The Wrangell sentinel., 1936-12-04
lAlaska Pressl

Ed. Note. Listed as Notes from my log. the following was received from Nome in the last mail from Miss Louise Jeschien. former repor- ter for The Press, who has been visiting Arctic posts as a passenger on board the NJ. s. North Star, Bu- reau of Indian Affairs ship.)
 King Island was all we had ex- pected it to be, and justified our preconceived opinion that the is lands are by far the most interest ing part of the trip. Unlike the oth- CT shallow places in which we anch- ored the North Star lay in 15 fa- thoms of water only a few yards from King Island which shot straight up in the air before us.
 The sun was shining brightly up- on our arrival there and every one was happy for We had numerous op-I portunities for excellent pictures. The island is two miles square. says the Pilot House Logbook climbsI upward on a 75 degree angle, is 70OI feet high according to the GeodeticI Survey 500 feet according to an other log and goo feet according tOI W. T. Lopp former commissioner of education. I prefer to accept the lat-I ter, as it aids our tales. After reaching the summit. it seemed that the width could not have been moreI than two city blocks. if that much.
 Fairly well sprinkled with fresh snow and age-old glacial formation, we could not help but wonder how in the world IA people could man . age to hang to the steep side. ltl must have taken the combined strength of the HAS teeth and toe nails. These people. reputed to be the highest type of Eskimos in the world, are cliffdwellers.
 We brought seventy of them from Nome to their home town. The King Islanders, plus the so Diomeders, 10I Nunivakers and a couple of others, established a Grand Hoter' on theI 'tweendeck in the forward hold. ItI was a picnic to watch them. They slept and ate there, setting up littleI coal oil and seal-oil lamps, gasoline stoves and beds of reindeer hides. Their seal skin pokes, inflated seal bladders, multuk and personal eff fects lay scattered about. And didI it smell. After all, the 'tween-deckI was nothing more than an enlarged igloo. These people had all their worldly wealth, including proVis- ions for the next year with them. Most of the dogs they left on the island.
 For the King Islanders and the Diomeders, the climax of the year comes when they make their annual junket to Nome. Each summer they swarm this metropolitan center of the far North, the Diomeders living in tents on the north side of the town, and the Kings at the southern end Here they carve and sell ivory and buy a few white mans luxuries such as alarm clocks, phonographs, outboard motors, and HormePs chic-I ken. The women go in for thread and perfume. All purchase tobacco and. unfortunately, many of them spend their hard-earned cash for li-I QQOI. IL Io uuillS tlAO hAAN%N these uncontaminated people learn the ways of the white mans world
 The North Star serves as a taxi, and a free one at that. At the end of the summer season we take them back to the islands, that they may settle down to a few quiet evenings at home. They were glad to return, too. and were anxiously looking for ward to the freezeup so that they could go hunting What people we did not transport, the coast guard cutter Northland took care of, a few days ahead of us. The Northland, as you know, is the watchdog of the Bering Sea and must hang around until the last ship leaves the Arctic This year the North Star will be the last ship out.
 It was extremely difficult unload
 ing at King Island. We couldn't use