The Alaska daily empire., 1917-11-16
WAR FOOD IN REINDEER OF
 NORTHLAND
Interesting Article Con- cerning Same in Cur ?. A rent Number of
 Publication.
HUNS USED REINDEER
Is Pointed Out That Indus. try Might Employ At-
 tention of Young Men.

In the current number of the Re- view of Reviews is an interesting ar ticle concerning the value of rein deer meat in Alaska as possible food and war supply. After giving the history how rejndeers came to be imported to Alaska from Rus sia, and the fun made of the expert ment at the time, the article says:
 The Catholic World, August, 1917, contained an article by Clio Manner pertinent to. the present food situa- tion: "Alaskas Perspective Contri- button to Our Food Supply" The author writes in regard to the launching of the reindeer industry
 About 1900 of these animals were brought from Russia between the years of 1902 and 1906, and the rein deer industry, which has since prov en the salvation of countless Alas kan Indians and Eskimo, was launch ed by the government at cost of about $225,00O. With this small be- ginning Congress had to he content, as Russia firmly refused to part with any more deer at any price.
 It is the writer's conviction that it is our patriotic duty to assist the government in developing it's latent resources and that the possibility of increasing our meat supply with rein deer venison should not be over looked.
 Alaska has tremendous possibili- ties, and this far-away territory of ours, which we purchased from Rus. sia at the unheard-of price of two cents an acre, has done nobly under American rule and is entitled to all the aid and encouragement we can give her Now that she is producing a supply of venison in excess of that required to. feed her meagre population, it behooves us to assist her in disposing of her surplus, and thus encourage her to make this comparatively new industry yield maximum results
 Last winter marked the entrance of the reindeer upon the scene as POcblUlC III tue great world war The Swedish gov ernment sold to German agents, and gave to them the requisite permis- sion to ship to Germany, 43,50O car casses of reindeer, which, it was estimated, provided 3,480 tons of yenison for the German soldiers. :. These same reindeer, which our ene- my was glad to purchase in order to argument a rapidly decreasing meat supply, were, in all probability, close ly related to the reindeer which are raised in Alaska"
 It would seem that the reindeer industry ought to appeal to Alaskan agriculturalists and to young men fresh from agricultural institutions Until 1914, the government confined the industry to the natives and Lap flanders in Alaska, but now these people are permitted to sell their surplus deer to white men.
 Reindeer can be raised for the market much more cheaply than cat tie, for they find their feed both in winter and in summer, and they can live on the barren wastes which would support no other kind of ami mal."
 Robert E. Peary wrote in regard to the ability of the reindeer to for age under desperate weather condi- tions:
 T am often asked how the herbi- vorous animals. like the musk-ox and the reindeer survive the winter in the snow-covered lands. By al strange paradox. the wild winds that rage in that country help them in