The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1920-06-19

play never to be forgotten, never sur
passed and well worth all the discom-
forts of the polar night to witness.
'In the morning, when the teacher
rang the ten o'clock bell for school,
and the babies who wouldn't stay at
home trOoped up the school hill, the
mercury, by the light of a match, stood
at 60 below zero. Two hours later the
kerosene was frozen i'm the school
lamps. But the children laughed at
the cold. Look, teacher. The sun !
The SUM- 1t was the first day of Feb
ruary, exactly twelve o'clock. Through
the southwest window of the school
room glinted obliquely a yellow radi-
ance that outlined the reflection of the
window frame or the opposite wall and
lighted up the room.
Polar, Night Ends.
with one impulse teacher and pu-
pills moved toward the window, blink
ing their eyes, shading them with their
hands, laughing helplessly as they at
tempted to look at the upper rim of a
pale yellow ball just showing above the
CdSC VI Liz AOl lLOIs EAlICI - lays VI
darkness and dull gray daylight the
human eye refused to adjust itself
quickly to the sudden brightness. Put
on your things, children said the
teacher. Swiftly they obeyed, but be-
fore the foremost could reach the door
the light faded. Look, teacher. It's
gomez they cried regretfully, staring
at the spot where the yellow rim had
appeared to rest but only a ligltaninE
of the gray clouds remained Sin evil
dence of the glad fact that sIAoIafj
night was over. twas 38sAas3 zero
Three months of wintsr2etsfenpafned
but what malfefnafthAt aheif souls
had thsilieu Dndea again to Gods
snake and Hope, Joy and expectation
usineled with THE regret on every
6ht6{uf face.
Training untutored minds is not a
teachers only duty in Alaska. Teach
eri There's a man hurt in the saw
mill. They want you quick painted a
youth n Sabbath day as he reached
the lone teachers cabin-high above
and back of the camp. The teacher
stuffed her pockets with bandages and
antiseptics and ran down the hill to
the spot where a soldier lay, the liga-
ments and arteries of one arm severed
at the wrist, the biceps muscle gouged
out, and a piece of dirty rope and a
rusty file fashioned into a tourniquet
holding back the life blood with which
everything was stained. Twenty min
utes later a long Yukon sled drawn by
seven powsTf9uesessAse guided by a
halfbreed ~eEneW the river and its
dangerous condition, carried the
wounded man toward the nearest hos
pital@75 miles away. A white miner
Accompanied thefn. The going wars
rough; the surface watetson thepice Of
the river in some places was two feet
deep; the ice bent and cracked, but
they never stopped until 60 miles were
covered and a relief sled from the
army hospital, summoned by another
soldier youth who ran ten miles to tap
a telegraph wire, was met. After 20
hours of excruciating agony the hos
pital was reached.
The Only Trail.
"That was the last day of April. Had
the accident happened a few days la
ter nothing could have saved the life
of the injured man the ice would have
gone, and the breaking ice on the river
was the only available trail at that
time of the year. The halfbreed was
tho host mon kVhn Ha rod fn 0oolya thu
trip. His Indian mothers powers Of
endurance and knowledge of local con-
ditions, coupled with his white fathers
intelligence and dominant spirit, gave
him a high degree of efficiency for such
an ordeal.
Rendering medical aid is a part Of
every teachers sworn duty in the
Alaska school service. Government
supplies are often the only medicines
obtainable in cases of grave emergen-
cy, for whites as well as natives.
"a knowledge of law doesn't come
amiss at times. In places remote from
the jurisdiction of courts, the teacher
is frequently the only lawgiver of the
community, as well as the only doctor.
She is census taker, keeper of vital
statistics, arbitrator of quarrels,
health officer, peace officer, friend and
confidant of everyone in distress. The
teaching of sanitation, hygiene of a
practical nature, economy, thrift, do
nestle science suitable to environment,
manual training calculated to utilize
the products of each particular local
iry, and civics, to fit the natives for
future citizenship, are all included in
the work of the service.
each section of the vast territory
presents a different problem each is
rich in a different way each must be
settled and self-sustaining in the fu-
ture."