The weekly Alaska citizen., 1918-06-17
Reindeer a National Wealth
BY JOHN c. MURPHY

southeast and southwest. upon which feed thousands of caribou.
 Read what Commander Robert E. Peary of Arctic pole fame says of the reindeer:
 "I am often asked how herbivor. ous animals, like the musk-ox and the reindeer. survive the winter in the snow-covered lands By a strange paradox the wild winds that rage in that country help them in their struggle for existence-as the wind sweeps the dried grasses. and whit ish moss and scattered creeping will lows bare of snow over great stretches and then the animals graze"
 Here 1 desire to state that this domesticated reindeer is but carl bou of which there are two kinds in Alaska, called woodland and bar ren.ground caribou The woodland is taller and heavier than our domesti. cated reindeer. The barren-ground caribou is almost precisely the coun' terpart of the reindeer. The habits of both reindeer and caribou are practically alike. The caribou stag has high branching antlers, probably not so heavy but fully as spreading as the elk. The coats of reindeer and caribou have fine, thick, woody fur. which protect them against great cold. The feet are quite broad and often are likened to snowshoes. This is what they are during the winter season. In the oper; season these shaped feet enable them to travel through the great swamps at a surprisingly rapid pace. In truth. one may say the only difference between them is that the reindeer is domesticated, the cari- bou is not. Both animals are very prolific breeders.
 In perusing Norway, Sweden and Finland official documents on the subject of reindeer I gleaned the fol- lowing: That throughout Norway and smoked reindeer tongues are every where found for sale in the public markets The reindeer hams sell for 10 cents per pound and the tongues for 10 cents each. Reindeer skins are marketed all over Europe and are worth in raw condition from $1.5O to $l.75 each. The tanned skin are soft and carry beauti- full yellow color, finding eager sale, from $2.00 to $500 each, being used for gloves, military trousers and book-binding. Even the hair finds a ready sale. Used in the filling of life-saving apparatus, it possesses a wonderful degree of buoyancy. The very best blue in the market is made from the horns. Butter and cheese is made from it's milk. The COW reindeer is milked only in the fall after the lawns have been weaned. And then the writer is reminded that during the winter of 1916 Swe- Iden sold to Germany 43,50O reindeer carcasses, which equalled 3,480 tons of venison, and paying therefor an average of 2S cents per pound. This source of meat supply has continued to date, with increasing tons.
 A peculiar thing In nature Is found here. If reindeer COW has twin lawns she will not recognize the two, but chooses one of them, feeds and takes fine care of it while the other she hooks, kicks and denies it all maternal care and nourishment. In this respect. am credibly informed, 1t seems the Eskimo mother and the reindeer are very much alike. For when twins are born to the Eskimo mother, she chooses one of the babies and kills the other.
 The reindeer is also trained and used as a draught animal. similar to tn ehorse, OK or dog. They are two driven side by side hitched to a sled. Yes, even now there is in pro- cess of development reindeer trans portation here in Alaska. And why not? If dog team is used on a long journey, 1t will average from 15 to 25 miles a day, but the dogs must be we'll fed so that one must carry with him on the sled many pounds of dog feed, and this costs many a dollar, while reindeer team requires no beaten road, travels faster and at night can be turned loose to forage for itself.
 It is curious fact in nature that the reindeer is an innocent, confiding animal, utterly incapable of protect ing itself. It is therefore absolute ly necessary to have herders and dogs to protect the herd from the murderous attacks of wolves and wolverines, very numerous in certain | no rte of A1ocLo