The Alaska daily empire., 1919-01-17
High Cost of Living Hits the Eskimo.
(Literary Digest.)

Literary Digest)
 An Eskimo industry the subject of magazine article would not so long have been regarded as somewhat of a joke. The war however reached away into Alaska raised the price of living created an industry brought about prosperous times, with the natural consequence that Madam Eskimo, says writer in The Sunset Magazine, is very different parsonage from what she used to be.
 Three dollars for porterhouse!" he protested. Say! Who do you think I am-Rockefeller?" His attitude was that Of one who was not going to let anybody put anything over him, if he in
 the Far North, curiosityseeker in the Land of Gu rios
 The sour-dough waiter looked bored Prices are gon in Alaska, same any place ese,' he said. You can have reindeer steak for six bits"
 Beefsteak three dollars; reindeer steak, seventy cents! And the price of beef and mutton and pork becoming higher every day-a condition that prevail ed before Wilhelm started on his excursion
 in world domination. Clearly, Uncle Sam's little pas toral experiment, begun than twenty years ago with the purpose of relieving the condition of semi starvation to which the Eskimos of northwestern Alas ka had been reduced by the invasion of the white man, had reached strategic point from which it could give old H.C.L. a kick in the ribs. The amount of reindeer to be shipped this year, to be sure, will not be sufficient to make appre- ciable dent in the price of other meats but con- sdering that reindeer double their number every three years besides leaving per cent. of the en tire herd for the market, it will be that these northern animals soon will become factor in the economic affairs of the nation The range-lands of the North practically unlimited.
 Many Eskimos who became apprenticed herders fifteen or twenty years ago are now quite wealthy, owning herd of several hundred deer, worth upon the hoof about $25 each, and it is one of the anom allies of the country that of them have thou sands of dollars worth of meat walking around on tundras yet short of flour and other food Reindeer herders know not the meatess Tuesday but for many of them every day is wheatess These ditions, however, prevail only in places where the herds situation at great distances from the ters of white population. Deer-men living the mining camps find a ready sale for their product.
 Reindeer meat is juicy and tender; it's flavor is somewhat between beef and mutton and is not 'gamey"
 With plenty of meat to sell, the Eskimo has become prosperous, but affuence has brought to him some of the troubles of his white brother. Time when Mrs. Eskimo happy if she had a piece of wal seal meat cook a blubber burning lamp in an igloo constructed of driftwood and bank ed with tundra-sod when the killing of a whale was the assembling signal for the Royal Gorge Muk- luks of walrus-skin plenty good .enough and chewing this tough leather to make it flexible was work of contentment parka and trousers of hair seal were considered the hal-marks of class
 But that day of simple contentment is past If Mrs. Eskimo's husband a reindeer herd, she must have down-to-date range to cook upon. The old gloo has been converted into cold-storage room, or dog-kennel. Tnc livng-house must be large. and commodous, with than room, ard it must be lined with nice paned lumber brought at great transportation cost from the United States She must have a sewing machine of the latest model She must have skirts and underwear of wool, like her white sister, and her coat be of the finest fawn-skin, trimmed with ermne, wolf, wolv- erine, Arctic fox. The tops of her mukluks must be of differently coored reindeer hides and gay with beads and other gegaws. In few she has been known to insist white-topped kid shoes with high heels, and there is record where willy trader did good stroke of business by showing a line of beautiful pink and blue corsets.
 To be sure, Madam Eskimo doesn't yet yearn for grand opera. But she makes frequent trips the big cities of the North where there crowds of people, and stores. and candy and canned music, and moving pictures. Will Madam Eskimo demean her. self by chewing walrus leather these days? Not much! She chews gum instead
 The time has arrived continues the writer when the reindeer men must find market for their sur plus steers beyond the local habitat and with the price of meat constantly advancing in the United States the introduction of this choice new article of diet should be than welcome.