The Mena weekly star., 1909-10-28
THE MUSK OXEN OF JONES SOUND.

Is typical phase of our lives which cannot be illustrated otherwise Seem ing trivialitles were seized upon as food for thought Why has the dog q tail at all2 The bear, the musk OK. the caribou and the hare each in it's own way succeeds very well with but dwarfed stub. Why does nature in the dog expand its best effort in grow ing the finest fur over seemingly useless line of tail bones? The thing is distinctive, and one could hardly conceive of the creature without this accessory, but nature iH the arctic does not often waste energy to display beau ties and Temperament. This tail must have an imnortant use. otherwise jt would soon fall under the knife of frost and time. Yesl It was imported into the arctic by the wolf progcnitor of the dog from warmer lands. wher, its swing terved useful purpose in fly time A nose made to breathe warm air requires some protection in the far nosth No animal feels this sLortcoming as much as man. The dog supplied the need with his tail. At the time when made this discovery a cold wind Charged with cutting crys- tals brushed the pack. Each dog hac his back arehed to the wind ald his face veiled with an effective curl of his tall lie vas comfortably shielded from icy torment by an appendage aoapted 10 that very purpose.
 A Heavy Snowstorm.
 On May ( we were stopped at G a. m. by the coming of the gloom of an un. usual gale. The wind had been steady and strong all night, but we did not heed its Threatening increase of force until too late. 1t came from the west. as usual. driving coarse snow with needle points. The ice about was old and hummocky, offerir- a difficult line of march, but some shelter, In the strongest blasts we threw ourselves over the sled behind hummocks and gathered new breath to force q few miles more.
 Finally, when no longer able to force
 ne dogs through the binding drift, we sought the Ice Of an uplifted block of ice. Here suitable snow was found for a snow house. aud few blocks were cut and set. but the wind swept them away like chips The tent was tried, but 1t could not be made to stand in the rush of the roaring tumult. In sheer despair we crept into the tent without erecting the pole. Creeping into the bags. we then allowed the Tapping silk to be buried by the drift ing snow Soon the noise and discom- fort of the storm were lost, and we enjoyed the comfort of an icy grave. An efficient breathing hole was kept open, and the wind was strong enough to sweep off the weight of a dangerous drift. A new lesson was thus learned in fighting the battle of life which was afterward useful
 Several days of icy despair now fol-. lowed each other in rapid succession. The wind did not rise to the full force of storm. but IL was too strong and
 too cold 10 travel. The food supply
 was notieeably decreasing The daily
 advance was reduced. With such
 weather Starvation seemed inevitable Camp was moved nearly every day. but ambition sank to the lowest ebb.
 To the atmospheric unrest were added the instability of broken ice and the depressing mystery of an unknown po-
 sition- For many days no observa- tions had been possible. and our loca tion could only be guessed al.
 l The nadslening struggle was daily
 forced, while the spirits were pressed
 to the verge of extinction. Now that
 the object of ouF trip had been accom-. 1 plislied much of the incentive was gone. At times it seemed as If our life's work had been accomplished and
 10 have lain down for tue dnal sleen would have been easy, but the feeble
 fires Of the homing passion kept the 1 eye open.
 l At the Eighty fourth Parallel. On May 24 tue sky cleared long enough
 to give us set of observations. We