Iditarod pioneer., 1912-02-03
Dogs and Dog
 R Racing

q fitting tribute to the noble animal without hose aid mankind would never have achieved the conquest of the North. LondOn's character were all drawn from life. Long before he wrote his famous book he had lived in the North and mushed across the Chilcoot and down the long trail that leads to Dawson. He saw history Tn it's making, and to him belongs the houor of having been the first to recognize the part which the dog played in the tanning of lhe North.
 Buck was no creation of the authors imagination, though the name might have been. Buck still lives, and when the steamer from the Outside comes to anchor just out beyond where the surf begins to break on the sandy beach at Dyea, the great, shaggy St. Bernard may be seen gazing moufnfully out across the tumbling wastes and think ing-who shall say of what? Perhaps Of that wonderful land in the Santa ! Clara Valley, where the sun shines most Of the year and the breezes blow only 10 temper the sun-kissed wind | from the south.
 Pike, Dave, Sol-leks, and the rest of the huskies still live, though perhaps l they answer to other names wben they hear the crack of the long. thin whip.
 Francois and Perrault still carry the government mails and when the long, bitter nights have come and the cold, l biting wind is sweeping down from i the frozen North, we can still hear the echo of their muffied voices along the
 trail, as with words of encourage ment they urge the weary dogs on to
 where light glimmering through Il
 frost-covered pane points the way to ! the roadhouse where rest, warmth, comfort and food await the weary | traveller.
 | London has portrayed to us not dull, graven images of the clayworker's art, but living. forceful creatures through whose veins courses the good, red
 blood and the joy of living. His dogs ae real dogs, and their drivers are real men, and wherever one goes, through the length and breadth of the North, he will find PerraultS and Bucks and Sol-leks and John Thorntons.
 He who has not wintered in Alaska can hardly realize the part which the dog plays in the lives of the people oi the North. With the coming of win ter transportation becomes Impossible in many districts except by dog team, and until the snow disappears in the spring and the ice breaks up in the creeks, these men are absolutely de ! pendent on their dogs for the move meut of their supplies, their machinery and themselves. It is therefore not to be wondered at that the men have grown to love their dogs and to take a deep pride iu their accomplishments | Nor is it to he wondered at that the most intense rivalry sometimes exists be ween the owners of teams over the merits of their respective packs. Thorn ton Was only human when he wagered his all that Buck could do what no other dog had ever done 5efore-per- haps will ever do agaIn. He loved his dog. He had lived with him, anu was he 10 stand quietly by and bear others ! boast of their dogs and he not say word for Buck? Thornton would not have been true man of the North had he lacked faith in Buck and been un- willing to wager his poke on the out come of the contest, nor would the Skookum Bench King and the rest of the sourdoughs have been, had they felt the thrill that comes when one witnesses d contest of skill and brawn and not bet their hard-won gold on the result.
 Conditions have changed in the North since the scene with the dog and sled in front of the EldOradO but the same old spirit of rivalry exists dlllODS (HOSS N liO ON II bOS lSutliSj anu it is q healthy rivalry and one chat has done much good for the country.
 Anything which will tend to improve the speed, the endurance and the carry ing capacity of the dog is gain to the country, Ever since the North was settled, and the first dogs brought in from the Outside. dog racing has been favorite sport, and tales of some of these races, were they told would rival in interest those of the heroes of pagan Rome.
 The AlI-Alaska Sweepstakes is an annual event which is run from Nome to Candle and return, q distance of 4l2I miles, and every inch of the way is across 8 frozen, wind-swept race. The teams consist of nine dogs hitched to sleigh and driver. Accidents to the dogs are of frequent occurrence, and 10