The Nome nugget., 1920-03-20
Ko6Uk- -sELAWlk SECTION FACING SERIOUS
 FOOD SHORTAGE

White and native residents of the kobuk and Selawik sections are fac ing shortage of food supplies which may ultimately develop much suffer- ing and possible starvation. as d re- suit of the destruction by fire of the merchandise store at Kiana in Decem- Der, according to Game Warden M. o. Solberg, who returned Sunday from an official trip to that region ex- tending over the greater part of the past two months. Warden Solberg made the trip in company with Louis Erickson. the well known fur buyer.
 Combined with the destruction of the store, the failure of the schooner Arctic to make it's usual trip last fall and the destruction of practically all the fishing gear along the upper Kot zebue coast by severe storms when the fall fishing was on. have contributed to make the food situation extremely serious. Supplies are so short. Warden Solberg says. that the people there look with no favor on travellers. know ing that every added mouth means further reduction in their scanty grub supply. There is little flour and other cereal food stuffs in the country and the inhabitants are subsisting largely on reindeer meat and the variety of white fish known as "she." of which there Is q plentiful supply at present. But for the fish and scind CT there is little doubt that starvation would be rife before the return of spring. As things are there is serious pros pect that many of the inhabitants particularly the natives. may be re- duced to a straight fish and reindeer diet before fresh supplies can be brought to the district.
 Dog feed of the usual varieties is rot to be had at any price in tte Northern districts and su"l' animals .s have noe been k:i'c6 are being maintained on fresh fish and reindeer meat, the latter diet so expensive that few are being kept, save where their services are essential.
 Mir Solberg says weather conditions have been almost prohibitive to travel in that section this winter. severe blizzards being frequent and inter spersed with short periods of extreme cold. As examples of the travelling difficulties it Is stated that one of the Kotxebue mail carriers was forced to sleep out six nights between Kotzebue and Deering and Mir Mcclure, assist ant Superintendent of the Bureau of Education in the Northwestern dis trict was several weeks in making . trip of about 200 miles.
 Mir Solberg was himself prevented from reaching his destina ton owing to the severe weather conditions.
 About twenty whites are winter'ing st Kiana but little mining Is going on because of the food shortage. Mos. Of the residents were in good health at the time of MT Solberg's visit and no deaths were reported. It was learned that q native had gone insane and shooting scrnpe. in which Adolph Escholtz, well known Deering resi- dent, was attacked by Russian. had occurred short time previous to MT Soiberg's arrival. The Russian. whose name is not recalled, is said to have Theresa. and insisted on marrying the y~ung lady, despite her own and her uncle's objections. Frantic with rage over the rejection of his suit, the Rus- sian drew a gun on Escholtz after de- claring. according to the evidence ad- duced at the hearing before Judge Dtmmick at Candle. that if he could not have the sirl he would shoot both her and Eschoitx. A scufiie ensued in which Escholtz managed to disarm his axaniiant. who was latter arrested and hound over to the erand jury. Both he and the insane native.are in jail at Candle.
 Candle is described by the warden aa very lively camp in social way this winter. but the volume of mining acavity is small. A dance is held every Saturday evening and other
 ycoutinusd on page six)