New-York tribune., 1918-01-06
a N INTERESTING and practical
~ scheme for mobilizing the food re-
- Sn1rcor of +bo rr%;c nave, ~, 80 Al.

~ SSucuc lOI lUODUlZlnK LNo 1000 re-
sources of the Arctic now that the
worlds food supplies are being exhausted
by the war is suggested by Christian
Leden, writing in "The Outlook" The
author, who. has spent years among the
Esquimaus Of Greenland and Hudson Bav.
says that enough game of the North
could easily be captured, dried, packed
and transported to feed many thousands
OF soldiers for many years. And, further
| more
The organizing of these resources can be
put or practical basis. 1t might even he
s'fansed as part of the military commits
sar1at. for the Canadian Esuuimaus are Brit
lsh subjects, even though they are ignorant Of
tne 1act themselves. Trading posts could be
established, to which the Esquirnau himself
couid BRING his game. dried and prepared In
the fashion of which he is past master. Oil.
leather and skins are also necessities in time
Cf war, and will be necessities still more
after the war, if the rate of consumption con-
t'nues another year to be so utterly out OF
proportion to the rate of production as it
has been these three years.
even under the primitive conditions Of the
Esquimau, with his crude spear and bow and
arrow, he is very clever hunter, capable of
Killing game where white man would fail
lie kills much more than he can possibly
usc Tor his own consumption. His religious
belief tells him he must kill all animals he
meets or sees, for they were expressly sent
hy the spirit world for him to kill. If he
fails to do SO he thereby offends the spirit
world and 1t would never send him any moro
game. And 80 great quantities of game are
killed and left to sink into the sea or to 70;
upon the land as bait for the wolf and the
fox, who are later hunted for their skins
"The Esquimaus could furnish an army Of
hunters The able-bodied men CT the seven
tribes l visited on my last expedition alone
would amount to about $50. l have seen q
single man kill hundred caribou or wilc
reindeer in three or four days, and boat
crew of four kill thirty to forty walruses r
about three days. All this is done with
primitive weapons. The Esquimau still uses
the harpoon for killing the large sea nam
mails, like the walrus, baluga and seal ane
a special deer's spear for killing the caribol
as it migrates south in the fall. He knows
the routes Of the migrating caribou and he
lies in wait for them near some big lake ol
river where he knows the caribou must cross
The herds are enormous, ranging from ter
thousand to seventy thousand head The Esoui
mau hides behind rock until part of thu
herd has entered the water to swim acros.
to the other side. He then goes out among
this mass Of caribou. which practically cover.
the whole water, padding out among then
in his little boat, or kayak (for he can paddl,
much faster than the caribou can swim
spcaring and killing Thousands of caribo,
are thus killed and hauled to the shore
Only much is stored as is necessary 70
the winter food and the rest is scattered fo
tait for the wolf and fox, as I said above
1t would be easy to make the Esquimau under
stand that the meat is needed more than tn
fur, and that it is needed dried and pre-
pared as he dries and prepares it for himself
"Bcsides the fall and winter hunt for carl
bou, there is spring and summer hunt fo
the great sea mammals. Three hundred o
the $50 able bodied hunters could easily brin
in twenty walruses and twenty balugas each