The Alaska citizen., 1917-09-17
GIRL JOURNALIST TELLS
 OF MUSH TO BROOKS
,By Ca,hr.ue Wagnerl

N hen ] -LE-Nrl n d.EtdLhH oH the steamer Alaska some five weeks ago. l found that the quicker way '. set 10 thg ToloyaHa country, which place was ass .Saed to cover" was 10 m4sa, SD started A sas car on ,Aa Tauana Valley railroad took u> 10 OInys, twenty miles out, in he evening. Here the k.ndest hos paal5ty Was offered Us by NIT. and Nr=. McGaryey, who entertained at dinner and saw that We were well taken care ol for ,ho night. In speaking of We" mean myseI. and a very much martyr man" who wished the task upon himself Of steering cheechaeo over the trail from Olnes 10 Brooks. distance of sx,y miles. At seventeen the next morning when the sun was al. ready high and anything but cool. We hit the trail" and after dang ling the air for q few moments like a Chinese dinner gong which in reality was only crossing the swinging bridge over the river, climbed hill that a, that time seemed like Mt Mckinley to me, but on later ac- qualntance proved to be no more than knoll or nggerhead. Just beyond this juvenile mountain lay the erandest valley 1 think l have ever seen. For miles around you could see the surrounding prairie like hills and all the valley below looked so green and fresh, but wait: It was green all right, and maybe even fresh, but there was peculiarly about the footing that threw one off ls equilibrium occasionally. After ..,Nng myself up for the third time, ug esteemed guide informed me that l should walk between the niger heads instead ol on top of them. So l tried. We'll Ii I'm ever in a fire and have to jump into d wet blanket or walk a tight rope in a circus ] won't feel the least bit shaky about tackllns it, for nothing could be any more bottomIcss or unstable than sour niggerhead swamps During the frs. three mile siege managed to acquire a musher's heel, lose a few pounds of precious ayo.rdupois and play b.J oL temper, outside Of Il 0th.Hs opened The blueber- g4es along the trail were protuse .a.uJ five or six miles from Olnes, and never knew before how much l liked them The ground was red along the banks of the river with crauberrios. a native berry, although they were not ripe enough to eat. The first thing l saw on the way that made he think of how near starved l was, was the nine mile house and after long anticipation of what all l was going to eat when arriving there. said guide informed me in patronizing tone of voice that the house had been closed for some time and that there would be no eating for five miles further Right here let me say this was the very hottest day of the season, and the mosquitoes were holding neghbor- hood reception for me besides.
 About one o'clock in the afternoon We turned a sharp corner in the road and there at last was Cacy's. Like an oasis in the desert is to dry camel, so Cacy's was to me. Without consulting my benefactor of safety, I called a halt on the mushing for the day and said: Hat or not hat, here We sit till morning." A word of explanation about this hat; if l mushed from Olnes to Brooks in three days, l was to win bet, the reward won was to be a hat, so if I noticed myself going slower than par, I only had to visionize this Gage Individuality" to buoy me on with new strength.
 After a fine nights rest we were ready for the trail at three the fol lowing morning, and the rain was pouring like anything. But We went a cad anyhow, and four and one
 f hours later, when we turned n" at the Globe, the water was coming down in torrents, and two mushers were thoroughly drenched. A change of clothes into borrowed apparel and a good sleep and square meal put me on my feet again and ready to start to Tatalina by five in the evening. Over the hills and through the swamps for the whole eleven miles we did not have one hundred yards of dry footing Now