River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1907-12-19
The Eskimos' Real Santa Claus.

The Eskimos' Real Santa Claus.
Sheldon Jackson, an official employ
ed by the United States bureau of ed
ucation to work in the wilds of Alaska,
carried Christmas to the Eskimo chill
rden there in 1894. He gave a deep
ly interesting account Of how he did
it in a report to the bureau.
"F'or several days Immediately pre-
ceding Christmas" he said, Il took
occasion to tell the scholars how it
was observed by the whites, and ex-
planned some features about the day
as my limited knowledge of the lam
guage would admit of; so that, by
the close of school the day before,
they pretty well knew why 1t was OBJ
served
Il told the children about Santa
Claus, and for them to tie their fur
stockings up near their beds. as he
was coming to visit them for the first
ii ne, and would remember every
child
l made up lot Of little bags out
of empty flour sacks, and into each
about a dozen pieces of dried apples
and dozen raisins-not a very ap-
propriate assortment for a Christmas
present for a white child, but it was
the best we had, and l found out aft
erward that the selection was very
much appreciated by the little Es-
kimo.
although our supplies were very
limited, / concluded to take enough
from such as we had and give each
family the same assortment. 1t was
made up of tin can filled with flour,
eight navy biscuits, one pint of
rice, one-half pound of sugar and one
houses in the village, and about 100
persons all told. The supplies above
enumerated were made up into ten
packages.
81 had the herders harness one of
the deer teams to sled, and at IL
o'clock started with four natives for
the village, a half mile west of the
station.
when we reached the first house,
I took a fashlight view of the deer
standing by the little skin window
through which faint CLEAN of light
was thrown from the oil lamp burn
ing below.
1T occurred to me that perhaps
this was the first time in the history
of civilization that live Santa Claus
made his midnight visit upon an err
rand of mercy with a team of rein
deer, and that the Eskimo were the
first to actually experience what
throughout Christendom is only a
myth.
ct became necessary to dig away
the frost from one corner of the win
dow in order to get the packages
through, and in nearly every instance
the operation alarmed those below,
when a package was Immediately drop
ped down and they became quiet.
THE night was a glorious one, cold
and crisp, with the stars shining in
lustrous splendor from the pale blue
canopy above, and not breath of air
was stirring.
'"The hour I spent in this service
was one of supreme delight to me,
especially so as the little handful of
food 1 distributed made the bright eyes
of hundred people glisten with hap
piness and supplied as many stomachs
with feast they enjoyed before they
again closed their eyes in sleep.
ut will take too much space to re-
cord all the times 1 gathered as 1
peered through their little skin win
dows and saw them dancing around in
great glee, old and young, and ex-
pressing their thankfulness for the
many good things received, the like
of which they had never before eaten"
Where Santa Claus Caused Terror.
zGrS. Bertha Slower, the wife of a