The San Francisco call., 1908-12-27

growth, black. brown and the mon
strous Kadiak bear. which rises on it's
launches higher than the grizzly OF
ization's weapons have gone nearly
everywhere. you may find In this coun-
try Indians who have used the old,
primitive method OF their tribes and
have conquered these giants with their
curved hunting knives. More often the
savages trap the bear in deadfalls
built of logs. whose roofs drop on the
brutes as they enter and crush life
from them. The smaller animals are
usually captured in snares or In the
regular steel traps which the white
men have brought.
Round the end Of the peninsula and
hundreds Of miles to the north the
Yukon empties. And down this river
yearly come many skins They come
from the banks of the mighty river
and from tributaries. which wind in
for hundreds OF miles. Stick Indians.
Siwash tribes and white men who have
followed the gold excitement bring
them to market. Some of these trap
pers knew inland Alaska before the
days of Forty-mile creek-came north
after the old Cassiar excitement.
Beyond Nome's windswept beaches
north and then east the coast of Alas
ka becomes a dreary. storm beaten
shore. backed by endless miles OF tun-
dra, where no timber grows, not even
willows beyond a fingers thickness.
To the north of this land the ocean
stretches to the pole. In this ocean.
on floating ice cakes. polar bears come
from the mysterious seas about the
pole. And native hunters slay them.
fur clad Eskimos voyaging in tiny skin
bidarkas or travelling over the frozen
fields with sleighs drawn by their wolf
dogs.
On the land are no settlements. save
the whaling stations. It Is dreary
waste, this country. But on this waste
travel some of the most precious fur
bearing animals OF the continent And
seeking them, native trappers set their
snares. These trappers sell their skins
to the company's agents at the whal-
ing stations at Point Barrow or barter
them to the shippers OF whaling ves-
sells Reaching out for their trade the
company has paid agents. white men.
who live in the country from year to
year. Their cabins are double walled,
portable houses. built In San Francisco
and carried north. Directly In their
service are many OF the native trappers
who bring the pelts to them each
spring.
The whalers handle most OF these
Arctic furs. Their own traffic. the cap
ture Of the whales for bone and for
oil. is carried on the length OF Alaska's
shore. of Its prkvatiOns and stern risks.
the sufferings of the men. their sc~nty
pay and the thousand incidents Of rude
dealing which come. the public knows
little, though much has been written,
both in newspaper account and fiction.
Every fall the whalers come back
save only those years when tidings
come that the feet is icebound near
Point Barrow and must stay another
season-and coming back they bring
each her so odd men-50 odd meTs and
of the men there is none who has not
endured and suffered and stared Death
in the face.
Thus the feet comes home. every
twelvemonth, from far seas and un-
known lands of the north; seas where
storms blow and shores where fogs
hang month after month. 1t comes Ia
den with the spoil which has been gath
cred by half wild men in strange places.
And its cargo goes to many cities.