Dearborn independent. [volume], February 21, 1920, Page 12, Image 12

About Dearborn independent. [volume] (Dearborn, Mich.) 1901-1927

Image provided by: Central Michigan University, Clark Historical Library

                
12
7 Romance of the A laskan
Reindeer Industry
rlil I 'w ted States
Government has
lent encouragen$ent to
the reindeer industry
in Alaska with there
suit that it bids fair to
become a new source
of meat supply. So
tar it has been very
profitable. This ar
ticle tells about it.
Washington, D. C, Feb., 1920.
SOME day in the not far distant future, Alaska may
I torn large as OftC of the important sources of
meal supply for the United States. It is con
servatively estimated by those who have made a care
ful study oi the situation, covering a period of many
years, that there is
a m p le r 0 0 m a n d
enough natural iood
on the ranges of
t'i de Sam's only re
maining territory to
take care of from
twelve to fifteen mil
lion head of reindeer.
This will be cheer
ful and comforting
news for the pessi
mistically inclined
who have looked up
on the cutting up of
the vast cattle ranges
of the western states
for agricultural pur
poses, as a certain
forerunner ot either
empty stomachs or the adoption by Americans of an
exclusive vegetarian diet of carrots, cabbage, cantaloupe,
cucumbers, corn on the cob. and various other products
of the truck patch.
So gradual has been the development of the rem
deer industry in Alaska that comparatively few Amer
icans, except those living in Oregon and Washington
and certain government officials at Washington. D. C,
are aware of its present and prospective magnitude.
This potential industry is a monument to the fore
sight and bigheartedness
of the late Dr. Sheldon
Jackson, the famous Alas
kan missionary. In 182.
Dr. Jackson realized that
as a result of the rapid en
croachment of white men
in the realm of hunting
and fishing, all game ani
mals and seal and walrus
would soon be depleted,
and the native Eskimo and
Indians would ultimately
be starved out. and such
races become extinct I n
der the direction of the
Bureau of Education, a
branch of the Interior De
partment of the United
States Government, Dr.
i.i ki ': w as given author
ity to import reindeer
n Siberia, which at
one place is only 41 miles
across Hehrinir Strait
from the western coast of
iska. The Doctor's efforts along that line for the
g t in arc a miracle ol business and ex-
rim ital romance of remarkable interest.
During 1S"2. he managed, through all sorts of
strange adventures, to transport 171 reindeer across the
Strait to Alaska. During the next ten years a total of
1 280 reindeer wire brought over. That ended the im
portations from Siberia. From thai modest beginning,
tru r tndeer herds of Alaska have increased up to the
present lime to Md.ooO head. In addition to this pres
ent number of animal-. 90,000 have been slaughtered
from year to year for food and clothing purposes, mak
I Otal production of 230,000 head. When Dr.
U articles of everyday use He consequently had to
urn o the United States and take on a cargo o
bright-hued cotton goods, rifles, cartridges. Hour, bar
lead for making bullets, icveral buckets o cam for
the little boys and girls, and an abundance of sh P
biscuit The latter article soon became commonly
known as the "small change" of the Arctic country be
ing looked upon as the equivalent of pennies and nickels.
The value of the goods traded averaged three dollars
for each reindeer obtained. In the light ot subsequent
developments it would seem as though the Bureau Ol
Education, through Dr. Jackson, had driven a bargain
that some dav might eclipse that famous purchase ot
Manhattan Island from the Indians for two ten dollar
bills.
On account of the absence of docks or harbors on
the Siberian coast, it was a most difficult proposition to
get the reindeer aboard the vessel. It wS necessary
to anchor the cutter several miles out from the shore
and take the animals out to it in a small, flat boat. But
in order to do this it was. of course, tir-t necessary to
catch Mr. Reindeer. This required the lervices of an
experienced man with the lasso. After being lassoed,
the feet were then "hog-tied" in the same manner that
cowboys tie cattle when the branding iron is applied.
It was then a comparatively easy matter for a couple
of husky natives to place the animals aboard the boat.
I'p to the present time the United States Govern
ment has invested $ol.(M)() in the reindeer business in
Alaska. Dividends aggregating 926 per cent have been
netted on this investment. The total valuation and in
come from reindeer is $v.J47.345, leaving a net profit
' S l.
Jlf LH 1 m Ls?
Jmm I w
MvCSssfrV,tf m mm
A pair of ltkim ncwlcd all dolled up in then - Acer
wedding finery on their way to the reindeer r
existence upon the rapidly disappearing gatnr animals
and fish. But far more than that has been accomplished.
Within let! than a generation the reindeer industry has
caused all of the EskhnOS inhabiting the vast crazing
lands from Point Barrow to the Aleutian Islands to
advance through one entire stage of civilization. It
has raised them from the primitive to the past ral stage:
from nomadic hunters to civilized men a; d women,
having in their herds of reindeer assured support for
themselves and opportunity to accumulate wealth.
The reindeer is essentially an inhabitant ot snowy
countries, feeding on lich
ens or moss, mushrooms,
grass and willow sprouts,
which grow even on the
poorest soils. never
makes any diff rence to
the reindeer h a much
snow may h n the
ground. W in : ever his
appetite hegil assert
itself, he mere!) drop
aside from tin 1 atefl path
and paws & through
the snow until the appetiz
ing moss is i
The COtnii of the
reindeer to V I has de
veloped a new and ex
citing sport an - the na
tives. It is r indeer rac-
An eight-deer team retdy to participate in the races at the annual Reindeer Fair.
"I $2,930,345, alter the Hurcau of Education deducts its
total investment of $J17,K)0.
The thousands of people who are trying to get rich
in the oil fields of Texas might do better by trying the
reindeer bu: ines in Alaska.
Th.e original object of the importation was to fur
nish a permanent source of supply for food and clothing
for the nomadic hunters and fishermen, in the vicinity
of the Behrfng Strait, who were eking out a precarious
ing. Sleek
mals are pett
derly cared I
thoroughbred
horses are Ich
the old stat
lie races are staged at the annual country in
the owners something to look forward to
It is rather amusing to realize th
horse racing is being outlawed from r
Mates, reindeer racing is coming into
Alaska.
Just hw long the reformers will pern
ditioti f at'fairs to continue is, of ec
lematical.
bed ani
and ten
just as
. ntucky
;iiter in
, he pub
and give
months,
just as
of the
own
thil con-
e, prob"
Housewives Taking to Their Own Work
a m ' Bfi
slmrsfcHmB WLk I
mmmwmmmM Wmmm m
SsKmir ' miZi mm
I he hell reindeer it now at familiar in Alatka aa ia the bell mule
or hell cm in the United Statea.
NO PHASE of the changing era has so affected the
intimate life of people (very where as the disap
pearance or evaluation of the domestic servant.
A decade ago a very modest household kept its
maid and every country recognized a definite "class"
which supplied those unenviable posts. The duties of
the domestic were varied and arduous. Housemaid's
Knee is merely a synonym for floor scrubbing and Other
tasks which, however m ar to godliness, are depressing
enough on the individual concerned.
Then the factories and shops took the domestics;
they became, like eggs, rare and costly; and today it is
finite as much an international problem how to revive
the supply of domettk rvants as it is how properly
to make the Italians and the Jugoslavs love one another.
The American people may do well, however, to note
that it is not at all necessary to the national progress
that the supply of domeitkl ever again should exceed
the demand. There was a good contributory reason
to the vanishing of the domestic, in that the percentage
of men and women who by actual choice prefer menial
duties i really small.
What had happened was this; every household able
to afford to do so, transferred the most unpleasant
part of its duties to some other person aril ? n ...
well off. What has happened is this: o
unable to obtain "help" has discovered th l! 15 .
impossible t i do things for itself, and the n emoOI
the household are themselves perform g a
duties formerly relegated to the hotsset a
Bui more than anything eKe, what 19 britlfW
reasonable lolutfofl to the whole problem II m0 J
invention whieh is taking the sting Ottt 0
household work by efficient, time and energy
devices. mvfa
These increase in number and effectiveness j,
and it docs not seem too much to say thai n , wjjiing
with modern device, will find domestic help
to share the actual burden of housekeeping whasart
mains necessary to human hands with the ""P
baek-breaking, humiliating drudgery practica
m,'v, (1 izc that
The housewife has been obliged to recngi
complete escapement from the more unph SMJ . Jt
is impossible, and lOdety generally has pf,ct on.
last that the idea of a "servant class" alwayi
fair. Invention has stepped between the
and the "help." and made reconciliation noi