The weekly Alaska citizen., 1919-05-26
HEROIC RESCUE
 WORK WAS DONE
 AMONG NATIVES
INFORMATION RECEIVED RE. GARDING RESCUE WORK DONE IN "FLU"-sTRICKEN VILLAGES IN SECOND DIVISION CHILDREN RESCUED.

IN SECOND DIvIsION--NATIvl CHILDREN RESCUED.
 On the last mail from the lowe
 river letter was received by Mrs J. A. Davis from friend at Telle describing the "fiu" ravages in tha
 vicinity and telling of the work don, by the white people to succor th'
 native children nnd in caring for thu dead and living. Mrs. Gehrman. tn, writer of the letter. is postmistres! at Teller. MT. Marx and Mir Winfield of whom mention l. made, are com missioner and storekeeper respective ly.
 Tn. letter follows:
 Teller. Alaska. April 1, 1919.
 My Dear Mrs. Davis:
 Your splendid letter of Nov ls reached me in February and we were so glad to know that you and Nh, Davis were not among the passenger. of the ill.fated steamer Sophia. Mir Marx had word from Nome to tha, effect. so you see that yours is to be . long life and happy one accord ing to old traditions.
 If you were to stop in to our little town now you would notice what a change the "fu" made by it's visit hero. There is not dozen adult na tives left in this vicinity. While al the white people except two were i'll at the same time only one old mar died. and he had had bronchia trouble for years. My two boys were very sick. and while I was sick enough to be in bed. necessity com pelled me to keep up.
 Mr. Winfield was hardly able tc move for a week or more, tho he managed to come down stairs every morning. Az soon as he could ant dared to do so, he went around te others afflicted to do what he coulc to help them. Mrs. Stephanson was so i'll we were afraid she would not recover, but she is quite well now and took care of a little Eskimo for about two months. then some rela. lives of the little ones mother came and took her with them.
 You probably remember the mis. sion across the bay from here. There everyone was sick except Mrs. Fosso who did heroic work with her hus. band at the point of death and Miss Enestvedt very low. She took care of them all and about 26 children be- sides. who were taken in by her aft CT their parents had died. Then she was obliged to go after ice to tht river. get wood and coal for the place and when three grownup natives died in the house she had to drag them out. She Is heroine if there ever was one.
 The poor natives died 80 fast. They seemed to have no stability. Seven ty.two were buried at the mission ir a long trench. MT. Fosso had re quested aid from Teller. when none could be given, on account of the many cases of influenza here, but when two men went to shoot some dogs in tho native village. they found three children under pile of deer skin eating dry rolled oats and snow There had been no fire in the place for over a week. They were taken to the mission where they still are
 When Mir. Winfield heard of thi' he suggested some one should go te the native villages further away. fear ing conditions might be just as bad He got another man to 50 with him and on Nov. 23 they left for Ameri can river. tho neither of them were feeling very strong. They found |: woman and five children in a cabir surrounded by seven dead bodies some of them having been dead week. and fire in the stove all the time. They brot her and the children to town. One child, however. died oi the way. Next they went to tho Agiapuk. 2s miles from here. Thers everyone had died except three chil dren. Poor little ones! They were in bed with their dead mother. Thert had been no fire in the house fol days. and one little girl of abou ten years had . can wrapped in furs in 1t was a little blue milk which sht used tor the little boys bottle.
 After carrying the dead to an ad joining place, the men built a fir' and cooked supper. Would you no have liked to have seen those pool children eat? could not keep thu tears back when I heard how the! found them. Later the 23 bodies wert buried. Of course. they brot those children home with them. MT. Win field, Mir. Marx and two others wen to Cape Prince of Wales, where con ditions were just as bad and perhap worse, as 1se had died.
 "I find that have no more pape so will have to end my letter, not