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Show - f mM jftvM, WOT Mi iy By ELMO SCOTT WATSON lp JL 'jj' (Drawings by Ray Walters) rX K S EVEHY child knows. 4 X 1 P VjflP"' fi? Wl MB I $!t s"n,a CInus "kes his Jffim 077'y'Mp W ' fM rom'on Christmas eve in mS J& y Reindeer and their T f.'Xf" 7 By ELMO SCOTT WATSON (Drawings by Ray Walters) X It S EVEIiY child knows. ft,f Santa Clans makes Ills ronnds on Christmas eve in a sleisli drawn by "eiiilil ftTM tiny ''ein(leer and their Pj names are "Dasher." -T "Dancer," "Prancer," "Vis en," "Comet," "Cupid," "Donder" and "ISlitzen ' The elyht-reindeer team, however, was not always Kriss Kringle's motive mo-tive power. Time was when lie made his visits mounted on a snowy white lmrse. That was when lie was known n3 Sinlcrklnss, the pet name of the liltle Dutch children for their friend. Bishop St. Nicholas, who. the.v he lleved, brought them gifls on St Nicholas eve, December 5. When Sinterklass came to New Amsterdam Am-sterdam and became Americanized, his name was changed to Santa Claus and he began using a little wnson drawn by a fat pony, for his visits on New Year's eve instead of De ceniber 5. Then In 1Sl!2 Clement Clark Moore wrote the famous poem Which he called "A Visit From St. N'lcholas," but which Inter became famous as "The Night Before Christ mas." In this poem Santa's equipage Has the "miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer" and the sleigh and reindeer It has been ever since. Just as Santa Claus Is an "imml-frar.t" "imml-frar.t" and a "naturalized American," Jo are the steeds which he drives. No doubt it will be a surprise to many Americans to learn Just how many of these "immigrants" there 8re In America now as well as to know that the reindeer is not only a part of the symbolism of Christmas but In one part of this continent he is m Important economic factor. Up In Alaska there are more than 700.000 Df these animals grazing on the frozen froz-en tnudra of the North and their rapid increase, despite the fact that more than 2riO.(XXl have been slaughtered slaugh-tered for food since they were first Introduced here, is America's protection protec-tion against a meat famine caused by the rapid diminishing of our beef herds. All of which is due to an ex perlment which our far-seeing Uncle Bam embarked upon some thlrty-sev m years ago. The story of that experiment ex-periment and the part which a Wisconsin Wis-consin professor had In It Is told by a writer In the Milwaukee Journal is follows : Reindeer are caribou, domesticated through many centuries. The average weight of a full-grown animal Is ir.o pounds, but by crossing with the larger larg-er wools caribou. It Is hoped to develop de-velop an animal of 250 pounds. Through the centuries of domestication its flesh has lost the game flavor until now it is sa:d lo resemble a cross between duck and mutton. The animals are more docile than cattle. A man s safe tn a milling herd, although he may appear to a watcher to be in imminent danger of being trampled under the feet or Impaled on the horns of the deer. This docility, together with knowledge of their hab- its, mukes them tiie easiest to handle of all domestic animals. The roundup is simplified by the fact that the mosquitoes mos-quitoes in summer drive the deer to rhe sea coast, where they are protected protect-ed by ocean breezes. Herding is made easy by their attachment to their grazing graz-ing ground. A reindeer turned loose many days' Journey from the pasture of Its own herd will find its way surely sure-ly and quickly home. Reindeer were introduced to Alaska In 1891. In that year sixteen were brought from Siberia at the instigation cf Dr Sheldon Tackson. When Doctor Jackson Jack-son was sent to Alaska by the government gov-ernment to establish schools among the natives, he found his wards threatened threat-ened with starvation as a result of the slaughter by white men of the game animals on which the natives had de-Ponded de-Ponded for 'ood He conceived the idea of replacing the fast disappearing game with reindeer, the principal domestic do-mestic animal of Lapland and Siberia, the climate and vegetation of which resembled that of Alaska. Returning to the states and unable to interest congress In the venture, Doctor Jackson sought contributions from the public. He obtained $2. 148 with which the first animals were procured pro-cured tn Siberia. At the same time Siberian Si-berian herdsmen were brought over, to rare for them. In 1892 150 more reindeer were Imported Im-ported Congress then became mildly interested and small appropriations made possible Importations through th next ten years until, in 1902, when the Russian government put an em ha rgo on further exporta Hons from Siberia. 1.2S0 animals had been taken Into Alaska The Siberian herdsmen proved incompetent in-competent as teachers for the Eskimos, Eski-mos, and fcr a time the venture was threatened with failure. It was then that Doctor Jackson went for advice to Prof Rasmus B. Anderson of Madison. Mad-ison. Wis., who, while minister to Denmark, Den-mark, had visited the reindeer herds of Lapland. Doctor Jackson's early interest inter-est in the animals had been aroused by a report on the industry there made by the professor. In pursuance of Professor Anderson's Ander-son's ad vice, Lapp herders were engaged en-gaged o replace the Siberians a? Instructors In-structors to the Eskimos. Each was lent 100 animals from the government herd for a period of years, at the end of which an equal number of reindeer were required o be returned to the government. The Lapps were permit-i permit-i ted to retain the increase. The Eskimos were apprenticed to the Lapps f r a period of four years At the end of the first year each was given giv-en six reindeer, at the end of the second, sec-ond, eight, at the end of the third year, tan, and ten more at the end of his fourth year of training With normal nor-mal increases, each man's herd would be almost 100 head by the time he had completed his apprenticeship. He was well equipped to start in business for himself. Today, more than two-thirds of the reindeer of Alaska are owned bv natives, of whom some 5.000 have been trained ;n their care. The effect of this training on the Eskimos s one of the most important results of the enterprise. Within less than a generation the reindeer industry indus-try has advanced the natives of Alaska through one entire stage of civiliza-tion civiliza-tion from the primitive to the pastoral, pastor-al, from nomad ic hunters to civilized men, independent, responsible, assured of support for themselves and an opportunity op-portunity to .-.cquire wealth. They have bank accounts, purchase American ulothing and food, have adopted improved im-proved methods of sanitation and, in some instances, have built frame houses from Imported lumber. Between 1918 and 1925 more than 1,875.000 pounds of reindeer meat whs shipped to the United States from Alaska. Alas-ka. Two hundred thousand pounds was shipped in 1923, while by 1925, the export had increased to 680.000 pounds. The export for 1927 was expected almost al-most to double that of 1925, the amount depending on shipping facilities. Reindeer Rein-deer meat sells in Nome for 16 to 20 cents a pound. It can be delivered at Seattle for 15 cents a pound, and. with increased shipments and Improved methods of handling, even this price can be reduced. While ihe only reindeer on this continent con-tinent now are In Alaska, and the territory's ter-ritory's production is restricted by pasturage 'o four million head, there are millions of acres in Canada where ten times as many can' be fed, ano vast stretches in northern Europe and Asia where reindeer have been raised for centuries, but never on an extensive exten-sive sea le, whore ten times us many can be grazed as in Canada In all then, 444,000,000 reindeer could be supported sup-ported ny Alaska, Canada and Eurasia, assuring a substantial contribution to , the world's supply of food and a utilization uti-lization of what otherwise would be waste land , The reindeer roundup rivals as a scene of picturesque activity- the old rattle roundups of the western states. Reindeer, like cattle, mill about a common com-mon center, but. unlike cattle, a herd wil) nvll in one direction only This habit simplifies the work of the brand-eis brand-eis and tally keepers. Chutes are constructed con-structed at intervals about the corral, their mouths formed by short wing fences or "horns" projecting inside the corral -it an angle opposed to the. direction direc-tion of tie herd's motion. Against these "horns" the edge, of -the herd, kept in motion by Eskimo herders, is sliced off and. one at a time, the animals are driven down the narrow nar-row chute. If the animal is branded, one of the men at the chute will cali out the "rand. If unbranded, the ani- mal will be seized as it emerges from I the chute and either a branding iron j ; applied to 'ts hip or a mark snipped in one of its ears. Reindeer are prolific. At the normal i rate of increase, herds double every J three years. Even under the present i plan of killing off the surplus males. amounting to about 10 per cent of the herd each ear, the animals are almost ) doubling tn numbers every five years. Within fifteen or twenty years, at the I present rata of growth, the herds will have reached the limits of the territory j lo feed and it will then be necessary rurther !o ;nrrease the slaughter of the 1 animals |