The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-12-24

| to England. They are talked of from
 one years end to the other and, as the time approaches, the dogs which are i to compete are the subjects of never ending discussion. Thousands of dol l lars are put up on the races in the shape of bets, and nearly every one
 man and woman, has wager of some | kind or other.
 The whole country turns out to see
 the start and finish, and the winners are the heroes of the time. The great race is the all-Alaska sweepstakes, ] which is run from Nome, on Boring sea.
 to Candle City, on the Arctic ocean, and return am told that as much as | S2O0'oOO has been put up on that race,
 and that the prizes have ranged all the ] way from $150o to S1o0o0. At one time, l when the prize was S10,00O in gold, the | money was presented in massive silver | loving cup, and the tradition is that the 1 owner of the winning team poured the 1 coin into the lap of the driver, keeping the cup only as souvenir of the event. ] That was eight years ago, and since l then there have been races every April from Nome to Candle City, and return. ! The distance is 4OS miles and the usual ] winning time is between three and four | days. In 1910, it was made by Colonel 1 Ramsey's team in 74 hours, 14 minutes, 1 and 42 seconds, and in 1913 by the Bowen
  | 27 seconds.
 l In addition to the all-Alaska sweep 1, stakes there are annual races every l March from Nome to the Solomon river and back This Is known as the Solomon 1 derby. It is for a distance of 64 miles. | Last year that race was won by MT. 1 Aver, whose dogs made the trip in s
 hours making an average of about 10
 niles per hour. Said MT. Aver: we
 made the trip of B miles to Solomon in l 2 hours and 55 minutes, and it took two men to hold the team when they were 1 turned around at Solomon. They wanted 1 to start right back, notwithstanding they
 had been running steadily at the rate
 of almost Il miles an hour. The prize | for that race was $50"
 | Among other features of the Solomon 1 derby was the burden race, in which | the dogs ran 70 miles, carrying one pas 1 senger and 50 pounds of baggage. The 1 rassenger in such races is usually a l woman, the wife, daughter or sweetheart l Of tine owner or driver. Last year the 75 1 miles was made in 8 hours and 5 min
 utes. The year previous it was made in | less than hours. Another burden race 1 is run to Council City, S6 miles. This
 ends in ball. the ladies being carried | on the sleds by their best beaux to the ] dance.
 l I asked MT. Aver how the dogs were
 Irepared I for the race. He replied: "They | are trained groomed and carefully fed l for months beforehand. The owners know l just what is needed to put them into
 the pink of condition. A part of the diet i is fish, fresh mutton and eggs, and dur 1 ing the race they get one meal of ham l burger steak per day. Camps for food l and water are established along the road. For three days prior to the race they
 are not taken out of the kennels, and 1 for three weeks before that time they /, are exercised to lons distance runs.'' | Continuing, in response to my ques- l tions, MT. Aver said:
 'I do not think that the native Alaska dogs are the fastest or best for racing purposes. My team is mostly l made up of fox hounds, and, as a rule, i they can beat the malamutes both as
 to pulling and in endurance and speed. 1T never carry a whip and do not yell at the dogs. They will respond to 9 word, and it is easy to keep them at 8 speed of from Il to IA miles an hour. They enjoy the race and seem to re- alize what is expected of them. They will run 50 miles and be as fresh at the end of it as at the beginning. I have pulled 1900 pounds up grade on this track with nine dogs, and that for a 3O-mile journey"
 ] The most of the racing of Alaska is under the direction of the Nome Kennel club, which was founded by Albert Fink, for the purpose of improving the dogs used to transport miners and supplies from one part of the country | to another. This club was organized before racing was thought of, but the sport is doing much to improve the character of the animals. Of late years, many Russian staghounds, Great Danes and Missouri birdhounds have been brought in. These are crossed with the native dogs and the result tends to produce animals of endurance and speed. There are a large number of Siberian dogs here, they are smaller than the malamutes. and look like wolf dogs in miniature. They are noted for their endurance, and are able to make the all-Alaska sweepstakes race with only two or three hours of rest
 Most of the races so far held have been noted for their fairness and free dom from trickery of any kind. The contestants have been real sports and the best of feeling has attended the several events. The only case in which
 an attempt was made to beat the favor ite team by fraud was that in the Cam dle race of 1914, when a blanket filled with upright porcupine quills and tackled to rubberoid roofing was laid on the track so that the quills stood
 upright. The blanket was spread out over the road and lightly covered with | snow. It was so arranged that the l dogs of any team that ran over it
 would have had their feet pierced by
 the quills of the porcupne and be lamed. The plotters had directed their
 teams to go out of the course to avoid
 the blanket and they would have been
 sure of winning had not the blanket
 been found just in advance of the race. The fraud is supposed to have been
 perpetrated by some of the natives at
 the instigation of white men who had
 bet large sums of money on the event 1 The blanket with the quills in it was
 brought into Nome and shown around
 the newspaper offices. The people here 1 feel very bitter that fraud of any
 kind should have arisen in connection with the race.
 1 Dogs have always been a very impor- tant part of the traffic of Alaska. They
 are to be found in and about every min | ing camp. and there are hundreds of them In every town. They are used in carrying the mails. During the long
 winter every postal card and every let ter. newspaper and magazine that comes 10 Nome aas to be brought over 1500 miles ! or lee and snow by dog teams. The mail IS taken from Fairbanks to Ruby, Idta- rod and Fort Gbbon by dogs, and in iact, the whole of the interior of this great territory is dependent upon dogs | TOT its winter transportation. In the summer the dogs are sometimes used by
 the prospectors as pack animals and at