The Daily Alaska empire., 1933-09-13

luks and skins. They arrived in their big skin boats called om- iaks. These boats are made of walrus hide and driftwood, about as big as a 50-foot Navy sailer. They make a grand sight. But, instead of being propelled by sail as in the past, they had outboard motors kicking at the sterns- most incongrous.
 While awaiting Mattern's arriv- al at Nome. we picked up a few hundred dollars with two trips for local people. One trip we took a Chinese scientist, who had oome all the way from China to obtain ten reindeer heads. It seems the Chinese long have used elk horns, when in the velvet, for medicine. It was Dr. Chang intention to discover if reindeer horns had curative effects.
 ReInOeeT HI OOITdi
 We took him to a reindeer camp on Eschultz Bay, within very few miles of the Arctic Cir cle There was corral there, and the natives were busy mark ing and counting the deer. The reindeer were very wild. It was all very exciting.
 The deer were driven through a chute, and an Eskimo would step up. drag one out by the horns and wrestle him down on his hack. Then another Eskimo would clip the deer's ears in such fashion as to brand him for his owner. By 10 o'clock that night we had our plane full of ten deer heads, and were headed back for Nome.
 On the way we stopped at Ele- phant Point for gas. They have natural cold storage plant for reindeer carcases. The ground i'll Interior Alaska is permanently frozen, and only thaws out for couple of feet in the summer time. During five years the tenn perature inside has never been above IT degrees Fahrenheit, that is, l5 degrees below freezing. Out side the air was warm, 65 degrees F.
 Night Flying Easy
 We arrived back at Nome at twenty minutes past midnight. It's a great country for night flying. Although the sun went down at 1O:3o. it was still light enough for us to find our way across strange almost uninhabited country, and to make an easy landing on the Nome river.
 The Russians had arrived with Jimmy Mattern while we were away.
 !, Mattern is a fine chap, very likable and a good scout. While he was getting his affairs straight ened out we all entertained the Russians. They could speak no English; we, no Russian. But, on. the whole we managed nicely, especially as most technical air n1a ne terms are much the same in any language.
 They seemed excellent flyers and had a good plane, large Dornier (German) flying boat, with two motors. and a crew of five. They stayed only a day or two, as they had to get back to their base on the Black Sea.
 River Too Narrow
 The Nome river where we land ed was not big enough to take off with a full load. So we took three passengers and flew them over to Safety Cove; deposited them, and went back for the oth- CT two. We were gone only IT, teen minutes, but when we got back the fog had blown in and we couldn't get down in the river. So, back we went to Safety Cove, and the remaining two passengers had to come out along a bumpy road.
 We left Safety Cove about 9:3O at night. After a daylight-mid- nikht landing for gas at Ruby, we arrived at Fairbanks at 3 in the morning.
 The landing at Juneau at II o'clock the next night was diff cult because of possible driftwood, but I sat her down okeh. q