Evening star., 1932-12-25


Copyright by Lomen Brothers.
words are few and far between, only as
many as are necessary for the occasion
at hand 1t tells a good deal that be-
fore he started out on the long adven-
ture the old reindeer herdsman took
his first airplane ride. As I have said,
a great part Of the country that he
Northern mountains, was almost un-
known. So Andy did bit Of scouting
by air, hunting for q trail, observing
the lay Of the frozen land.
Even before the trek began. . taste
was had of the troubles that were to
come. A picked herd Of 5000 Of the
sturdiest reindeer was gathered. And
q wild blizzard blew and smashed the
corrals. The herd scattered, and days
were lost rounding them up. The start
was made In the early Winter of 1929,
from an Eskimo village north of Nome,
Alaska. Andy's helpers were party
Of hardened reindeer herdsmen Of the
North, white men and Eskimos. 1mme-
diately they encountered storms-icy
tempests that swept down from the
Pole The crusted snow was so hard
that the reindeer could not break
through to the coarse grass beneath.
The deer must have that grass; to keep
them from starving the men had to
break through the ice with axes. Prog
ress was slower than Andy had expect
ed. They were making only q mile a
day. Then a terrific blizzard blew up
and scattered the herd. 1t took days
to gather the animals together again.
Day after day they plodded along. And
so the Winter passed
When Spring came. they made camp.
It was fawning season, and to press on
would have meant too much hardship
for the reindeer mothers and their
young. As the days grew warm, swarms
of flies and mosquitoes appeared. Any
Northern traveller will tell you that the
mosquitoes Of the Arctic are infinitely
the worst in the world. Clouds of the
insect pests engulfed the reindeer. The
animals could not protect themselves
against the millions of blood-sucking
vermin. Maddened, they stampeded
and scattered over the bleak Arctic
tundra. 1t took weeks to round them
up again.
Secuted by Plane.
Autumn was approaching as they
neared the icy range called the Brooks
Mountains Andy knew that getting
the herd through the lofty snow
choked passes would be one Of the most
formidable difficulties he would have
to face. So he had made a rendezvous
In the Arctic sky appeared an airplane.
hunting over the bleak country. 1t
landed near the reindeer herd and
once more Andy went by plane to scout
the lay of the land.
Flying low, he studied the condition
OF the mountain passes. They were
bleak and crammed with snow: not a
tree not a sign of vegetable life. He
believed the passage could be made
but 1t promised to be frightful task.
1t was. AS the strange caravan Of rein
deer and herdsmen struggled through
the mountains. the worst blizzard of
all blew up. The wind came shrieking
through the walls Of ice and rock. The
snow was blinding. Visibility was al
most at zero. The half-frozen herds
men crowded around Andy. They were
wild with fright and anger.
Cant you see we're lost?" they
ragged. You got us into this, and now
We are lost"
While the blizzard whistled around
them Andy yelled back:
I'm here, amt I2 And when I'm
here you amt lost
The terrified whites and Eskimos
were silent. The arrogance of the
squat. swarthy Lap overrode them. And
besides, they knew that their only hope
Of guidance and safety was in Andy
Bahr.
Plane Brings Food.
After they had pushed their way
through the mountains they faced q
still more wicked predicament. Food
was running short. The Spring Of 1891
found them sick of reindeer meat. They
needed and demanded other food. And
once more the mutterings Of mutiny
were heard. Andy saw that he had an
exceedingly difficult situation on his
hands this time.
Then in the nick of time came an
immense piece of good luck. Once more
there was roar of motors in the sky
and plane appeared. The pilot land
ed. He said that the Lomens had be-
come worried about the reindeer cara
van and had sent the aerial scout.
Andy explained the food shortage.
I'll guarantee that you get supplies
by plane" promised the pilot, "but it
may take little time The weather's
getting bad; in fact, I'll have to be hur-
rying or I'll get caught in the storm"
And away he flew.
The promise of relief quieted the mu-
tineerS for while, but it was six long
weeks before the weather cleared suffi-
ciently and plane came winging over
and landed 1000 pounds of provisions
After that the reindeer caravan SEEM
ed to drop out Of sight. 1t got far into
the unknown along the bleak shore of
the Arctic. 1t was not until April of this
year that the Canadian government
succeeded in locating Andy Bahr and
the Lomen deer. And they found it
had split In two. Driven by billiards.,
it had separated into two parts One
still keeping on. Andy was with the
other half and was reported to be on
the right track, beating his way east
ward
He must be nearing his goal now.
merry Christmas for the little lap
merry Christmas for the Little Lap
lander, driving his reindeer up there In
the blank spaces of the North. At any
rate, that's what the men Of the North
land are hoping; that Andy Bahr is
successfully concluding his long trek,
and that this Is the merriest Christmas
of all for him.
Mel Lan-Fan Planning
To Visit World Fair