El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-07-27
TAK|NCCENSUS
IN ALASKA
DIFFICULT
Men Had Faces Frozen, and
Sometimes Almost Per
ished- Travel on Dogsleds
WORK HAD TO BE
DONE IN WINTER

| ture from 80 to 20 degrees below zero,
snow from three to 20 feet deep, wind
blowing a blizzard most of the time, no
human habitation in sight, no covering
at night except a tent, and no GRUB
that was not many times frozen.
| These are some of the conditions I'M
der which the recent census was taken
| in the interior of Alaska. The report
of chief special agent Mckenzie covering
| the work in the fourth or inland district
of the territory has just been received by
| director Durand, and, while the story is
simply told, it is wonderfully thrilling
narrative of adventure, showing that
when Uncle Sam starts out to round up
| his children he spares no expense to To-
| cate them and satisfy himself as to their
| status.
| Mr.. McKenzie's narrative comes in ad-
vance of his figures, so that it is inn
possible to give the population of the
country covered by him and his 20 as
! sistants For reasons of its own, the
census bureau determined TO number the
| Alaskans during midwinter Mr.. Nc
Kenzie made his headquarters at the
mining town of Fairbanks. His first sHe-
cial agent was appointed on the 10th
of last November and the work was COM
pleted by the 18th of last April, when
Mckenzie left for "the states"
Travelling In Alaska.
His experience in getting out of the
country was by no means as thrilling as
some of his experiences while engaged
in the work. but it was stirring enough
] to arouse interest in a warm SOell. OF
| it he SAYS:
L came out on the mail coach, arriving
at Valdez on the goth, after a varied
experience consisting of being delayed
two days by a blizzard, crossing rushino
streams even when the horses had to
swim and the sleds float and travelling
day and night with the thermometer
| often as low as 40 below zero
The bureaus principal reason for a
winter census is found in the fact that
getting about the country is much
! easier at that than at any other season.
| There are no bridges in the country
and, as crossing the streams when not
| frozen over is a serious problem, Mr.. Me
| kenZie says that to have made the
enumeration in the summer would have
! required the services of four times as
many assistants, while the cost would
| have been six times as great He also
expressed doubt as to whether the re-
suit would have been as satisfactory
As 1t Is, he Is of opinion that it is sac
| curate and complete
| MUCH hdIQSnlp IN TASK.
| Much hardship was necessarily in
volved in the work. Only men Injured TO
the rigors of the Arctic climate were
employed, and while they suffered Sc
verelv none of them lost their lives.
! Summing up the conditions Mr. MeKen-
zie says:
THE work was performed during the
severest winter known in this part of
Alaska by the oldest settlers and The men
kept constantly and conscientiOusly at it
until completed. There did not appear
to be a man who did not have a pride
| in the work, an anxiety to create Il rec
ord for travelling time, desire - enum-
crate all the people in his district and
to haVSto his credit less loss of time be-
canse of extreme weather than any of
the other agents. That the service lost
none of the men from freezing to death
and that every man returned safe is a
matter of cOngratulatiOn and good for
tune. There were more deaths from the
weather in this section during the past
winter than in all of. the other wears in
total"
One Mans Hard Work.
The experience of the agent in Chand-
lar district is a fair example Speaking
of him, the chief agent says "he was
not a scholar, but a man who had lived
there for years and well fitted to undergo
the privations necessary That his good
qualities were put to the severest test
the report shows.
Severe weather was encountered
throughout all of his work." saws Me-
Kenzie, "and at no time after he left
Fairbanks until he returned did the Their
mOmeter get above 80 degrees beow zero.
His long jOurnev away from the base
of supplies made it impossible for him
to carry sufficient grub and dog feed. and
he was obliged to live off of the coun-
try, killing moose, mountain sheep, and
other fresh meat. During the work he
lost two of his dogs from freezing 10
death He himself frOze portions of his
face several times, and at one time dron-
ped into six feet of open water, nearly
losing his life"
No Picnic Here.
| That the KOyakuk agents work was
no Fourth of July picnic with straw
berry lemonade on the side is indicated
by the following extract from the Off
cial narrative:
"In this district there is almost an
incessant snowstOrm from October to
Nav. and trails are obliterated in "a
hours Few men except the mail carriers
will travel in this district in the winter,
and even they make but one trip a
month. Twice he nearly lost his life and
had he not been accompanied by an in
dian guide probably would have At
one time he and the guide AMI a mail
carrier and two indians We're lost in the
storm for three days and were found at
the end of that time by a rescue party
which came out to locate the mail OF
the Tanana man we are told.
''Not less than four times was this
man found by other travellers in an ex-
hausted condition and assisted to a sto~-
ping place. He lost three dogs and sew
eral tmies froze his face"
Travelled on Dog Sleds.
All the travelling was done on dog
sIeds. from seven to nine animals being
used with each sled. The agents were
paid SO day and extra for the use OF
their vehicles. Generally it was neces-
sary for two men TO o. touether, so that
in case of accident to one the other could
| proceed with the labor.
Especial pains were taken to find ever
resident. and we are told that each cabir
was visited unless to reach it would cost
more than two days of time In such
Il