PAPERS PRESENTED AT GENERAL SESSIONS 55 



destruction of a wall exposes furniture deserted in place. 

 The population of the city varies, for the people are 

 transient; they go into the hills to work their claims in 

 summer, and by far the greatest number go ''outside" 

 on the last boat that returns to the States. Nome is a 

 drab little mining town, straggling along a narrow coas- 

 tal plain that borders the hill regions. Its people are 

 occupied mostly in gold mining, and fishing for salmon 

 and whales, and a few little shops supply the necessities 

 of life. This is the town where women once wore Pari- 

 sian gowns, and imported Corsican dancers were paid in 

 showers of gold! 



The Fourth of July in Nome is, even yet, a day of 

 great celebration for both white people and Eskimos. 

 It is a holiday of games, and the Eskimos particularly 

 were very interesting in the originality and execution of 

 their contests. Their walrus skin throwing is similar to 

 blanket throwing of this country, except that the taut- 

 ness of the skin makes it a more difficult accomplishment ; 

 but altho some who attempted it made funny spectacles 

 of themselves, many of them succeeded in landing and 

 rebounding with beautiful poise. A standing kick to 

 touch with both feet a ball suspended about six feet three 

 inches high was one of the novel feats ; and a kyack race 

 was an example of a very typical Eskimo sport. The 

 "modern" Eskimo who took part in these sports is little 

 different from the Eskimo of Steffanson's books so far 

 as one can see. They are modern only in the substitution 

 of calico trimmed in fur for the all-fur parka, and in the 

 use of all kinds of expensive American perfumes to add 

 to the odor of seal oil and blubber ! Their women are very 

 pretty when young, but age most rapidly, and the most 

 lasting and appealing picture of Eskimo people is the 

 sweet madonna face of the parka-dressed young Eskimo 

 mother with one baby on her back and several holding 

 her by hand. During the influenza epidemic, these people 

 died by hundreds, so that in places their communities are 

 almost depopulated, and the orphanages are crowded 

 with children. 



Travel in Alaska may be accomplished with ease only 

 in winter, with dog team over packed ice. A summer 



