worn on
/ the outside. Their legs were protected
| by trousers. also made of reindeer skin,
| while i'm place Of shoes they wore moe
| casins made Of rawhide. and very stiff.
| So that tho soles afford almost as much
| protection to the feet as do those of
| shoes worn by persons in civilized cOun-
/ tries.
The Inhabitants Of the countries from
| which thcee curious visitors come eyi-
| IDENTIFY have a strong admiration for col
ors. Not a man. woman or child on the
| Manitoban yesterday was without 4
! quantity Of red cloth about their cloth
| ing. The peculiar caps which the men
| wore resembled nothing so much as q
! cross between a small sofa pillow and
| the ''mortarboard' hats which are worn
| i'm many colleges. while the lower part
! Of the headdress consists of d fur cap
! which is attached to the upper structure
| previously described. The coats Of the
men were fancifully trimmed with red
| cloth and embroidery. The women
and children wore red skull caps but with
this exception were dressed very much
the same as the men. The children
/ followed the women'S style OF dress.
II was , o'clock in the afternoon be
fore the reindeer were all ashore and IL
| their pens, where they lay down to rest
| after their firing voyage across the At
lantic. Two hours later all the Fin
| landerS, NorweSianS and Laplanders
| were also ashore ana comfortably nous
ed in two tourist sleeping cars ana tive
other cars. which will he utilized rs din
ing cars for the strangers. The entir,
party, with the reindeer will leave thi.
| afternoon for Seattle by the PenusylVa
mia Railroad from Jersey City. The rein
| dec viii be loaded into thirty Cattlt
/ cars. which will be run as one train
divided into two sections. 1t is cx
| pected that the train will reach Seattl,
I f is a ara1 ER1g
point the OUTFIT will be shipped to Ska
quay. where the party will divide ant
make their way into the interior Of Alas
ka by different routes.