The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-10-10

clothed, and all taken
intelligent looking lot Of children. The
real surprise came, however, when
they began to carry out the program.
There was a welcome song; Home,
Sweet Home" and "America.' in
which the peculiar and somewhat
metallic, but not unpleasant voices
of the children carried the four parts
to an accompaniment. on a small or
gan. There was a short address OF
welcome read by one of the larger
boys and a response by Senator Dill
ingham. Then there were recltatons
by the smaller children that would
have done credit to pupils Of the same
age in the Minneapolis schools. The
grave and solemn dignity, the sober,
serious earnestness which found ex-
preston and in the demeanor on the
faces of these = little Innuits and
Tinnehs would have been amusing if it
had not really commanded our re-
spect. One might almost wonder if
these children could laugh and shout
and play and have fun as other chill
dren do, but another visitor who came
at more opportune time describes
some of the pranks she witnessed
which go to show that while the In
of the states, is generally owl-like in
his solemnity while the white stran-
gers are by, he is not at all lacking in
the spirit of fun or the capacity to ex-
press it.
This school is conducted by Sister
Mary Stephen, whose strength Of
character is proclaimed in her coun-
! tenance and Sister Mary Winifred,
woman Of striking beauty and gentle
ness of manner, who, when asked how
| long she had been here among the In
dams and how long she expects to
stay, replies that she came nine years
| ago and that she bought no return
ticket. Sister Mary Stephen is asked
to furnish a photograph of the school,
| but she has none and SO the children
are grouped outside the school build
| ing and those Of us who have cameras,
take pictures of them, altho it is now
II o'clock at night. -..
! THE mosquitoes here are nearly as
i ferocious as they were at Anvik
| and we are soon driven back
again on board our boat in sheer de-
| feat. There was no adequate opportun-
| ity afforded here to learn much of the
practical and permanent effects of the
mental and religious training of these
children, for they cannot always be
kept in the school. But enough is
gathered there and elsewhere to show
that while the boys in most cases reap
permanent benefits and live on
higher level than their parents did,
some of them earning good wages as
pilots on the river, and others secur-
ing other kinds of profitable employ
rnent the problem of the girls is much
more difficult as there is almost no
future for them except in the village
life of their. own people, or the worse
fate which the presence of white ad-
venturers SO often brings. The con-
dition of the Alaska Indian and the
| obligation of our government to him
is an interesting and pressing question,
but too large for full consideration
here. It may be the subject of a sub
sequent chapter.
The first sign of the Russian Occu-
patton found on the Yukon came into
view for few minutes Sunday AFTER
noon, July 26. It was the little Greek
church at Andraefski. There is an
old Russian mission at Ikogmute, a
little farther up. but we passed it in
| the night without stopping. The lit
tie church of Andraefski with its pale
blue and yellow towers and domes and
crosses, a bit Of Byzantine architec-
ture set down on, -he grassy slope
of a lonesome, treeless hillside, beside
the rolling Yukon, with no other sign
of human habitation in sight except
few Indian huts half a mile away, was
curious introduction to the lingering
remnants of the work of Russia's
Holy Synod. We do not stop, but are
carried on toward the sea, where we
find, all along the coast, frequent re-
minders Of the great missionary zeal
of the Greek church and it's stubborn
persistence. And that was really as
far as Russia's occupation went;
her invasion Of the interior of her
American possessions seldom reached
far from the seashore.
The morning of July q brought US
u to the mouth of the Yukon and the
shores of Boring sea, and we find that
!, we have Travelled the great artery OF
. the north, from White Horse to the
. ocean for distance Of nearly 1000
! miles. It appears, too, that when we
shall have reached st. Michael, ninety
miles from the mouth Of the river.
and the only harbor available for our
river boat on that shore of Boring
sea, we shall have Travelled 1913 miles
) from Dawson. When you look at that
combination of figures do you wonder
that the navigation of that stretch OF
: the river was attended with consider
l able difficulty and delay, or that we
| felt assured that our further progress
! (the account of which will be contin-
; ued next Saturday, would be more
regular and certain.
u. S. McLain.