The Alaskan., 1928-12-14

it might be stated that these num- bers offer but poor comuarison as far as value is concerned, inasmuch as Alaska furs are of so much great 1 CT value per skin. but glance at value comparison a few paragraphs back will quickly remove any doubts as to the relative value of the vari- ous catches.
 1 l have used Alaska in these illus trations merely because figures for ] comparison are at hand and because 1 there are so many dissatisfied young trappers who, believe Alaska a coun- try Overfowing with fur-bearing ami mals, are asking about the trapping opportunities to be found in that country, with the view of going t;iere to trap, any outlying wilder ness sections will show but little
 better comparison. Of course there are ''fur pockets in Alaska where trappers are making big catches: but these are very scattering, and usually most difficult to reach. And it is much the same in other outlying
 wilderness sections. Owing to the
 uncertainty of the food supply and to it's unequal distribution, fur game in the wilderness sections is usually not so uniformly scattered over a re- zion or locality as it is in the more settled districts, thereby increasing he uncertainty of trapping and add ing to the difficulties of the work. And there is a feature of wilder
 ness trapping in the distant fur countries that I have not yet men ticned: that of out fitting. A trap per in the States can outfit at frac- tiOn of the cost of quitting for winter trapping in the northern wilderness. Often an outlay of $100 to $200 is all that is necessary to
 enable a States trapper to reach
 good trapping grounds pretty we'll
 fixed for the winter And if he is trapping on home grounds his out fay will often be only few dollars. But if he answers the call of the distant trails and decides to try his
 luck in the northern wilderness, his expenses will mount astonishingly. Quitting expense will often run up into the hundreds of dollars, besides transportation charges, which will be 10 little item where the trapper lives in the east or in the south. Of course
 Ifter the first year expenses would Fe considerably less, but, in many Instances, there would likely be no second year, as dissatisfaction would likely send thoroughly dis heartened and disgusted trapper back to the States before the open l ing of the next trapping season. It is true, one now and then sticks, but where one succeeds a score or more ] fail. Northern trapping is work, and no mistake-a real mans. job
 Then there are the dangers of the northern wilderness trails, the cold, the snow, the isolation Furs are often taken under the most unfavor- able conditions, with exposure and extreme hardships the daily com panions of the trapper. Sickness is i tragedy In such countries, not lnfre- quently ending in the final tragedy. Such are the offerings of the far countries that lie beyond the blue haze of our horizon; such are the dangers and hardships to be encoun- tered in the lands of our dreams.
 So, taken all in all, the States trapper who lays out trap line in the settled districts, where there are
 foxes, minks, racoons. sopossums,
 skunks, and muskrats in fair num-
 bers, often will find when he gets to
 figuring trapping on basis of pro-