Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-12-26

Some returned to their native SHOWS,
but two-thirds remained in Alaska,
making fortunes In the gold fields of
Cape Nome.
The industry proved a success from
| the first A young deer four years
old will bring in from fifty to a hun
| dred dollars for it's meat, and if train
ed to the sled it's price is about $3.50.
| Each doe adds a fawn to the herd each
year, and these baby deer are exceed
ingly healthy. The doe, when fawn
is by her side, will give every day
about a cup of milk so rich that 1t is
almost pure cream. This makes the
finest of cheese and butter and, when
| diluted with water. delicious milk.
For travel reindeer have proven
much stronger and superior in every
way to dogs. In the winter of 1912
the United States mail between Nome
| and Candle, on the Arctic ocean, was
carried by these deer. They had, in
addition heavy loads of passengers and
freight, yet they made the trip in
eight days. Journey for which the
dogs would have required more than
twice the time. Besides, deer can
travel as we'll at night as in the day.
The deer find their food beneath the
snow wherever they stop, while dogs
rations have to be included in the
load carried on the sled.
In summer these reindeer are used
as pack animals, much as the miners
in the Rockies utilize the burro. A
small man can ride one as well as he
can horse. While his winter food
consists of the moss, the summer fare
is of grass twigs and mushrooms, all
of which grow abundantly. They shed
their horns every spring, the old ones
dropping off and new. soft, thick, furry
ones growing in their place When the
deer's horns are in this soft condi-
ton the natives call 1t being in the
velvet"
The plan pursued by the govern
ment was that of loaning a certain
number of deer TO missions or relia-
BILE individuals for three years, and at
the expiration of the time retaining
only the original loan. One of the best
herds started by Uncle Sam was that
at Cape Prince of Wales This herd
grew so rapidly that at the end of
few years many males were sold to
butchers at fine prices, while others
were used in hauling freight into the
mines The benefit to the missions
was immense, since it enabled the ma
tives to be supplied with food and
clothing in their homes, instead of
having them go to the miners villages,
while the missionaries could get from
the animals fresh milk, meat and also
a bit of revenue from the sale of the
carcass and the hauling of freight
the reindeer industry in Alaska was
purely a humanitarian one-that of
giving the native, whose animals were
disappearing, a new creature which
would supply his wants in far more
perfect manner than any other crea-
ture had ever done. But when gold
was discovered and the rush to the
Yukon and the Klondike begun the
wisdom of having reindeer in this arc
| tic land was shown at once.
Here was a vast land of almost lin
itless proportions dotted with gold
Ships could not get up the small
streams, nor horse over the mountain
trails. Dogs could not draw the heavy
loads which the deer pull; they have
to be supplied from the same source
as men, and their best work was about
twenty miles a day Deer can travel
more than double that distance
So to the reindeer is falling the work
of transportation to the mines. They
are to Alaska now what the camel is
| to Egypt. One deer can carry a sled
weighted with 200 pounds from one
end of Alaska to the other, living sole
| ~ on the moss he finds beneath the
snow. The prospector can carry with
him larger load of supplies than a
burro could bear. With ten deer, each
carrying 100 pounds, miner can
spend months away from his depot of
supply.
The deer which were at first only
a few hundred in number, have in
creased in immense quantities. They
have proven the salvation of Alaska
and many of those who are disappoint-
ed in finding gold go into the reindeer
industry. It is estimated that q herd
doubles itself in three years There
are now probably a million and a half
deer in Alaska. Within ten years 1t IL
predicted that the country should be
supplying the United States with much
meat
The flesh of the reindeer is delicious.
and there is no reason why hams and
sides from Santa Claus land should
not come south in big trains such as
now draw out of Chicago. Meat from
the Arctic, meat raised on barren
wastes. which will solve the high price
of living, ought to be in the near future
the solution which Alaska offers
The ideal reindeer, drawing the sled
of Santa Claus, covered with jingling
bells, must give place to the modern
reality. And this reality is the animal
which has pretty nearly turned Alaska
from frozen waste on which even it's
natives must starve to a land of plenty.
1t is furnishing meat, milk, cheese.
butter clothing thread leather skins
and transportation to the Eskimo; it is
COW, beef, a, horse and a sheep all
rolled into one Some day. in our mar
kets, we may see the sign of reindeer
steaks" as common as the one of fresh
eggs is now. for Santa Claus steeds
are now one of the worlds most valu-
able Observation-Disclosures Star
|