The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-23

school exhibit to its precious ore and mineral specimens.
 The lady no sooner received her com mission than she appealed to the wo- men of the great territory to aid in pre- paring a collection that would do jus tice to Alaska. Our northwest ter Pitorv is eight times as large as all New England; 1t has scarcely railroad and no beaten highways. yet this in- domitable woman crisscrossed It's wiids to tell her sisters to help her repre- sent their country properly at St. Louis. By dog sled and afoot she journeyed, fording rivers, wading through oogs and threading mountain precfpices. with full feminine enthusiasm the brave pioneer women of Alaska res ponded As matter of fact, the condolences and the unique features of this exhibit are due almost wholly to the women of Alaska.
 The display shows that the white wo- men who ventured into the golden north are of a superior class, educated and forceful Both the scientific and artsitic clements enter into their ex- hibit. Mrs. Hart herself is secretary of the Alaska Academy of Sciences. From a field the richest for the scientist have been drawn specimens both
  ores from the newly discovered mineral fields are records of the life of long ago among the Eskimo natives.
 Entering the fair grounds for the first time by the administration en- trance on the way to the fish and for estry building I noticed group of strange. imposing looking columns that reared their heads in front of a struc- ture to the right.
 Do stop. must go and see what they are" said to our party.
 "oh, they're just some Egyptian rel ics, that's all," said one of the party wisely.
 Just then I caught sight of the magic word Alaska" upon the front of the building back of the strange pillars What would Egypt be doing in front of Alaskan T must go and see," I said. And off two of us tramped to- ward the odd Joking objects. They were totem poles in all their weird, wonderful glory They were siabliks. wooden structures, some twenty-five feet high. carved and painted in hiero- glyphs that the white man. with all his pride of learning. cannot translate unless the Eskimo chooses to assist him.
 The totem pole Is at once a monu-
 
 family history. Originally there were four great tribes or clans of natives Alaskans. Each clan had for it's sym boI certain animals, birds and fishes. a the whale. the eagle, the grizzly bear the frog and the raven. Each native was entitled to use as his or her family crest the image of the creatures by which the tribe was designated. As if 1t were a prophecy. too. of the impor- tant part women were to play in the future development of Alaska, all in- heritances and relationships took their rise in the female line among the na- lives there. If a man of the eagle clan married q woman of the frog clan he was obliged to become frog. and all his children were frogs.
 The images of the animals that now form the crests and are engraved on the totem poles are regarded as only the symbols of powerful, protecting gods that guard each tribe and are said to have been anciently visible to the ancestors of the present natives. The totem pole itself was erected as a monument to a prominent Eskimo when he died. It was carved and painted with figures showing the clan to which he belonged. Through south western Alaska many of these remark able columns still remain. though com parativeiy few persons in the States nave had opportunity of seeing them.
 Inside the Alaskan building the ex- hibits show what women are doing in our northwest territory. There is rich display of nuggets from the mines of Mrs. Hart and Mrs King at Nome. There are blocks of tin from the claims worked by Emma Steiner, the musical composer. who went out prospecttng from New York city There is a large and striking picture of Mount McRin- ley so called because the conforma- tior1 of rocks at one point is said to re- sembie the profile of President McEin- ley. and this strong picture was paint