New-York tribune., 1913-08-08

Straight from the heart OF the Frozen
North. with tale Of icebergs and the
pitiless cold. which DEGREES that only the
strong shall survive and the weak shall
be frozen 10 death: straight from eight
years in an ice igloo. comes Mrs.
Vashta Dalton 70 1--we in q New York
hotel She has been a prospector in the
Klondike and a student OF Esqu.mau life
for years and she has the fresh color and
the clear eyes with which Mother Nature
rewards her daughters who are brave
enough 70 follow her.
How have l kept young?" Mrs. Dalton
takes her life seriously-as who would
not who has seen weakling babies flung
into the fee? You cannot be old in the
North or you perish. You cannot be
tagged out and nabby. Feel my muscles.
am as hard as ice all over. II is the
simple life. For years l have lived out
of doors. eaten simple food. have had
no dissipations no evenings n hot thea
tres no rich suppers with wine l aban-
doned skirts. and had the freedom OF
my legs. one cannot 80 all day long
mush. mush. mush. over the rough ice
for ten. fifteen. twenty miles-with heavy.
cumbersome skirts. BY mushing We OF
the North mean the peculiar gait that
one uses IN ice travel We 90 not walk,
or tramp. we mush.
i
my heavy outer 'parka' OF Siberian wolf
skin. This is one OF the most valuable
furs in the world-only one man in nifty
ever kills one, and when he does the
whole village celebrates. In my picture
you can see the long. silvsrytipped hair
1t is canary color on the under parts, and
sable and silver around the throat. The
border around the knees is inlaid with
bits of sable The Esquimau women spend
months making those designs. Ny furs
are worth $500.
"One must be very careful In the Arctic
about letting the cold air touch ones
flesh You cannot have a hole in your
glove because. at 20 degrees below zero.
the air rushing in that hole will freeze
your flesh solid to your glove. and
you tear ii Off In chunks when you re-
move the glove You must not be dressed
so warmly that you perspire either, else
your flesh will freeze under your furs
The Esquimaus 90 not kiss. You know
that You have heard that they rub
noses. II they touched lips they would
freeze together! For the same reason no
uyI II
Cook gunidrop story. You can't open
your mouth wide enough 70 chew gum
drops in the North. II you part your lips
at all. your mouth freezes. Those gum
drops would have frozen 20 the Esqui-
maus' teeth. OF course. that was just a
fool joke. anyway; nobody took II serious
ly. ! know DR.. Cook and he's a fine man.
So is Peary."
Mrs Dalton says she has lived for
eight years in a village seventy-fve miles
beyond Point Barrow. where no white
woman has ever been before. and where
only ten white men have lived She was
able TO endure It only because her life In
the mining camps, first OF Nevada, then
OF the Yukon and Klondike. had prepared
her to endure hardships. She and her
husband. Or. Henry S. Dalton. as trained
nurse and doctor. followed the rush OF
gold hunters into Alaska and then, lured
By the spell Of the North. she penetrated
on into the ice.
Il just mushed on" she said, north,
and north of that, and then north OF
that Every year the experience OF the
year before would be turned to profit, and
by means Of lighter travel. more
strength and better food, would find
that l could go further. It was partly
Unsuitable curiosity 10 know
what lay beyond that led me on. Partly
II was a growing love OF the strange fur
clad humans about whom the North
throws its frozen arms. But mostly II was
the insisent call to solve the mystery OF
that impenetrahle emptiness that ever re-
c-des like an evil ghost as the explorer
advances
Terrible in its cruelty is the life OF the
20 women. All emotion.
all tenderness, all the softness OF heart
that is womans privilege In kinder eli
mates Is frozen In the Esquimau mother.
II her baby Is weak. II 1t becomes poi
soned or crippled. she must give It up to