El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-01-13

~T MICHAEL Alaska. Jan. 13-On
this little island Of st Michael
- situated in Bering sea, several
thousand miles from Seattle. 50 miles
from the mouth Of the Yukon river.
write OF the army of Alaska. 81.
Michael is one Of Uncle Sans military
reservations. The whole island has
heen set aside as a military outpost.
and its chief buildings are those Of the
soldiers. II has large barracks. hos
pitaI. a canteen and 2 drillroom. II
las several cottages. the homes OF the
officers: and. apart from these. down
on the harbOr. are hotel. a few stores
and some houses occupied by the
traders who buv and sell furs and live
off the soldiers and trappers-
\ part 81 the population Is Eskimo.
Int all Old IL does not number more
than two or three hundred and these
DeOuie live he-e year in and wear out
The island Is especially dreary IN
winter when for six months or more
IL is locked NJ in snow and Ice. and
when it has practically no unica-
ton with the outside world
st Michael has the only good harbor
rear the mouth OF the Yukon anu
number Of river steamers were lying
AT anchor. All the ships that steam
down the Yukon end their voyage AT
- Michael. and 10 this port come the
steamers from seattle before going 10
An Old Russian BIoeLhOuse.
II has q hotel Of fairly good size
three or four stores. q post office and
some v-arehOuses- There Is also
hlockhouSe that was built by the Rus
SLAMS who used this place to support
their claims 20 the mighty territory
Ora ned by the Yukon The blockhouse
- now deserted. but inside II may stu
be seen half dozen cannon. which
Tar~ he
guns even now look OUT OF the port
holes commanding the harisr-
The military force at FIT St Michael
consists Of about SIS soldiers Its com
Tpander is Lieut. ". =. G. Jepson. who
came TO Alaska two years ago at the
close Of his service in the Philippine
Islands Lieut. Jepson has his wife
with him. and II was at his home.
prettv little six room cottage that I
L. liked with him about s. Michael and
his life there He tells me the climate
is not at all bad. although in the sum
mer the winds are sometimes SO strong
that they almost blow the flowers out
OF the ground
The island Is treeiess. and this IS
teutant tells me that She winter is the
uleasantest part OF the year He gives
vivid pictures OF life IN the Arctic
when the thermometer falls FAR below
zero and the glare Of the sun on the
snow is almost binding. During that
season he takes long triDs with his
dogs TO visit the various stations Last
year he made one Of 5ou miles IN a
dog sled. to OLD Woman mountain lie
had 10 sleep out m the snow but he
cid not suffer as much from the cold IS
when stationed at Fort Lincoln. near
Bismarck. ia North Dakota
] was interested IN Mrs Jepson de-
scription OF he- housekeeping arrange
eents She saws that most of their
supplies are canned goods from the out
side but they have also Wild io"l anu
reindeer from 81 Michael ne rem
deer meat is as sweet and Juicy as a
tenderloin steak They have plenty OF
fish. and the Eskimos bring fish and
berries to the house for sale one OF
the chief troubles OF the housekeeper
is the servants
The dav / called Mrs Jepsou had eN-
Dected an Eskimo woman 10 90 her
washing. The arranSemen had peen
made the day previous. but 10 o'clock
came and no W-aShWOman appeared.
she was sent for She came and
worked from II oclocN until ) The
girl said she had 20 leave. and that
she could not come back on the morrow.
IS she had to pick berries
EskImOs Not Eager to Work.
am told that the EskimOs do not
care enough for money to work stead
ily The other day fisherman whose
nets were full. could not get the rs
lsimos to help him pull them out OF the
water. althouIh He "iie'Nu ''e''i man
Of the catch
nder Military Rule.
Tho Island Of st Michael Is under
military rule The stOrekeepers, traders
and others live here merely at the will
OF the army. and the commander makes
the laws No liquor is allowed to b.
sold and everything Is under army
regulations. The soldiers look well and
happy. Thev have comfortable quar-
tiers. and What with their drilling and
rifle shooting. they are kept busy.
! stopped FOR some time at Fort Glib
bon. Uncle Sans military post on the
lower NOukou. and | also saw the SOL
diers at Haines- OF Fort William H.
seward. which is the military station
for southeastern Alaska There is an
other station near Valdez. and there
ing station viii have a machine gun.
IN case Of war. and on the outbreak
thereof. the Coast Guard will auto