Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-10

eminent pays one-half of the expenses of
the school from the proceeds Of the liquor
business. The white children in the winter
wear the fur suits known as 'parkas.
and it is difficult to distinguish them from
the young Eskimos.
First Horse a Novelty.
The first horse ever seen in the Council
City district was taken there In 1900, and
its value was placed at 1000. The Eski-
mos had never seen a horse before and
had no name in their language for such an
animal. They soon learned to call 1t by its
English name. For a long time the equine
was regarded as quite curiosity by the
natives.
The steamships that ply between Seattle,
Wash, and Nome frequently become ice
bound in June and July and delay and in
convenience is caused to the passengers
and shippers. Travel with the states is cut
off by steamer from November to May, the
first boat usually leaving Seattle June 1.
In the winter the mails taken by dog
teams from Nome to Seward in southeast
Alaska.
During the winter season at Council City
and Nome most of the mining ceases and
the inhabitants have to resort to many
forms of indoor amusement. There are
some dance halls and much card playing, 1t
is said. Most of the fresh meat used is the
flesh of the reindeer which is said to be
sold in the market by some of the mission
aries. This meat represents the Increase In
the government neTQ OIL -,pUU TelHueeT, the
animals having been sent to Alaska for
the sustenance of the Eskimos. The deer
proved to be failure mail carriers. No
animal, Mr.. Heller said, has yet been found
that can supplant the native dog for draw
ing the sleds. These animals in carrying
the mails are required to make forty miles
a day. He says the dogs frequently make
eighty miles in single day. The mail men
run behind their sleds. Were they to at
tempt to ride in the vehicles, it is declared,
they would freeze to death because of the
extreme cold and their inactivity. The an
nual increase of the herd of 1000 reindeer
is said to be about 30 per cent. This is
used as the fresh meat supply.
Mosquitoes said to be great pest in
Alaska in summer, but the climate Is abso-
lutely free from malaria, hence the insect 9
sting is robbed of it's poison. During the
hottest part of the summer the miners are
compelled to wear netting about their faces.
When they remove the nets to eat their
meals it is necessary to flood the dining
| room with a dense smoke
Big Results in Mining.
Speaking of some of the big findings, Mr..
Heller said 81, 2O0, 600 had been taken out of
one claim in two and one-half years by
eight men. In one claim Ophir creek
! So 600 in gold dust was taken out every
twenty-four hours. 1t is said that Ophir
creek has produced over s1O,OOo,OOO since it's
discovery in 1889, and is still yielding.
Another rich creek runs into Ophir. 1t is
known Crooked creek and rises in the
| Oxide Divide. The stream is SO small that
a man can step across it. Black and King,
| the principal operators there, have taken
! 100000 each out of the little creek. One
| of these men is a Colorado cattle rancher
| and the other is Seattle school teacher.
This illutrates,'' said Mr. Heller, that
| not all the gold is found by professional
miners, but much of it is kicked up by So
called tenderfeet.'
1t is said that when a becomes
afflicted with the disease known "the
| gold fever and goes to Alaska and strikes
| it rich, he is not in hurry to return to
| this country. The greed is for more and
more. and as long he can find gold he
remains up north. Charles D. Lane, an
| old forty-niner. cleared two millions on his
! claims and quit the game" of gold-fnding.
| but this is an exceptional case. He sold
out his claims and returned to the states to
spend the remainder of his life in aff1uence.
| Mr.. Heller says he expects to return to
| the Council City district in June. TO be gone
several years.