Evening star., 1922-06-18

| games and dances, that were to last
through three days and nights, the
one serious topic of conversation was
the non-arrival of the mail carrier.
'onowaypuk (big wind).' they said.
shaking their heads. pko-tigeechuk
| (trail very bad).'
Splendid Mail Carrier.
Put We didn't begin at once to
the splendid Eskimo mail carrier,
isn't the sort that you easily or
quickly start worrying about. Neo
is not only. like all Eskimos. intelli-
gent and kind in the treatment OF
dogs, and ready to go hungry himsef
rather than see them starved or un-
derfed. But when going with the
mail he does not add his weight TO
the load his dogs must haul. He does
| not ride on the sled. He Is running
as ne comes into the village, and as
he leaves; but how do you know he
doesn't sit on the load or stand on
| the runners when he gets beyond
siIht of the village? The proof Is IN
| ,he fact that. when carrying the mail,
| he wears. not fur breeches as do most
OF us here. but thin khaki pants in
which. if he were to sit or stand still
on the sled with the mercury down.
! where 1t has been hanging this win
| ter. around 40 below, his legs and
!
| with his dogs practically every step
or the $50 miles. If any man IN
Alaska could be counted on to bring
a dog team through, that man 'is
| Nushunginya.
so. on Christmas. we said: He's
been delayed, storm bound perhaps:
, himself. his sled and his dogs COW
cred. 1t may be. by the quick drifting
snow. where they have stopped TO
sleep. But he'll break out He'll
come. He may be here tonight The
| next day we said the same thing.
And the next. And the next.
But when the 2Sth had arrived.
and Ned had not. the subject matter
realization that. If the mail dlu not
come in here to Wainwright by the
next night. IL could not reach Barrow
on schedule time by or before the end
of the month. We usually suppose
that sentimental considerations and
personal interests afford the most ef
| fective motives. But it was not when
we were thinking about Ned that we
i were moved to action. 1t was when
our thought shifted to the imper-
| idea that the mail must be gotten
! through on time that we stopped
| talking and started to act.
| Council Is Called.
After a quickly called and short
| session of the village council at
(which the procedure was Immediate
agreed upon. / rang the big school
bell. calling all the people to the
lschoolhouSe. which is also the post
Office. In few minutes they were
gathered here. and the meeting was
IN order. The mere statement of the
situation was sufficient. There was
no need of argument or urging. Two
things were required by the emer-
gency: First. that a couple of men
should be willing to start down the
coast at once to find the mail sled
and. II Ned were with il and able to
travel. to help him; if not to get the
! mail. bring il back and take it on
to Harrow: second, that supplies be
| furnished TO last these men and their
dogs for a month or more. there be
ing the possibility that they would
! not find the mail sled without going
far down the coast
| Il had learned that Kaywak an ex-
perienced reindeer herder and Tux
rook, far-rsnging hunter, both OF
whom had come to the village for the
IChristmas celebration, were we'll ac-
quainted with the trail down the
ICoast Would they go? Yes. without
a moments hesitation. Having no
authority to use government supplies
ior funds for outfitting these men, l
said. all that I could do would be to
draw on my own grub pile The an
swer of Akuaksraurak, the village
should not give all. Every one should
do his part Within a few minutes a
list was made up of the necessary
provisions. The amount required of
each person in the village. if all
| we're to share in furnishing the sup
plies. was named. and each man and
woman present was asked if he wish
ed to give. Not a refusal or hesita-
ton. Very quickly the supplies were
mot only promised, but brought to-
ityaf bar ha
short time. the sleds We're loaded, the
dogs harnessed in and. with the
.heartening God speed you of their
neislbors sounding in their ears.
kaywak and Tukrook were off on the
trail down the coast. going under
community to cooperate with the
postal service.
Met Mail Sled.
1T makes no difference to the point
of this story that Kaywak and
Tukrook met the mail sled on the
trail twenty miles southwest of here.
SO that their help actually consisted
merely in taking onto their sleds
part of the load and SO speeding its
arrival here and at Point Barrow by
a few hours.
The opportunity had come to these
Arctic Americans to show what the
attitude of every American COM
munity should be toward the great
central agency of service that, more
than any other, unites US all. And
they showed it.
why was their response so per-
feet and SO quick? Because here the
local branch of the nation uniting
postal service is established. not as
in most localities throughout the
country, In one of the several private
business places, whose tendency is to
divide and separate the people, but
in the neighborhood- uniting public
school. So the postal service is
thought of in association with the
, public school. That means that 1t is
thought of as something that belongs