i
J2y, I
U-l"'M '"'
IBERIA'S first gold
placers wero discov
ered about the middle
of the eighteenth cen
tury In the rugged fast
nesses of the Ural
Mountains, frowning
along the borders of
Europe and Asia.
Primeval forests fcnd
pathless tundras re
vealed but reluctantly their long hid
den secrets. Nevertheless, some forty
years ago, Russian miners, ever In
trepid In their eastward quest of the
precious metal, had reached the auri
ferous drifts In the valley of the
mighty Amur that rolls from the
heart of China grandly down to the
lonely Okhotsk Boa.
After the wonderful Klondike ex
citement of gold deposits throughout
Siberia's over-responding latitudes of
1mlln .,yil(inl nn 1 fnnmnHntiB Innt O rl -
cvuivbiui " - .w-
m I inn ;u sirdnciu iu Liin uiu LruuiLiuu
that the cold-nearine zono extenaea
western Asia nnd that consequently
the further shores of Bering Sea wero
well worth prospecting'
Tho first short-lived and barbarlo,
but, oh! so glorious splendors of Daw-
enh nnil XTrviA 1 1 A hntrtin t r Tin 1 fi Tirhon
a persistent and seemingly well-au-
having been found along the shores of
Northeastern Kamchatka, fanned our smouldering
Imfltrfnnt nn Infrt lirlchfnar TlnTTn
There's a race of men that don't fit In; they are
always tired of things that be; they want the
strange and the now and they don't know how to
rest My dear old "pard," Austin, and I belong to
this legion of forelopers, never enlisted and never
discharged. Tho fond hope that we were going
to be numbered amongst the original "Forty-
Nlners" of a new California over yonder, crost
the bay," lured us from the Yukon even to Si
beria to Vladivostok.
There we were Joined by a kindred spirit, a
young Russian mining engineer, Ivan ivanovltch
soon enough he became plain Jack fresh from
an American college and ready for adventure.
Kamchatka, dependency of the maritime prov
ince and administrative district of Petropavlovsk,
has been a Russian colony for over 200 years.
From Cape LopatUa, tho largo peninsula's south
most point, lofty mountains, overtopped by many
active and more extinct volcanoes, stretch north
ward far Into tho Arctic waste.
On the northeast coast, there where tho moun
tain chain recedes over thirty miles from tho low
littoral, the Pankara enters the sea, opposite to
tho largo Island of Karaglnsk. A gloomily beau
tiful thundercloud overshadowed the densly wood
ed shores when we landed at Ola, tho little
Koryak hamlet near the Pankara's mouth. In tho
course of a few hours our steamer, "Prlmorsk,"
had discharged our earthly possessions nnd the
cargo consigned to the local agent of the Russian
Chartered Company, who holds the furring priv
ileges of Northeastern Siberia.
Opcin-mouthed natives gaped curiously and a
thousand hostllo-looklng dogs snarled viciously.
The Natchalnlk, however, having minutely scru
tinized our papers, received us with open arms,
anS Father Juvenal, the Pope, offered us the bos
pltitvlty of his log cabin. Ve learned many Inter
esting facts about this out-of-the-way neck of tho
woods that night. The peninsula's mongoloid
aborigines, tho rapidly decreasing Kamchadalos
proper mostly fishermen dwell around tho wa
ter courses to tho southward.
Their northern neighbors, our friends, the "dog
Koryaks," mighty hunters and trappers, live In
lojf cabins, dug-outs or skin tents. They belong
largely to tho orthodox church at least nominal
ly are good natured and hospitable, but their no
tions 01 cieuuuueas are mure luun quesuonnoie.
Tho occasional sight of our toothbrushes once
caused a riot of an amazed mob. Iioth the women
and tho almost beardless men alike, braid their
hair Into two plaits, smoke the cheap Moharka
tobacco, Intermixed with birch bark, nnd wear
nearly Identical dresses of pelts or In summer
gaudy calico.
Further on nnd up to Kamchatka's border, the
trictly nomadic "reindeer Koryaks," addicted to
wolrd shamanism, pitch their yourtes wherever
good feeding grounds attract their herds. Be
yond their territory wo find, In the Interior, Tun
guso tribes, along the seaboard the unconquored
race of the Tchuktches, that stoutly refuso tho
Vassak to this day,
The Pankara has a length of about 90 miles.
The advanced season and a preliminary examina
tion of accessible rock formation, combined with
encouraging reports of white and native residents,
prompted us to prospect the upper valloy without
delay. Tho Natchalnlk placed tho only three pack
horses at our disposal, rather shaggy, but hardy
Irkutsk ponies, ablo to shift for themselves even
In winter. As guide and helper we engaged the
Koryak, Peter, nlcknnmed Petrushka-Parsley
from his fondness for this wild plant. PetruBhka
of course was speedily pared down to Pete, as
Ivnn has surrendered to Jack long ago.
Tho village of Ola Is happy, A sweet fragrance
of fish and blubber permeates the air, for seal
and salmon were plentiful,
Pete, very busy, very important, helps us with
our preparations for tho prospecting expedition.
The Natchalnlk Invites us to a farewell dinner
(deer tongue, ptarmigan, smoked and salted llsti,
much tea and more Vodka) and on the 17th day
of August we set out.
On tho third night wo are encamped In the
foothills.
Even here, at the threshold of boreal dreariness
uttre unfolds an almost pathetic beauty. Im-
The hire mSpi
lLore Trail ipl
OT jyuus ummMm
Mam
mediately before us are seen the snow
diademed mountain monarchs, robed In ma
jestically flowing folds of glacial ermine
far behind tho heaving billows of the ocean,
aglltter In the evening sun while all around
Is Siberia's virgin forest, tho taiga, silent,
untrodden, mysterious.
Owing to widely divergent conditions Si
beria's fauna is not uniformly distributed,
but within their chosen haunts animals are
abundant. Of big game we have on the
Pankara the agile, keen-eyed mountain
sheep and tho powerful brown "bear.
Rocky mountain sheep are hero replaced
by congeners of slighter build, more slender
horns nnd pure white color. Their bands
spend most of the time above timber, re
maining even during the severe Kamchatka win
ter amongst tho helghtB whose irregularities of
cliffs and gorges afford opportunity for shelter
nnd exposed food supply. Sometimes when wo
had nearly stalked them the warning whistle of
the watchful marmot would drive them to head
long flight. Their flesh Is very palatable; when
cold weather set In we killed and froze enough to
last all winter.
The brown bears are -of Immense size, greatly
exceeding tho grizzlies of the western hemis
phere. Their front claws are shorter, thicker and
more abruptly curved than in grizzlies. As a rule
they give us a wide berth; In close quarters,
however, or when wounded, they aro veritable
fiends from hell. But Pete attacks them, boldly
and unhesitatingly, with his formidable spear.
Tradition and training make all natives marks
men of the first order with firearms, bolos and
arrows. Even small ermines and arctic squirrels
stand no chance of escape at seventy-five yards;
nnd the Koryaks have to shoot them In the head,
at that, or their skins would be worthless.
The ground was frostbound nearly to tho sur
face, and bedrock, reached by thawing through
the Icy gravels, was ten to fifteen feet deep.
Keeping three fires agoing, for which Pete rustled
the wood, we made good headway. Lack of
leverage, however, makes the Russian shovel,
which has no bend at its neck, a most unwieldly
and exasperating utensil. At the beginning we
struck encouraging colors In addition to quartz,
Iron pyrites often In the form of mlsplckel and
all the products of Its decomposition such as
magnetic oxide and hematite. Despite these fair
prospects we had worked our way up to the veri
est headwaters without tangible results early In
November. Near the source tho soil, was not
frozen, duo to warm volcanic springs, and sinking
to bedrock became impossible. Therefore wo
crossed the divide leading southward to the Rus
sakoff river to examine Its course down to the
sea and flnnlly to sled to headquarters along the
shore. On the Russakoff we found the same con
ditions; tepid springs above, a few colors below,
paydlrt nowhere.
Winter Is now upon us In good earnest; in De
cember our thermometer sinks to 57 below. The
sheep nre safe beyond the snowdrifts; bear, mar
mot and porcupine have retired for their long
sleep; only willow grouse and rock ptarmigan re
main with us.
Glorious winter stars, clear, large, unapproach
able, glitter on the firmament. At midnight the
Pleiades of Job and Homer flame from the zenith
and then the Northern Lights, violet, silvery and
rose come down and dance with tho houseless
Enow.
Christmas eve finds us near the Russakoff's
mouth and on New Year's day wo drag our sled
into Ola. Just In tlmo; already midwinter sun
dogs loom ghost-llko through tho frost-mist In
the south; for far to tho northward tho weather
witch of the Yaga-Baba Pass has been browing
her dread purga, tho Siberian snow storm.
The blizzard's fury raged forty-eight hours, bury
ing tho roofs of the lowly cabins under mountain
ous drifts.
Quickly the late orthodox Chrlsttnas-tlde ap
proaches. In tho morning tho entire pppulatlon
and with them we attended church, Father Ju
venal officiating In full canonicals of black and
gold. Before tho Russian New Year wo were up
and away once more.
We had secured two famous teams, each of
fourteen big wolfish dogs.
We intended to follow the foothills into tho In
terior up to the Alutora river that borders Kam
chatka to tho north, thence to circle seaward and
to use tho coast line on our homo trip. We reduced
our load to tho utmost depending on barter for our
needs. Pete and Jack took tho lead, Austin and 1
the second sled.
A bitter cold had succeeded the purga and the
hard snow trail was In splendid condition.
In full career we swept across the frozen Karuga,
raced through the dog bedlam of Kltshlglnsk and
arrived at night In the Koryak village of Vlvnlksk,
some sixty miles distant, on tho shores of Baron
Korff Bay. Over each of the dugouts was suspend
ed a frozen dog, Impaled under the chin on the
sharp end of a pole, a sacrlllco to the Fish God, to
Insure a good salmon run for the next season.
Next day we reached the first Yourtes of the
wandering reindeer Koryaks.
Along the seaward mountains beyond we com
menced against tho monotonous toilsome winter
routine of northern prospectors. But In the here
prevailing sandstone formations we lost even nil
traces of the yellow metal. After three laborious
months, entirely barren of results as far as gold
was concerned, we dipped Into tho valley of tha
Alutora, ultimate northern border of Kamchatka,,
where tho country of the Tchuktches begins. We
followed this river to Its mouth and thence slowly
worked our wny back south trying lower water
courses and beach for minerals. Hope awakened
us In tho morning; disappointment bedded us at
night. Having learned our lesson wo now pay the
cost. Nevertheless, we are a happy, vagabondlsh
crew, caflng little and knowing less, how the world
may plod.
The Lure of the Lone Trail seldom pays Its sol
diers of fortune In cold cash. But there are other
glorious compensations. In the glowing health of
outdoor life, trail-hardened and the savage strength
of brute in every thew, we have felt the throbbing
pulse of life primeval and lain close to the loving
heart of our mother, the earth.
Thus we kept on, and one bright Sunday morn
ing In April our Ice-worn Nartas drew up with a
flourish In front of St. Andrew's little church at
Ola, Just as Father Juvenal was dismissing his fold.
We encountered a perfect storm of affectionate,
but terrific welcome kisses which we dodged as
best we could.
The rest of sledding time we put In prospecting
the upper Karuga which yielded a few colors. From
Its headwaters we scaled In May the Yaga-Baba
Pass, 8,200 feet high, and saw In the far distance
the Sea of Okhotsk, ogleam In tho vernal sunshine.
But the "yellow stones" of native rumor proved
slight sulphurous deposits of nn ancient crater.
After the spring" breakup we sailed southward as
far as possible with a Koryak fishing expedition,
examining the shore sands, unearthing nothing,
however, except a little souvenir amber.
In July, when our old friends, the annual steam
er "Prlmorsk" hove in sight we camped already on
tho beach at Ola, waiting for deliverance. Caress
ing the rifle wo had given him, Pete, faUhfuI to the
end, sat sadly beside us, loath to see us go. But
Austin's mouth organ is singing softly. We know
the tuno and wo know its words:
"Thank God! when I'm skinned to a finish,
I'll pike to the Yukon again; j
I'll fight, ana you bet it's no sham fight;
It's hell, but I've been there Before;
And it's better than this, by a damslte
So me for th Yukon once morel"
Business HihSch91,
.a Tries to Make a
LflUCa! IOII Man of Student
By JOHN BKAYLE BRUCE
NLESS one intends to study law or medicine a high-school)
education is unnecessary, according to a writer. I cannotl
agree.
It is true that certain studies are taught that are pren
paratory to these professions, but we have also a commercial!
course, such as bookkeeping, penmanship, stenography, conn
mcrcial geography, commercial law, political economy and,
many similar studies in our-high-school course.
Docs not a good knowledge of German (not merely know
ing how to say "Wio gchts" or "Gutcn morgen") come iiu,
handy in business life? Studies like algebra and geometry are not onlyj
of Interest, but they develop quick thinking and sound judgment.
Of course, nine times out of ten, algebra or geometry will never bo
used in business, but it is the results of such study that count.
.The' statement that high-school chaps lower the wage scale is not
only wrong but absurd. t
A high-school graduate will not work for lower (let alone as low)
wages than many boys who have not Ins education. He knows his ability
and expects to be paid wages accordingly.
A high-school graduate certainly is not "satisfied with cigarette
money" and it can be readily seen that few of them, comparatively, smoko
cigarettes.
Now, aside from the business education of high school, there aro
other things, and aro there not other things in life than merely a business
education ?
In conversation does no one like to bo a little informed on all topics,
whether historical, scientific or on any other?
A business man must know a little moro than the
mere facts relating to his business.
A salesman, to be successful, must know of other
things to talk about than his wares.
I do not mean by this to imply that a grammar
school graduate will not succeed. It depends on him.,
But a good education combined with good natural
qualities must of necessity fetch the better results.
The high school tries to teach and make a man
out of every student who has the will to exert himself.
So we see that a high-school education is very
good for the one of moderate as well as of small means,
that it is essential for business as well as for profes
sions and that it certainly should be encouraged.
HHMH
How
Clerks
Treat Many I
Fancy
Post Cards
An inquiry was made recently concern
ing treatment of fancy post cards by post
office clerks.
Now, this is certain: No cards are de
stroyed by the clerks and none is sent to the
dead letter office for destruction unless it is
of such nature that it cannot, according to
the rules of the department, be forwarded.
But many pretty cards never reach their
destination. This is because of tho careless
ness or ignorance of the sender. Cards with
nice tinsel and glass on them must be in
closed in sealed envelopes. Many do not
know this.
A tissue paper envelope is like any other envelope and a card inside
with writing on it requires postage at the rate of two cents an ounce or
fraction.
The postage stamp muBt always be on the envelope, not on the card
below.
Any card bearing some material other than paper fastened to it must
have the regular first-clas3 postage if it contains a message.
Besides being lost because of violating these rules, many cards are
not delivered because of careless addressing by the sender.
By J. L. DOUGHERTY
Would
Banish All
Canines
In Cities
In looking over the columns of a morn
ing paper I noted where during tho pre
vious twenty-four hours five or six people
in a certain locality had been more or less
severely bitten by dogs, some of which wero
in the category of pets.
Jly view is that the time is now at
hand when dogs will be considered as much
out of place in cities as hogs or cattle.
As a matter of fact, the ideal urban
community will not give shelter to any
dumb animal with the possible exception
of the horse, and even its presence is ex
tremely objectionable on sanitary grounds,
for if there were no stables crusades against the filthy housefly would bo
unnecessary.
As far as dogs are concerned there is not a single tenable argument
for their retention in towns; in the unpoliced rural districts they aro un
questionably of value in driving off the predatory tramp.
Any man who has witnessed the awful laceration of little children by
ferocious brutes or watched the death agonies of those in whom hydropho
bia developed, will hail the day when it will be an offense against the law
to keep a dog inside the limits of a city.
By DB. CHAS. W. DUDLEY
Montreal
Escape
Hay Fever
In Far
East
By SUMEHI NAGASIIIO
Los Andeles
N living in Japan, where there
fall, I did not have it at all,
to America.
If hay fever is caused by the dust why
doe3 not every one have it?
Why does it always come in the fall of
tho year and stay until tho first frost, in
stead of the early summer, when dust is
even more plentiful. i
Why do we havo hay fever worse in
Eome states than in others, and in some not
at nil?
And why do we have it worse in the
country where the air is freo from dust, but
filled with the poisons thrown from the dry
dog weeds, rag weeds and jimson weeds?
I have had hay fever 22 years. While
is plenty of dust, but no weeds to die in tho
but made up for that lost time on returning