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DOG FOLLOW THE
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AlaskasGTeat Sporting Event Takes Contes
tants Over Frozen Course of 412 Miles
Woman Puts Winning Team Over the Line.
If. ATHKRTOW DC TTT.
0'
.NB of tti most unlqu. thrllllnr.
Bdurmnca-tcallnc porttn vrvota
that baa avar bna axrmnrad br
tboaa rult of plonaera. tba mD
wit ara maktnc Alaaka. baa Juat baan
w1uwd bJobk tha lea-bound caaat of
Bart sc 8a. That annual awaaftaka
aoa: raca, wbara nan and thalr taama bo
at for a taat of apaad and couraara and
praoaralaMp and tralnlnc In a daat that
must toTtr mora than 400 mllaa ttrawa
with almost Inconcalrabla dlffleultlaa.
kaa Juat baaa run. This Tear a woman,
well known In aortal clrelaa In tba
various Pacific Coast cltiea. baa put a
taaoE across tba wlonlnc Una. So has
woman won an srant that la saining
such fama that man who lova apart tha
world around ara comlac to Alaska for
a try at thia moat thrllllns of apaad
contests.
Tba annual all - Alaska sweefstaka
dog raca la to tha Inhabitant of Alaska
what tha ajraad prtz la to tha boula
vardlar of 1'aria and tha darby la to
tha corkne? of 'Amstrad 'Eath and fol
Icaars of tha "sport of klaffa" in Eu
ropean countries. DoaT racing la
sport 4hal la not wall aJapted aa a
past lms fiir kld-itloreJ dudea and mol
Ircotidlea. but ona requiring; much In
herent courasa and power of physical
endurance.
While there ara many doc racea In
Alaska during tha Winter aeasoa, tha
ail-Alaska sweepstake raca of tha
Sprlna; la tha event de luxe. This raca
la over a distance of 13 miles, beajln-
Bins; at Noma and (Otsc thence alone
Bering Sea to Topkok Bluff, acrosa a
mountain ranee to Council CUT. thence
up Flab River, acrosa tha dreaded Death
V alter, over another divide and down
.the Keewa-lk Klver to Candle Creek.
tha northernmoet mining; camp on tha
oatlaent. and return br tha earns route.
Tfcla raoa was won thia rear by A. A.
(-Scotty") Allan, driving a loam of
dogra owned br Mrs. C. E. Darling. oX
ftarramento. Cal. Alexander Holaom.
driving a team of Siberian wolf dogs.
wnad by Lord Fos Ramsar. wko won
tha raca two rears ago, was eecoud.
aad Cnarlaa Johnson, driving another
taasa of Siberian dogs, waa third. Al
lan eovered tha distance la II hour
and mlaatea. which la ( boars and
tt telaotea longer than bla tlxca last
year, wbea be won tha race with -tha
team. Tha record for tba dia
ls bald by John Johnson, who.
drrving a team of Siberian wolves
owned by Sir Jamea Rani say. traversed
ttva Jooxaey tn Tt boar. 14 minutes and
to seconds. A team of doga bred from
Alaaka malamutsa and craesi i with
Mlaaonrl bird hounds, tba epeciea made
famotaa by a Frealdaatlal aaplraat from
that a tale la a campaign song, waa left
Car behind la tha event thia year. Tha
pais team, driven by Oliver Blatchford.
ran eocond la the raca tn 10.
A rtaaaWa raraakea.
rog racing enthusiasts and their
arrai In Aiaska la leg-loo ara not
strong oa the sport from aa amateur
Standpoint. They Ilka the honor of
winning, of course. Bat they think
that anything worth battling ; for la
worthy f aoroethlng batter for a prise
thaa a bias ribbon. Therefore, the first
arias la tha big raca nasally consists
f a asamaaoth silver lov lart p and
11. set la gw'd cola.
Tha raca also la regarded as aa event
npon which tha real sen ta teal at lib
erty to back their opinion. Aa dif
ference of opinion makes horse racing,
ao also doea It make doc racing, and.
aa a uauaJ thing, about SIM. changee
ends In tha Bering 8ea metropolis aa
aoea aa tba yadgaa decide which team
has woo. Tba prise for this event last
year, owing ta a decrease tn popula
tioncaused by tha tawa which compel
Alas k ana to Import thalr aoal from
ant down to fives' acd
abowt i.t was wagered sa
tba result. Oambllag Is against tha
law ta Alaska, bat betting oa tba dog
raca la euphemistically termed ""back
ing ewe'a Judgment" Aay yrwpowltlaa
which has within It aa alemant of
'haaoa, soanbtaeA with Judgment,
strongly appeals to tba avarac Alask
an, bat gnmbUng la taboo. This lova
lor aavtluac that onmsln aa a. ems at
of chance finds Its strong! manl
festations In tha dog racea and In tha
raffles for turkeys, which usually take
place at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Quito frequently Individuals win 10
or a do sen turkeys for their Thanks
giving dinners. It Isn't that they want
so many of theaa birds, bat rather
that they enjoy tha excitement of win
ning them. Ona of tha greatest dif
ficulties that some Alaskans encounter
during tha Winter season la to dis
cover Indigent families upon whom
they might beatow thalr surplus tur
key. rrraartasr For tbo Evwat.
Tba Alaskan dog races ara ran under
the auspices of the Noma Kennel Club.
founded by Albert Pink, a Noma at
torney, ostensibly for tha purposa af
Improving tha brood of cantnea used
as draft animals, transporting supplies
during ths Winter months. Tha devel
opment of the keen Interest In dog
racing amounting la some cases al
most to aa obsession was Incidental.
Whea a man begins to "talk dog ba
Is regarded as having been afflicted
with a saw form of disease, known as
caalaitls.
Daring the period of sight months of
lea and Isolation, when- tha residents
of Northwestern Alaska, hemmed la by
lea, ara cat off from the civilisation of
ths outside world, dog racing becomes
the ono question of Importance. The
result of a Presidential election or of
a championship prise fight ara regarded
aa seoottdary matters until tha Ail-
. if .
Alaska Sweepstake prlxs fight has bean
settled. Tha raca usually lasts three
days, and during this time all business,
excepting that of the saloon keeper.
Is absolutely suspended. Tha laundries,
ths courthouses, all Government of
fices, tha mines, tha stores and every
othsr place of business and Industry
ara closed down until tha race la over.
Nobody sleep. There la only ona mat
ter worthy of discussion.
At tea Start.
Tet from a spectacular standpoint,
tha dog raca Is not all that could bs
desired. The process of th event to
tha spectator Is something Ilk this:
He walks from tha mala atreet to Ber
ing Fes, well muffled to protect hlm
elf from the bUxxard, which usually Is
raging at that time, and stands In 11ns
with a number of others, till ha hears
a platol shot fired by tha official start
er. Then ba seea a atreak of dog with
a sleigh and a man hanging on behind
It. vanish Into th atmosphere to the
southward. Then bs returns uptown,
warms bis bands at tha saloon stove,
and II minutes later b returns to ths
Ice-covered Bering Ees, where ha bears
another shot fired and sees another team
go streaking over ths froxen trail. Ha
oontinues this process 1 or II times,
or until all of th teams have started
oa their journey. Then, for three days
and nights, ha stands around the sa
loon, leaving It only long enough to
grab a hasty meal at a near-by lunoh
counter, and, with pencil and paper, fig
ures out th raiaUv positions sf tha
s "i -L
1 ' ' ' T"l I I
1 t ..-'-. I - - J 4
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various teams aa - they pass the sta
tions en routs and are reported In by
long-diatance telephone. If he la for
tunate enough to have a family or amy
acquaintances of tse gentler a ex. be
sometime leave th saloon long
enough to telephone them th latest
bulletin.. Th women folks In th
Northern town foregather In llttl
group of 10 or II In th various homes.
In which telephone have been Installed,
and for three days they also engage
themselves In mathematical problems.
In which th positions of th various
team are computed, and speculations
aa to which team shall be th winner.
At the Flaiaa.
Atwut 41 houra later th team ar on
their return Journey and th excite
ment grow greatr " Increase un
til tha team ar n earing home, when
it reaches fever pitch. By th time th
leading team Is reported at Fort Davis,
four mile from th winning post. vry
resident ef the country tor 100 mile
around, excepting those who are In tha
hospital or otherwise incapacitated, baa
found a perch on the lc hummock of
Bering Sea from which to watch the
winning team cross th line; and th
race Is over for another year.
Th diivr of th winning team la
raised shoulder high and carried to th
Arctic Brotherhood Hall, where a
wreathe I placed upon hi brow and
ho la given a public ovation. The pre
sentation of ths prlxs Is deferred until
after all ths teams have returned, and
all Questions of dispute. If any arias
y ' J.b",?
a
among ths drivers, have been settled.
The keen Interest In the dog race was
well illustrated In the year of the in
ception of the sport. Ira Orton, a Nome
attorney, th day before th dog- race,
aald to Albert Fink, who had been re
tained In a ease Involving 11,100,000 In
gold dust:
"Say, Albert, we must put In an an
swer today or th case will go by de
fault" "Well, go and see If you can't get th
Courthouse closed," answered Frank.
"I haven't time to attend to th mat
ter Juat now. Th dog rao starts to
morrow morning."
No bualnesa of any kind or character
Is so Important in Alaska that it can
take svreoedenae la pttMl Interest' over
ths dog race. .
Testa of Esdsrsaea,
One of the conditions of th Kennel
Club I that every dog starting In tha
raoo must be Taken clear through to'
Candle Creek and return to tha finish
ing point, either dead or alive. This
condition cause the owners and driv
ers to exercise much discrimination In
the selection of their team. Every
animal must possess not only proved
speed, but unquestioned endurance. A
speedy canine, not endowed with suf
ficient qualities of endurance often
proves a handicap to his driver and
team-mates, for wbn he becomes ex
hausted he must be hauled in the sleigh.
Carelessness In selecting a team once
loet a prize of 110,000 and many side
bets for William A. Gllmore, th nom
- " : M aaaa. ,
5r erz 5S3
o
inee of the Republican party for dele
gate to Congress from Alaska. Gil
m ore's team, in 1909, was driven by
Peter Berg, the young Swede of superb
courage and marvelous endurance who
this year again drove the - winning
team but for another owner. Berg be
came confused, and In a blinding bllr
xard which broke loose a few hour
after the "dog punchers" started on
the Journey, lost the trail.
H was delayed for several houra,
but after some difficulty reached one
of the way stations. He arrived at
Candle Creek several hour behind the
other competitors and determined to
endeavor to make the run borne with
out stopping. Running behind the sled
and riding only when the team was
going down hill, he covered a distance
of 130 miles in 19 hours, but by that
time two of his dogs were dead and
two were so exhausted that he was
compelled to turn them loos to run
along beside the team.
Berg was well up In the lead and
only 19 miles from home when his
team lay down on him and refused to
budge another foot for two days. It 1
no uncommon occurrence to see both
dogs and driver staggering like
drunken men from exhaustion at the
finish of one of these gruelling con
test. A Titled Conteetant.
Many thousands of dollar have been
expended In ecurlnsT dog qualified to
enter this great event of the North.
For months before the event is sched
uled to take place dog fanciers cour
the country to find animals that have
proved their endurance. At this sea
son good dogs command fancy prices, as
much as 11200 each being paid for
some of them. Fox Ramsay, a brother
of the Earl of Dalhousle. came to
Alaska four years ago for the" express
purpose of winning the dog race.
Toung Ramsay was rather unsophisti
cated In the ways of the North, and
th first year his entry waa regarded
as a Joke. Ramsay Is Innately polite.
Soon -after.hls team left Nome a man
stopped him on the trail, for Ramsay
has always samely driven bis own
teams.
"Is them yonr dogst" accosted the
stranger. Ramsay politely stopped his
team and admitted that they were. -'
"Well, one of them darned animal
stole a ham oil of me," Informed the
wayfarer. Ramsay at one became Intensely-concerned.
For months h had
been- feeding th dog on choice cuts
of roast beef. He examined the ac
cused canines very carefully and then
said:
"Well, It doesn't seem to have In
jured their digestion very much. They
7 sy-A
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loolt all right and up to now tney navo
been running very nicely."
( Asiatic Wolvea Aa Winners.
The stranger who had been expect
ing ; payment for his ham was so as
tounded at Ramsay's exhibition of
"nerve" that he couldn't say another
word till the Englishman was half a
mil farther down the trail.
Ramsay was not at all successful
the first year. It soon become ap
parent that he was toie left far be
hind, and when a telephone message
conveying the Information that he had
stopped for "tiffin" at one place and
for afternoon tea at another were re
ceived, the odds against his team were
posted at 500 to 1. He finished last.
The next year, however, he took his
revenge. In conjunction with his
uncle. Sir James Ramsay, and Colonel
L. Stuart Weatherley. a wealthy Eng
lishman, young Ramsay chartered a
schooner and went to Siberia, where he
picked up about 200 Asiatic wolf dogs.
From these he selected three teams
and they finished first, second and
third in the race the following year,
and established the record of 71 hours
14 minutes and 20 seconds for the dis
tance of 41S miles, a feat which never
before nor since has been equaled.
Ramsay not only trained all the teams,
but drove one of them. In the race he
proved that he possessed much of the
courage that distinguished his com
patriots on the Ill-fated ocean levia
than. Titanic, a few years later.
' The Maximum of Sport.
If Is doubtful whether there 1 any
other sport In the United States that
contains so many elements of danger
and calls for so much courage, endur
ance and Judgment as long-distance
dog racing in Alaska. In the 70 to 80
houra during which the contest lasts,
both dogs and men are keyed up to the
topmost pitch of physical exertion, and
often In the face of blinding- bllxxards
in which particles of frozen snow sting
the flesh like hot needles, the com
petitors struggle from start to finish.
Frequently they do not recover from
the exhaustion following the race for
several days. Dog racing Is no proper
form of amusement for weaklings and
children.
Th All-Alaska Sweepstake Race Is
an annual event, but during the Win
ter " season several races over shorter
distances, varying from ten to 100
miles, are held, and, during the past
ten years, contests between dog team
and reindeer teams have become popu
lar. The Eskimo reindeer herders take
to reindeer racing like kittens take to
milk. So far. however, reindeer racing
has not become very popular among
the whit people of Alaska.
Ablacok's racing reindeer team cov
ers a distance of eight miles in S3 min
ute 28 seconds. This record, how
ever, was defeated by a dog team made
up of Missouri bird-hounds, owned by
Sol Warren and driven by an Eskimo
boy named Spllt-the-Wlnd. who cov
ered the distance In 19 seconds less.
But deer-racing and dog-racing over
short distances are but the hors d'ou
vers In the satiation of the Alaskan
appetite for sport. The All-Alaska
Sweepstake Race, from Nome to Candle
Creek and return Is the piece d'resls
tance for the year.
(Copyright, 1912. by W. A. Du Puy.)
Fashion In Canes.
The manager of a cane and umbrel
la department In a large New York
concern was surprised at the question:
"Is there such a thing as a fashion in
canes?" Of course there Is. The
straight canes, with knob handles of
all shapes and made oi ail materials,
were, so he said, "all the rage" a few
years ago. conservative men wore
simple canes, but a miniature band
master's baton was easily disposed of.
Then came the thin, switch cane, and
few years ago nothing sold better
than canes with straight handles. To
day everybody wants a crook handle
cat e, and there is a good reason ror
the style. In crowded subway and
elevated trains and surface cars where
man must hold to a strap and has
only one hand left for cane and paper,
the crook handle come very handy.
It hangs at the pocket or over the
arm, and Its shape is graceful and
sensible. It will not be displaced a
the leader In many years. New York
Press.
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