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Show PERILS OF CARRIERS Hardships and Dangers Almost Inconceivable Have to Be Surmounted by Those Who "Tote the Mail" in Alaska Frequent Loss of Life, "Another mall carrier's been frozen to denth, boys." "Yes? That's bad luck! Why, It was only three weeks ago that Den Downing lost his toes." This is tho kind of talk the traveler hears In tno trappers' huts nnd rest houses on tho frozen Yukon river nnd tho Hehrlng const up to Nome. Along 2,000 miles of this Ice-bound region tho United States government has cs- BBBHBB9MBlBsi9BfflHRSMK$4kSiB?BBJ Rampart House, Near Camp Coluna. tabllshcd tlio loneliest nnd most dangerous dan-gerous mnll routo In tho world. Tho mnll carrieis travel on foot over sixteen hundred miles of tho route, nnd ono stretch of nenrly eight hundred miles through a desolntc, un-Inhnbltcd un-Inhnbltcd country bus to bo covered by n slnglo postman. Tho Yukon mnll carrier must travel with his dog sledgo along n river plied up with , blocks of Ice llko tho boulders on a ! hlllsido. Tho river Is sovornl miles wldo In plnces, nnd sometimes tho surfaco Is so broken by hillocks of Ico and snowdrifts snow-drifts that Its winding courso ennnot ho distinguished from the land. Tho carrier then has to don his snowshoos and break a now trail for tho dogs over tho trackless waste. Thcodoro Ilium stnrtcd to do this ono morning. It wns on the Yukon flats, just Inside tlio Arctic circle, whoro tho river Is nearly llftcen miles wide. Ho carried a long f.r polo with him, his dog team following him, and when ho felt the Ice glvlrg way ho throw down tho polo and rested his weight on It. Hut oven though his weight was thus distributed It did no' always save him from a ducking. He broke through no fewer than six limes In his endeavor to cross the river, and narrowly escaped being fro7en before ho could reach ono of the shelters. Hen Downing, the most famous of the mail carriers, narrowly escaped death at tho closo of Inst season. It was spring time, nnd tho sun an hour before and after noon softened the snow nnd made travel dltllcult, so most of his traveling was done in tlio night. He left his station nt l o'clock In the morning, putting laced moccasins on tho feet of his dogs to prevent tho sharp Ice crystals from euttltg them. Ho had mndo twenty miles and was going nlong nt n clipping pace, tils hands on tho bars of the sled, when ho heard tlio Ico crack under his dogs. Ho halted them with a word mid planted his feet rigidly to break tho momentum of the sled. This sudden throwing of his weight In ono placo broko tho Ice, nnd down ho went. The sngnclty which comes to tho dogs from dnlly going through such oxporlonces enabled them to drug him on to tho solid Ice, nnd nway they wont ngaln, faster thnn before, be-cnuso be-cnuso Den hnd his feet wet nnd knew thoy woro freezing. A few miles moro nnd ho know thoy hnd nlready frozen. Then they began to bleed, nnd for ten miles tho blood spurted out of tho laco holes of his moccnslns with every step, nnd left n red trail on tho frozon snow. At length 1m lenchcd ono of his lonoly stntlons. Tho first thing ho did was to Btrlp off hl wet clothes; then' ho wrapped a blanket nround his linked link-ed body and In n tempernturo of C2 degrees bolow s-cro hunted up wood and mndo n fire. Tho following night ho traveled nearly fifty miles until ho reached Dnwson City. He handed over his mall, went limping about his business as If nothing had happened, and then went homo nnd hnd n fevor. Ho wns In tho hospltnl for two months, nnd had to havo his toc3 amputated. am-putated. Yet ho is still In the same I business, and really enjoys Its hazards. haz-ards. Two mnll cnrrlcrs on tho short run to Atlln did not nrrivo last winter, and n bearch party was sent out. They found tho tracks of tho sled leading to what had been a holo In tho Ico. That was all. In tho samo district tho frozen body of a mail carrier was found and Identified Identi-fied by his watch. Ho bad been lost thrco years previously. Harry Krnyno, n mnll carrier from Vnldes to Ragle, started out last Janu-nry Janu-nry with tho expcctntlon of meeting tho carrier on tho next stage. Ho found tho dogs mid tho slod. Tho carrier, Tuflln, had abandoned thorn ' when tho dogs were exhausted, and had started off with tho Idea of carrying carry-ing tho mail on his back for tho rest of tho distance. Some Indians found his frozen body ' six miles from tho summit of Men-tasa Men-tasa Pass. Ho had plodded with tho mall until ho fell In tho snow, frozen to death. From the lower end of this lonely trail of 2,01)0 miles to Nome there Is often in tho local newspapers brief mention of the illsnppearnnco of a mall carrier. It Is an episode of daily life, exciting no moro comment than a runaway run-away horKo does In n big city. Leaving nil dnnger nnd adventure out of consideration, the calling of tho Arctic mnll carrier is rough nnd hard. Do not Imagine tho carrier reclining nt his ease, covered with wnrm robes, while the dogs lopo nlong over a smooth surface. He hns to guldo tho sled from one side of the river to tho other to miss the heaped-up Ico, tho soft places and the snowbanks. lu a tempernturo of CO degrees bolow bo-low zero, which Is common, ho hns to keep warm, nnd yet ho must not per-spile, per-spile, or tho molsturo will Immediately Immediate-ly freeze. His greatest care Is as to his footwear. Ilo has two or three pair of woollen socks and over them n pair of moccnslns mndo of deer hide. Should those get wet his feet freezo nnd ho Is llttlo better than a dead man. After ho has mndo his dlstanco for tho dny ho nrrlves nt a lonely cabin under some feet of buow. Ho has to put on his snowshoos to break a trail to it for the dogs. Tho cnbln contains a rusty stove Postoffice at Forty Mile. and homo provisions for himself ana tho docs. Ho hns to chop wood after his diy's work nnd must first cook tho st.ppor for his dogs. Thou ho cooks nnd ents his lonoly mcnl and lies down In his clothes to sleep. Thoro la no furniture. In a country whero fuel Is scarco tho tomptntlon to chop it up for stovo wood would bo too grent. Only men of Iron framo can stand tho hardships of such n llfo. Tho others nro weeded out nfter two or thrco trips Now York Sun. ' |