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Show Mapleton river runner returns from navagating Alaska river he had the experience of going to Alaska and found it very-interesting, very-interesting, but he wouldn't care to go back. i Sylvester "Smus" Allan has just returned from a trip to a branch of the Yukon River in Alaska. He accompanied a group of geological surveyors who are hired by the government govern-ment in the water resources division. di-vision. Mr. Allan, being a veteran vet-eran river runner, was employed employ-ed to do the navigating of the river. Seven men made the trip. They drove trucks up the Alaskan highway, with all of their gear, to Fairbanks. They hired a bush pilot to fly them to the river which took them 75 or a 100 miles north of the Artie Circle They navigated about 90 miles of the river. Mr. Allan had some very interesting in-teresting things to tell about the country. Around Fairbanks, some farming is tried, but the growing season, is so short that only quick growing vegetables vege-tables can be raised. He saw several bunches of radishes and each radish was as big as an apple. They also grow good lettuce, but corn can only be grown if they wrap the roots in plastic to keep them warm. The river where they spent most of their time was many miles inland. Mr Allen was surprised sur-prised to find that they have very little moisture in this area, ar-ea, yet the temperature was down to 14 degrees now and reaches 40 below zero in the winter. Only a few feet of snow falls in this area in the winter and none of it melts until the warm winds in the spring thaw it all at once. The river beds show the tremendous amount of water that pours through them in the springtime. spring-time. In the fall the water flows through just a small part of the river bed. The bush pilot who flew them in was a white man who had an Eskimo wife. They had two children and lived in a cabin along this river the year round. There are many wild animals in this area. They saw lots of moose, grizzly bear, black bear and wolves. Mr. Allan Al-lan said he didn't worry much about the animals until he noticed no-ticed that their guide packed his rifle with him every time he went to the creek for water. On one occasion, they saw a moose down stream. He stayed there in the ice cold water all day, and was still there when they returned the next day, so the bush pilot flew his plane down to a sand bar near the moose to see what the trouble was. He "found a grizzly bear waiting on one bank for him to come out and a pack of wolves waiting on the other. He shot two of the wolves, causing the others to flee, then the moose walked out of the river. They saw one trapper who had built a little house for his cash of food and pelts on stilts thirty feet high. The bottom part of the poles were covered with tin cans to keep the animals ani-mals from getting their claws in the wood. The man reached his cash by long ladder which he carefully laid aside each time. The pine trees there are very scrubby and short since the good soil only goes down about one foot, and in four or five feet the perma-frost is reached. The top soil is called tundra as it is soft, like walking on a sponge. Mr Allen said he was glad |