Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-05-20
USEFUL ARCTIC CANNES.
Superior to the Horse and the Reindeer tor
the Work They Have TO Do.

the klOndlke regions ny tHt uiStoNei-
les of the rich gold mines in those
northern lands, and the possibilities
vet in store for the adventurous pio-
neers who may push still farther into
the interior are attracting the atten-
ton of vast multitudes.
Everything pertaining to these re-
eions is therefore of interest, especially
To those who would personally make
the attempt to reach those distant re-
treats. where nature has stored away
the yellow gold. To the thoughtful
ones who would count the cost" ere
they make the attempt to reach those
remote regions. there is the conscious
ness that there are difficulties to be
met and hardships 10 be faced. such as
We're never encountered by the miners
Of California. Australia, or South
Africa.
The long cold winter. especially in
the [londike regions. and in all parts
Of Alaska remote from the coast, is Of
course the greatest barrier in the road
to success. Eight or nine months OF
solid cold winter, where the mercury
is frozen nearly all of the time. where
the ground in which is hidden away
the golden nuggets is frozen so solid
all the way down to the bed rock That
it never thaws out during the brief
summer, is condition of things hard
to be comprehended, except by those
who have had the bitter experience.
Then the roughneSS of the cnuntry,the
greater part of ii being yet practically
impassab bic. with the entire absence OF
roads. and the frightful character OF
its few passes and mountain trails. are
among the many drawbacks to be TAX
en- into consideration by those who
would there venture.
From the experience of a number Of
years of life in the northern regions of
the Hudson Bay Territories, we are
firmly convinced that winter travel
ling by dogs will be more and more
utilized
Until the railroad projected by the
Canadian government to run up from
the Canadian Pacific Railroad along
the eastern side Of the Rocky Noun
tains into the gold fields is completed,
the dog trains will be the most popu-
lar, and expeditions way of travel.
The great Hudson Bay Fur Trading
Company have been using them for
over two hundred years. With their
wei trained dogs. their employees. both
whites and Indians, travelled every
where in those northern regions, often
going up well within the arctic circle.
Nansen's trip with his dogs after he
left the Fran, as we'll as the journeys
of other arctic. or North Pole eXplOr-
ers, tell us OF what can be successfully
accomplished by these hardy faithful
animals.
The utter failure Of the costly expert
ments of utilizing horses. by the death
of thouSan ds Of them i'm the frightful
passes. will not soon be repeated.
The fact that dogs of any decent size
or breed are quoted at from Il hum
dred to a hundred and fifty dollars
apiece at the present time in the passes
and on the trails. shows how they are
being priced by those who would use
them. While all kinds of dogs. of any
strength. in this emergency. are being
pressed into service, yet there has ever
been in those high ATTITUDES a prefer
ence for the Eskimo or Huskie dogs.
Good dogs of this breed should weigh
from ninety to a hundred and forty
pounds each. They have in addition to
the outer coat of hair an inner on of
the nature of fur, and are thus enabled
to live comfortably where some other
species of dogs would speedily freeze
to death. Their ears are small and
pointed, and their muZZle is much like
that of n fox. They have hard. COM
pact feet. and in this they are also su-
periOr to other dogs. At a good deal
of expense and trouble l imported into
that north land, some valuable st. Ber-
nard and Newfoundland dogs. While
priced them very much, and found
them superior to the Eskimo dogs. in
many respects. yet their feet required
constant watching and shoeing. while
my Eskimo dogs feet very seldom re-
quired anything beyond ordinary at
tention.
Dogs are very much more SagaciouS
than horses. Hudson Bay fur traders,
gold seekers, hunters and missionar-
les, when caught in billiards, or fear
full snowstorms, will always much
more confidently trust themselves To
the intelligent instincts of their dogs.
to take them to a place of safety. than
to horses. 1t is a fact alas, by many
too well known, that when cyclone
or blizzard reaches a certain fury,
horses will turn around even on a we'll
beaten trail, and go with the storm
even if ii leads them from their own
camp or stable. Dogs, on the contrary
no matter how fiercely may rage the
storm, and no matter what may be its
character, will braVely and unfiinch-
ingly push on to some place of refuge
There is the Well-known case of mis-
sionary who was lost when out with
horses in one of those great Northern
plains. When last seen alive he was
bravely pushing along a beaten trail
with his horse in the direction of his
camp, which was then only eight miles
away. He never reached the spot, but
many days after was found frozen
solid, scores of miles out on the plains.
where his horse had drifted with the
gale. During this same terrible storm.
which was the worst that swept over
the northern part of the continent that
winter. another missionary travelling
with dogs, in a much colder part of
that north land, also became lost and
bewildered. Tying himself on his dog
sled, while his sole Indian companion
securely did the same on another dog
sled, they shouted "March," to the