New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-09-03

It was on q bright June morning in 1903 that
Wik-jea-yan the belle Of the Great Reindeer
tribe of the Tchuitches. was married, according
to the rites of the Greek Orthodox Church. to
Sam Farrell the American boss OF the whole
outfit at Providence Bay and of the district a
hundred miles around The Very Rev. Tikhon
AndreyefT the Russian bishop stationed at St
Nicholas, had been specially summoned to tie
the knot. and now he stood smiling, looking IN
posing in his stately vestments-
The bride herself was decked, of course, In
her finest Her garments Of soft. pliable rein
deer hide were picked out with tiny bits OF
scarlet ribbon (if the truth were known they
had once been tied around punches OF the COM
pany's cigarsl, and huge silver baubles, neck
lace of walrus ivory and 4 bracelet of the same
material further adorned her. Her wealth of
black hair shining with oil. was done in braids
and the sInaIIness of her feet could not be hidden
even by the clumsy sealskin boots Her checks
We're flushed, a happy expression lighted the
narrow black eyes, and one Of her well shaped
hands rested on the lapel of her young husbands
coat Wik-jea-yan was just fifteen and was
considered the greatest beauty among her people
Sam Farrell, the American bridegroom, thought
SO. at any rate
He had to this remote part OF siberia
from Seattle, with the intention of making his
fortune He was now superintendent of the
company for this district, with good salary,
and with variety Of openings for a naturally
shrewd fellow to many dollars besides He
had fallen in love with the young Esquimau
girl and meant to stay in Siberia.
The brides tribe gave the wedding feast as
custom would have it The old chief Mak-yu-
Ii whose favorite daughter she was, had pro-
vided everything that could tempt the palate
boiled, roasted and broiled reindeer meat stews
-Iya- of<x heat
and rye -four. soup made of spicy herbs and
sundry uosses-and all thic washed down with
vodka. American whiskey. aniseseed cordial and
birch beer The spread, in truth, was not scant,
and all did full Justice it the Russian bishop,
perhaps most Of all The feast took place in
the huge iglo, the summer tent constructed of
tail poles, young saplings and hides, and open
on one side to admit air and sunshine
Well. that was in 1905 A year later poor
Sam Farrell was dead and buried under the
rocks near the seashore. He had succumbed to
quick consumption. The first winter Of the
Arctic climate had finished him, and Wik-jea-
van is a widow There is another superintendent
now In his place but he has not tied himself
down with a. native wife. He leaves the country
in the fall before the severe frosts set in, with
the company's last steamer of the season, and
spends the months till spring at Vladivostok or
in his native BeIIingharl. Wash.
Yet during the brief summer season, from the
middle Of May until the end OF August the
weather on the TchOukOtsk Peninsula in North
eastern Siberia, where the company's grant is
located. is almost ideal, with cloudless skies and
brilliant sunshine for the greater part of the
time and cool pleasant nights. The tundras are
CAV with wild flowers on which the Siberian bee
feeds and fine forests thick with giant frs
and silver bark birch while in the dim blush
distance rise mountain chains that grid the rapid
course of the mighty Anadir River.
r was not the beauties Of nature or climate,
however which have brought the company, its
agents miners, prospectors, traders. storekeep-
org trainers officials and fishermen to this
enormously large country-for the Tchoukotsh
Peninsula is in size as large as the three States
Of Oregon Washington and California combined
over 100000 square miles Of it Their purpose
&c to exploit the exhaustless treasures Of nature
there
This company was formed IN July. 1907 and
n IS an American one. with strong Russian
Affiliations. It man high in the graces
of the Gar, v NJ. Wonarlarsky retired colonel
of the Imperial Guards, who obtained an ex-
ceedingiy comprehensive charter from his SOW
ereign giving him the sole mining rights for the
entire region spoken OF al east OF the rivers