Evening star., 1916-12-24
Dog Teams Race for Purses of Thousands of DoaSSe

Copyright, 1916, by Frank G. Carpenter)
NOME, Alaska.
= HAVE just returned from ride on
the pup-mobile over the Dog Car
railroad that carries one from
- Nome across the gold bearing
plains into the mountains of the inte-
ror. The track is a narrow gauge,
built for steam engines by Charles D.
Lane in 1900. The government tax on
Alaskan railroads was too heavy to
keep the cars running, and the road
has now been given over to little cars
drawn by dogs, the only cars now re-
naming on Seward peninsula. These
cars are known as pupmobiles Each
consists of platform on wheels with
one or two rough seats fastened to it.
The motor is team of from seven to
fifteen dogs, who are harnessed to the
front of the car, by means of long
rope, and directed by the voice of the
driver, who calls out Gee" to turn
them to the right, "Haw" to turn them
to the left, and ''Mush" to make them
go faster. AT the front of the team is
leader, whose traces are fastened to
the end of the rope, and behind him
their traces tied to the rope at inter-
walls, the last two being perhaps eight
or ten feet from the car. Each dog
has a harness much like that used for
a horse except that it just fits the dog.
The collars are of soft leather, beaut-
fully padded. and the tough leather
traces are fastened to the collars and
upheld by straps which run across the
back of the dog. There are brides
nor halters. and the sole direction is
by the voice of the motorman. The
dogs obey quickly, they are eager to
go and seem to enjoy pulling the car.
r. X
Our ride was out over the tundra
which lies between the foothills of the
mountains and Bering sea. The per-
sonal conductor was Mr.. Fred NJ. Aver
of the Wild Goose Mining Company,
who is noted as a mining engineer.
and also as dog fancier, having the
distinction of owning some of the best
racing and freight dogs of this part of
the world. The tundra consists of the
decomposed vegetation under which is
two or three feet of ice mixed with
muck and blue clay. The blue clay
makes 1t impossible to thaw out the
ground as is done at Dawson.
The dog races of Nome are the great
sporting events of the far northwest.
They are to Alaska what the Derby is
to England. They are talked of from
one years end to the other and, Is the
time approaches, the dogs which are
to compete are the subjects of never
ending discussion. Thousands Of dol
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 an-Alaska sweepstakes,
which is run from Nome. on Bering sea,
to Candle City, on the Arctic ocean, and
return. I am told that much as
100000 has been put up on that race.
and that the prizes have ranged all
the way from $500 to $4,000. At one
time, when the prize was $4,000 in
gold. the money was presented in a
massive silver loving cup, and the
tradition is that the owner of the win
ming team poured the coin into the lap
Of the driver. keeping the cup only as
souvenir of the event. That was
eight years ago, and since then there
have been races every April from Nome
to Candle City and return. The dis
tance is 40S miles and the usual win
days. In 1910, it was made by Col.
Ramsey'S team in IA hours, IA minutes
and AZ seconds and in 1913, by the
Bowen-Delezene team in rs hours, AZ
minutes and 27 seconds.
In addition to the all-Alaska sweep
stakes there are annual races every
March from Nome to the Solomon river
and back. This is known as the Solo
mon derby. 1t is for distance of
sixty-f miles. Last year that race
was won by Mr.. Aver, whose dogs
made the trip in 6 hours. making an
average of about ten miles per hour.
Said Mr.. Aver: 1--WE made the trip of
thirty-two miles to Solomon in hours
and 55 minutes. and it took two men
to hold the team when they were
turned around at Solomon. They want
ed to start right back, notwithstanding
they had been running steadily at the
rate of almost eleven miles an hour.
The prize for that race was s150."
Among other features Of the Solomon
derby was the Burden race. in which
the dogs ran seventy-five miles. carry