Cleveland High School - Beacon Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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By means of a shout by one of the captains, the cooks on shore inform the villagers of the kill. Having arrived back at the ice near the shore, the Eskimos pray and thank God for their safe arrival. Then after about two days, butchering takes place. Two slanting holes are cut into the ice beam strong enough to hold the large pulleys attached to the carcass, lying still in the open water. Then the whale is pulled onto the ice and the women begin boiling the strips of skin that were cut away from the body of the whale. The older men mark off the crew's share by cutting long gashes in the skin. The flukes belong to the captain who makes the first strike, but are given to the villagers at the time of feasting. The booby prize is given to the last boat to arrive. It is a strip the length of the captain's foot, cut from the whale. All parts of the whale are used except the skull, which is supposed to be the share demanded by the crabs. Other parts feed men and dogs, provide monuments made from jaw-bones, baskets made from strips of baleen, drumheads made from the skin of the liver and lungs, and even rubber bouncing balls from a white rubbery substance along the skull. In these respects the whale is like the pig. RICHARD HOFFMANN. Q if .Tack Brenk 'H

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.A 4E6LlfLg8l 0lfL5 .!4!6L6L6LlfL UCClfLl96Lfl:0IfL In Alaska, the Whaling season lasts from about March to June. The Spring whale hunt is very dangerous and much praying is done before and after the journey. Until a generation ago the Eskimo women prayed to the male moon, Alignuk, for the success of their husbands. When a faint silver crescent appeared in the night sky, each captain's wife would take a little wooden bowl and fill it with clean, clear water from a certain lagoon. Late at night she would slip out of the house and hold the bowl toward the moon and say, Alignuk, drop a whale into this pot so that we can kill one this spring. Now, however, they pray to the Christian God for deliverance. To determine whether the whale hunt will be a success, a ceremonial dance is held. At the end of the ceremony, the dancer hurls a wooden top out of which rises goose feathers. If the top spins smoothly and the feathers sail off into the air, the hunt will be a success. If not, someone sitting at the ceremony will die. Before the actual whale hunt begins, a feast is held where the people of the village eat slabs of frozen whale meat from last year's killing. This is considered a delicacy. After this festival, boats are prepared, paddles, harpoon shafts, great cutting lance shafts, and boat hooks are cleaned. Knives and gear are also cleaned. By tradition, the Whale can- not see the gear, but if he does, it promises him sharp cutting knives which will not hurt in the butchering. For the Eskimos think that the whale does not die, but he merely has his parka removed. Two or three days later, the boat is put on a sled and pulled over ice to the open water and the hunt is on for the bowhead whale, called Agavik. When a whale is finally stuck, each of the other boats races to the scene, for each boat gets a portion of the whale, depending upon the order of its arrival. Then one of the boats paddles over the whale's back and the harpooner drives the harpoon shaft deep into the whale's blubber. Sealskin floats are attached to the harpoon line, and these floats sink as the whale emits deep sounds from the sting of the exploding har- poon bomb in his back. As the wounded whale rises, the floats bob up and warn the hunters. The Eskimos drive boats over the victim's back and vital spots are jabbed by lancers. After the whale is killed, the boats line up in accordance with their arrival upon the scene and tow the whale home. 26

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wedlock of .jfanyoorfafion in .fdfcwlu There are many and diverse methods of transportation in the country that, in 1867, was known as Seward's Iceboxf' At that time it seemed sheer wasteful extravagance to pay 557,000,000 for miles of icebergs and polar bears. Since then, it has been realized that Alaska is a region of rich mineral deposits, great agricultural value, vast timber reserves, ex- cellent food-fish, valuable fur-bearing animals, and it holds a strategic position in the present war. Surely, highways and methods of transpor- tation play an important part in our relations with so valuable a posses- sion. Twenty-five years ago the dog team was the only method of trans- portation when the fierce Alaska winters paralyzed the rivers. A good dog in Alaska is worth anywhere from seventy-five dollars and up. The thick-furred, long-legged Labrador huskies are the most powerful as well as the most valuable dog. A load of one hundred and fifty pounds per dog is the usual burden and seven to nine dogs are attached. Seventy miles a day is the rule with drivers and their teams. Then came the earlier aviators who, until a year or two ago, iiew without navigational aids, guessed at weather, alighted on incredibly small clearings, on beaches, and on river sand bars. They alighted on lakes, and coastal waters with pontoons and on frozen lakes with skis. They have written a chapter in the winning of the air, which will always be memorable in the history of bravery, valor and skill. Now, war has brought men to Alaska: engineers and construction workers-boys from the United States. In 1940, a road to Alaska was just a dream, with many alternate routes under consideration. Now, the highway, known as Route C, has actually been constructed by Army engineers. Not so long ago, General Henry Arnold, commanding our Army Air Forces, said, Never has a road been so important to airmen as the Alaskan Highway. Some time ago, in 1914 to be exact, after prolonged agitation, Con- gress passed an act for the construction of a government railroad and appropriated thirty-five million dollars for it. The total revenue of the Alaska Railroad in 1934 was S1,476,568g its operating expenses were slightly over that. In connection with this war, the soldiers of the 770th Railway Operating Battalion were called upon to operate one hundred and ten miles of railroad along the White Pass and Yukon. 28