I
LIFE OF ESKIMO
IS SIMPLE BUT
A HAPPY ONE
(By ELMER REED)
The dogs of the Arctic play an im
portant role in the life of the Eskimo,
doing practically all the hauling, in
cluding the United States mail. There
are several breeds, the most import
ant being the Malamute, the Huskie,
and Siberian dog. It has been dem
onstrated in the famous all-Alaska
Sweepstake races held annually at
Nome, that the Siberian dog, though
much smaller in size than the Mala
mute or the Huskie possesses much
more speed and endurance. The rec
ord time in the sweepstake dog race
from Nome to Candle and return, a
distance of between four and five hun
dred miles, was made by a team of
Siberian dogs in seventy-four hours,
fourteen minutes, which is remark
able when one considers the many
hardships to be overcome on the trail j
in the way of blizzards, soft snow,
loss of sleep and so forth.
The language of the Eskimo is with
out any written record, being handed
down from generation to generation.
Of all the letters the “A” and the “K”
are most frequently used. The “R”
is always guttural—sometimes very
much so.
Different Eskimo tribes have vari
ous ceremonies relating to marriage.
In some villages, if an Eskimo woman
wishes to divorce her husband, all
that is necessary is for her to remove
her seal oil lamp from his igloo and
carry it over to her parents’ dwelling.
This is considered final. A lawyer
would starve to death among the Es
kimos. If a young man desires to
marry a dusky, dark-eyed maiden, he
presents her parents with a parka,
muckluks, seal skin pants and fur mit
tens. If she accepts and wears them
it indicates that she is willing to be
led to the altar. If she refuses them,
he is rejected. It then becomes the
young man’s privilege to invoke the
stone age method of compelling her !
to be his bride. With the aid of a i
few trusted friends, he will lay in am
bush, kidnap the lady of his choice,
and hold her in his igloo until she
agrees to become his life partner.
Simple—but effective. Good looks
have nothing to do with an Eskimo’s
selection of a wife. What he wants is
on who can work “plenty hard.”
Eskimo mothers are very fond of
their children and treat them with
every consideration and kindness. The
children are religiously taught to obey
their parents and to respect their
wishes. Eskimo children are a hap
py lot of youngsters, continually jok
ing, laughing and “kidding” one anoth
er. The Eskimo child grows up with
a kind of a dry humor that is well-il
lustrated by the following incident. A
too-inquisitive tourist was inquiring
into the fur industry of the Eskimos,
and was told by one native that he
didnt* skin a fox more that three
times a year for its hide, otherwise it
might interfere with its breeding.
They are natural born mimics and ca
imitate the ways of the white man to
perfection. The Eskimos are a very
thrifty race, a race of natural born
traders. In purchasing tobacco, an
Eskimo will invariably order a plug
of chewing tobacco rather than a can
of smoking tobacco. After chewing
it to his complete satisfaction, he will
carefully dry the leaves and use them
for his pipe. With the remaining ashes
he will make snuff. Scotch thrift
has nothing on an Eskimo.
All are eager to learn the English
language and to advance themselves
mentally. They attend the schools
attended by the Alaska Bureau of Ed
ucation which are scattered along the
Arctic coast as far as Point Barrow,
the most northerly village on the Am
erican continent.
Eskimos are known as fish eaters.
In the winter months they subsist on
raw fish and blubber. It is an inter
esting sight to witness a number of
these natives seated on the floor of an
igloo, dipping their hands into a huge
pot of seal oil, and munching a raw
fish. To the average white person
the odor arising from this delectable
dish resembles not the rose, or any
other perfumed flower. If you are
hungry you might be tempted by the
offering of a big, fat, juicy piece of
walrus or seal blubber, or a dish of
tomcod livers made into a sort of
paste. If you enquire of an Eskimo
how he can endure raw fish, he would
in turn ask you how you can eat raw
oysters or limburger cheese. Neither
of these would tickle the palate of an
Eskimo.
Eskimo ice cream is made up of the
fat of the reindeer, seal oil and blue
berries, whipped up into a foam.
In the supposed land of snow and
ice, the Eskimos, do not, as many of
the writers have suggested, live in
eternal desolation. They have a num
ber of sports, both fop indoor and out
door amusement, such as football,
baseball, wrestling, rowing and many
others. Their football is made from
reindeer hide, stuffed with reindeer
moss and hair.
Steffannson, the great Actic explor
er, refers to the North as the “Friend
ly Arctic,” and in a large measure he
is correct. tl is not true, as many
people think, that we have only two
seasons in the Arctic—Fourth of July
and winter. It is hoped that some
day the publishers of ohr school books
will wake up and put a real map of
Alaska in their publications, with real
reliable information, so that the child
ren may have an early understanding
and appreciation of this wonderful
new empire—Alaska.
Philadelphia Seeks Police
Who Can Outwit Yeggs
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 10. (#>)—
Brains, more than physical prowess,
will be sought hereafter in recruits
for the Philadelphia police depart
ment, under a recent ruling of the
Civil Service Commission. The djg
cision, announced after investiga
tions by the commission and Direc
tor of Public Safety Smedley D. But
ler, will become effective with the
next batch of candidates.
•Criminal's are keen-witted and
quick thinking policemen are needed
to keep abreast of them, the com
mission said. A new code of tests
for prospective blue coats will be
put into practice, designed, as far as
practicable, to “predict the efficiency
of a policeman.”
Under the old system a candidate
was given thre points for physical
qualification, three for training and
experience, and one each for practi
cal questions, observation and per
sonal interview. The revised code
will rank physical qualifications at
two points; 'training and experience,
two and one-half; practical ques
tions, two; personal interview* tw*o
and one-half.
Most important, the new code will
measure the prospective policeman’s
thinking ability. Hypothetical situa
tions will be sketched and the can
didate asked to state his actions un
der each condition. He will be grad
ed accordingly.
Cannot Compete with U. S.
Auto Trade, Says German
BERLIN, Sept. 14. (/P)—A number
of reasons were expressed recently
by Dr. Carl Reichstein, automobile in
dustrialist why, in his opinion, Ger
many never scan compete with the
United States as an automobile mar
ket. Explaining the necessity for
a protective automobile duty, he
pointed out that Germany never will
be in a. position of attaining any
thing like American prices because
of the impossibility of turning out
the same number of cars, and even
if this were feasible there would be
no means fo disposing them.
An automobile in Germany is a
much greater luxury than in Ameri
ca, Dr. Reichstein declared, and
even in the event of a general in
crease in incomes no person with an
annual income of 10,000 marks would
dream of buying a car for a price
even as low as 2,000 marks. Ger
mans, it is asserted, attach greater
importance to housing, clothing in
tellectual enjoyments and the educa
tion of their children and spend far
more for these items than do Am
ericans.
Rhodes Trustee Named
LONDON, Sept. 14. (JP)—'The fol
lowing have been appointed trustees
of the Rhodes Scholarship Fund:
Premier Baldwin, Geoffrey Dawson,
editor of the Times; Sir Douglas
Hogg, attorney general; H. A. L.
Fisher, warden of New College, Ox
ford; E. R. Peacock, director of the
Bank of England.
Rudyard Kipling has resigned his
trusteeship.
Famous Italian Doctor Dies
MILAN, Sept. 14. (JP)—Professor
Battista Grassi, the famous bacteri
ologist and physician, died recently
at the age of 70. He was was widely
known in the international medical
world as an investigator of malarial
diseases.
is keynote at Frye Plant
Your own good taste cpiickly proves the unusual
quality of Frye’s “Delicious” Hams and Bacon—
and did you know7 the scrupulous cleanliness that
is the first consideration at every stage of the
preparation of Frye’s “Delicious” Products,
under Government supervision, satisfying assur
ance would be added to grateful appetite.
Hams and Bacon bearing the Frye’s
“Delicious” label also bear the U. S.
Government inspection stamp, so that you
have double assurance in the all impor
tant matters of cleanliness and quality.
THE FRYE
LABEL
gives real assur
ance of unusual
quality and per
fect purity. Look
for it on wrappers
and rind of Frye's
^Delicious” Hams
and Bacon.
Simple Mixture Best
For Constipation
• ‘
Simple buckthorn bark, magnesium
sulph. c. p., glycerine, etc., as mixed
in Adlerika, is excellent tor constipa
tion. It often works in one hour or
less and never gripes. The pleasant
and QUICK action of this efficient in
testinal evacuant will surprise you.
Adlerika helps any case ga.s on the
stomach, unless due to deep-seated
causes. Often removes matter you
never thought was in your system.—
Seward Drug Company.
The Alaska Railroad
TRAINS LEAVE SEWARD
7:30 A. M.
MONDAYS AND THURSDAYS *
A train leaves Seward at 8:00 a. m.
Sundays for Anchorage and interme
diate points. Arrives Seward at 2:15
p. m. from Anchorage.
TRAINS ARRIVE SEWARD
7:30 P. M.
WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS
STEAMSHIP STARR
STEAMER STARR SAILS SEPTEMBER 14
San Juan Fishing and Packing Co.
G. C. HENDERSON. Agent
PHONE MADISON ,3.. SEWARD. ALASKA
S. S. ADMIRAL WATSON
Sails from
Seattle—
Sept. 8
Oct. 1.
Arrives at
Seward—
Sept. 15
Oct. 8.
South from
Seward—
Sept. 22,
Oct. 14.
Calling at all regular Southeastern and South
western Alaska ports including Seldovia and
Kodiak.
WAYNE BLUE, Agent
Telephone Main 81 Res., Madison 40
Pacific Coastwise Service
^ADMIRAL LINE
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I ALASKA STEAMSHIP
COMPANY'
| Southwestern Alaska Route Schedule
Vessel—
Alaska
Yukon
Northwestern
Alaska
Yukon
Scheduled
Lv. Seattle
Sept. 5
Sept. 12
Sept. ID
Sept. 26
Oct. 3
Scheduled
Ar. Seward
Str.pt. 12
Sept. 19
Sept. 26
Oct. 3
Oct. 10.
Scheduled Sail
from Seward
Sept. 13
Sept. 19
Sept. 26
Oct. 3
Oct. 10.
Steamers in the above schedule will make all regular ports of call
in Southeastern and Southwestern Alaska.
Steamers in above schedule will not leave Seward earlier than FOUR
O’CLOCK Sunday afternoon, sailing date.
5 Reamer Redondo, carrying freight and passengers, connects with
= above steamers at Seward, weekly, for Cook Inlet and Kodiak Is
= land points, subject to change without notice.
I J. H. FLICKINGER, Agent
= PHONE MAIN 125 SEWARD, ALASKA
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EXCURSION RATES DURING I
WESTERN ALASKA FAIR (
For the accommodation of those who care i
to journey to Anchorage for the Western Al
aska Fair, September 14th to September
19th, the regular excursion rates of one and
one-third of the normal one-way fare, for
the round trip, will be in effect. |
Dates of ticket sales from all points, Sep
tember 10—11—12—13—14—15—16—17_
18 and 19. Final return limit September §
24, 1925.' =
STOP-OVERS
Stop-overs will be permitted at all points
within the final return limit, on both going
and return trips.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
The, Alaska Railroad |
(McKinley Park Route)
Seward
Anchorage
Curry
Nenana
Fairbanks E
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