NORTHERN LIGHT
Pablisbc I monthly by tTie Unalaklcc t
Eskimo School
l I n alakl ee t_Alaska
J;. IvVan Ness..Editor
OrK* j) >U..r per yr.ir
EDITORI AL AND COMMENT
*K0 IS HE?
Who is that fellow with t:::.-,have:i
face,dingy clothes aval horny hands?
On his back a 75 lb. pi. k nrkes his
burden heavy to 1 tar.See th t pick,
shovel,and pan. Now see l;im make
camp by the laughing brook, but in
that brook lie seesim laugh;he sees a
hard lined fai e turned up to him,
ue alone he,;5S a v<dee from that face,
a voice s lying,‘I’ll make good again.’
Do yon he- ir the bacon frying,see
the flnp-jm k leap from the skille t
turn a s.un ner suul in mid air anti
drop to si adi 154 again.'* I)o you not
smell the codec boning in t!iatblack
ened lai d bucket: Now !:e is tir.w r.d
ing a dirty.rag,yes that’s sugar.See
him sera; e ll v last <-! the lr.agle milk
from t)ie ran v. Iii' Ii at on< e 1 e «mcs
his drinking cup. TT.ee, 1 t w l.e sits
on the smoky side of his ike eating,
thinking,b!i king,as ti e m< sguiltcs
at a distance sing and wait. Klip, flurry
down comes the daring camp-robber,
[n his boyhood days,which look
to be far over the trail of the past,
but they are not,he would have
thrown a rock at the chattering thief,
but now he tosses him a few crumbs
say ing, “ ve may le as hungry as I am
but I can spare no more just now.”
Yes, that is all his meal, which is
more than many have, who is he did
you say?He is a prospector’ the man
who has done more for Alaska
than ,ry other class of men: he lias
defied tl:e Blizzards of winter, he has
d r. <h! i h.e v gi: g torrents of spring.
O.i a raft of legs tied iih bark he
h vi,crossed the d i. k^oire s*ot:gh;H<
has re laid and re-laid over l! t
mountains art! across Boggy t unci it.
Shoveled and picked and rocked. li
the mud he has stood shoveling and
hoping.
Did lie find color? yes, found gold
lots,of it. but the ready money in the
luiuc’s of another or the trickery of a
cunning lawyer or the jumping of a
ueir neigh! er lost it to him—again.
But he laid the foundation fora future
camp, he blazed the trail to tl.e depos
it of gold. He made it necessary for
schooners to a n c !i o r at Seattle’s
wharves and load to the limit.
Buildings loom up. a church, a
school ho se. Uncle Sam's attention
is directed that wry. A U S. Com
missioner is there : ow.Wlio made ah
thisp ssikle and: e :essary?WI»y,that
fellow hiking down ti e Leach look
mg for new fields, a; ■' there's a (lop
trotting along behind him now and or
h •; back there is a pack also. Yes, l.t
owns a dog now. But that man, the
prespecter, is ti e foundation of
Alaska’s advancement end great
ness as she is and as she is to 1 e.
Mr.John Sleieher,editor of Leslie s's
weekly newspaper sends ns clippings
from Leslies, of an exceeding
ly interesting article on Alaska 1 y vr.
sleieher. nad we the space we wotiId
gladly make use of it. So many good
things are sent us that we often fir.d
our selves bemoaning the siae of the
Northern Light.