The Wrangell sentinel., 1927-01-06
NELLIE NEAL
IAN ALASKAN JOAN OF ARC ?


 inc Of France lost any of the crown ing attributes of woman. but no such doubt will exist regarding a more modern Joan of Arc, who happens to be the heroine Of the Yukon and the frozen North. The multitudes who can testify as to Ter prowess as a miner, a hunter, .lumBerman' or pack train dry CT, are exceeded only by the i'm mense and ever increasing number whose highest dreams Of Heaven are of some blissful spot where Sel- lies meals are always being served
 Anyone in Alaska who does not know Nellie is rank outsider Chechaeo. tenderfoot! Twenty five years ago, when mems lives were cheap and dog sleds priceless, she arrived in the Dawson country as a part Of the Gold Rush. And in the intervening years, she has al ways filled the place of d man the place of a real "Heman - along the outposts of the great frontier.
 Address a letter just to Nellie, Alaska If it gets past Seattle there isn't a chance but that 1t will safely reach Mrs. Nellie LaWing at Roosevelt, Alaska, 23 mics Up the Alaska Railroad from Seward on the beautiful Lake henai, where the tourists visit every summer.
 The walls oi this modern Jeans unpretenuous but comfortable log cabin are lined with the heads Of bears, both black and brown and white and grizzly, wolves, noun foi i'm lUnK and many other animals, most of them having been killed with her own rifle. The original Joan of Arc, whose fame rests largely on the not uncommon WomanIy habit oI subduing mere men, would probably feel outelassed in the presence of one who shoots and traps the beasts of the forest in their native lair.
 Nellie's greatest trophy is the head of a huge brown bear. On her way to the barn one day to feed a pet GU bear she heard a menacing growl Turning quickly, she saw her pet had been killed by the brown bear, which instantly made a lunge for her. Dodging the blow, she ran tor the barn, barely reaching it. Just as she was clos HE luE QOgI q lOl16 D6 ApG AAOAAA stAN beasts claws raked her hand open, breaking bones in two fingers AL though forced to wait an hour, she was finally able to slip into the house for her gun.
 Ignoring the pain in her hand, and filled with rage and sorrow at losing her pet cub bear, she took up the trail of the monster, and II TlTn and a half feeti She shows it to all corners, with light of righteous vengeance in her eye.
 Another of her treasures is a moose head valued at S5,000. It has 54 points, which she believes is worlds record. And it boasts a spread of 56 inches, which is said to be within two and half inches of the record kill of Buffalo Bill.
 In addition to logging and haul ing bridge decking in the early days. the woman who all Alaska knows by her first name once com manded the pack train ot gold mine in which she was stockhold- CT. She later ran hotel for tran sients tWenty-siX miles from teWn or railroad and did her own haul ing of all the camp supplies Dolh winter and summer. On one ach trip, with her horses, dog and pet bear, she was caught 1n bllZ- gard and had to dig deep under the snow to keep from freezing ID storm of several hours. Horses, dogs, bear and woman burroWed there together, her shovel punch ing air holes from time to tlme' Keeping herself dry with rabbit robe and canvasses, she was able to dig a way out as soon as the storm was over. The animals were none the worse for the experience either.
 Running a frontier hotel during the construction of the Alaska Railroad, for five years she was never late with a meal for slngle train crew. And she proved equal to the task of serving large num- bers of unexpected guests at any hour, day or night.
 During this period she had to feed many dog teams as well as men and often had to go hunting Tor the dog feed One day she put some porcupine meat on the stove to cook for the dogs and went out to shoot some more. When she re- turned after several hours, the ket- tie was almost empty but supposing it had simply boiled dry, she put on more meat to cook, and thought no more about it. The next day, how ever, a bunch of prospeetors troop ed in and asked how much they owed her for the fine mulligan eat en in her absence the day before,de claring they had been almost starv- ed and that it was the finest multi gan stew they had ever tasted.
 Making porcupine meat delicious however, is one of Nellies easiest miracles. Why, in region where tomatoes cost fifty cents pound and bananas only three dollars dozen, and where scrambled eggs retail for twenty-five to fifty cents each, Nellie let them eat to their hearts content, and charged them fifty cents for the mulligan.