Show Fic FI i I oes of or Snow About the end of January or when tue sun mn again appears above the henion horiD hori hen ion don D many families at tho the tw two two- Eskimo villages near Point Barrow in Alaska leave their winter houses and travel inland in inland inland in- in land 75 15 or JOO miles to hunt reindeer along the upper waters upper waters of the large rivers rivers riv riv- nv- nv ers era that flow into the Arctic ocean east of pf the point Here they encamp in large comfortable snow houses usually dug out in o D solid snowdrift Like al all Eskimo winter houses bouses these are entered entered entered enter enter- ed by means of ot a n long low tunnel am and opening out of one ono side of this tunnel there is ia a n fireplace built of snow slabs A young man and his wife moved down from Point Barrow after winter had set in in and as there was no ac accommodation accommodation om- om for them in any of the permanent per manent w wooden oden houses they built themselves them them-j selves a small hut but from blocks of snow and roofed it over with sailcloth I Imade Imade made them a visit one ono afternoon and ark found tho the house pretty cold and uncomfortable uncomfortable uncomfortable in spite of the tho large stone lamp that was burning all th the time Tho The entrance entrance en- en en en- trance tranco tunnel vas was about ten feet long At the left hand as you entered anc and close to the door was the fireplace This was about ut 2 feet square and neatly built of slabs of snow with a smoke hole at the top and a no stick stuck across at the proper height to hang a pot on When tho the first fire is built in such a fireplace there is la considerable melting of tho the surface of the snow mow but as soon as the tire fire is allowed to go out put this freezes to n a hard glaze of ice which afterward melts only a very little These fireplaces are are used only for cooking cooking cooking cook cook- ing as as' the Eskimos rely wholly on the oil lamps for warming the dwelling Lippincotts Lippincott's s 's Magazine |