Evening star., 1936-01-12
By Rae Robins.

- ONE Of the icy implications OF
the word "AlasKa" disappears
when it is uttered by Capt. Hez
Mcclellan Of the Army Air
Corps, now stationed at Boiling Field.
Capt. Mcclellan, just returned from a
lengthy tour of Uncle Sans north
ernmost territory, during which he
took photographs for the Air Service,
Is convinced there are great many
misconceptions in existence about
Alaska.
did your fingers nearly freeze while
holding a camera?" asked the young
lady interviewer. Her tone implied
q vision of a cold, remote land of
ice swept always by snarling wind.
Capt. Mcclellan smiled.
Somehow" he said, "the universal
opinion seems to classify Alaska as
being always in a freezing zone, but
in the central part there is mild
weather, and during the Summer we
are able to 60 without overcoats just
as people in other mild climates. I
did not know what 1t was to use
fur wrap there until I few over to
visit Sergt. Stanley r. Morgan at
Point Barrow, the most northerly
operated radio signal station. Then
! had to bundle up-and howl"
The captain recalled that when
Master Sergt. Morgan came down re-
Gently from Point Barrow, Alaska, to
Seattle, Washington, he was logged
out in his furs and felt out OF place.
Instead of wearing his loose-fitting
shoepacks, made of seal and walrus,
with thick woolen socks, the master
sergeant had to come down to earth
and wear shoes. They cramped his
feet and crushed his toes, making it
somewhat of an effort to walk. Nor
did he have a dog team to pull him
along. He had to go on his own
like a soldier. He Immediately said:
sCarry me back to Oh Point Barrow.
where he has been stationed for the
q. S. Radio Signal Corps for the past
seven years.
Master Sergt. Morgan's advance
ment in the Army came in recogni-
ton of his feat of valor in the
tragedy of the late Will Rogers and
Wiley Post at Point Barrow.
"A CcoRDING to Capt. Mcclellan
the Eskimos up around Point
Barrow are humble and bashful peo-
ole, but most companionable and har-
monious among themselves and their
neighbors. They run their colonies
though few in number-in COM
nnunistic method. Not the Russian
style of Communism" but rather to
be compared to the early Roman
communal spirit. Or, as the popular
Actors Equity Association doctrine is
known today, as lone for all and all
for one"
The culture of the Eskimos can be
traced to the pre-Indian days. While
education is compulsory in Alaska, 1t
is not enforced strictly among the
natives. They make their own clothes
from the skins and hides Of animals.
The main occupations are hunting,
fishing and fur trapping, the latter
forming a considerable trade from the
sale of the pelts to traders. Ducks
and geese are plentiful and furnish a
large part of the food of the natives
In Summer. In Winter they largely
subsist on the flesh of the whale, wal
rus, seal and reindeer. The wild REIN
deer roam the tundra of the extreme
North in large herds and when meat
Is required it is only necessary to shoot
an animal.
Eskimos are not known to indulge
in alcoholic liquors. They recognize
that drinking is dangerous pastime
In Northern latitudes.
The language of the Eskimos is not
related to any other tongue. Some
time ago an attempt was made to
show a relationship between the Ian
guage Of the natives of Alaska and
Siberia, but the evidence was not con-
elusive, and this theory is not gen.
orally accepted by leading authorities
on the language of the Eskimos.
During the hunting season the
Eskimos work day and night, but be-
cause Of "a hours daylight in Sum-
ner they do not seem to mind 1t, and
rest up in the Wintertime. 1t is
nothing unusual to find them wide
awake and working in the middle Of