St. Paul Daily Globe

LOOKING TOWARD THE POLE.

Picture of the Most Northern Habitation on the Continent.

In his recent interesting account of a cruise with Arctic whalemen, under the title, "Arctic Alaska and Siberia," Herbert L. Aldrich gives a striking description of the most northern habitation on the American continent. Most readers are familiar with descriptions of the interior of Alaskan dwellings, but Mr. Aldrich's pen picture is fuller than usual, and has the additional interest of portraying the farthest foothold of humanity among the snows and ice of the Arctic regions. The igaloo, which Mr. Aldrich has photographed and pictured, is situated on Point Barrow, the northernmost spur of the Alaskan coast. After touching upon the desolate situation and squalid appearance of the native settlement, Mr. Aldrich says:

Finding one large igaloo that was dry, I took the liberty to drop down through the window into it. This was the most northern habitation on the continent, which added to my desire to see it. The roof was high, so that I could stand erect. Across the north end of the room was a platform raised a yard from the floor and extending out from the wall five feet. A bundle of deerskins neatly rolled up lay on it; underneath were a box and one or two household utensils. Close to the wall on the south side was an oval hole in the floor large enough for one not very corpulent to crawl through; this led to the entrance proper. A few cooking and other utensils stood in a corner near by. In the other corner was a small blubber oil 'stove.' On each side of the room was an other of these stoves. Each was made of a piece of three-inch plank, probably wreckage. The first one was about eighteen inches long, the second about two feet and the third three feet. They were hollowed out to a depth of an inch and a half and raised slightly from the floor. There was no moss on them to serve as a wick nor oil in them, but a piece of well-smoked blubber hung nearly two feet above each, indicating that they had seen service.

"The walls were of smooth boards closely held together, and the floor was a good one. Everything was as scrupulously neat, clean and orderly as any housekeeper could wish for. The three lamps were thickly coated with grease, but that could not be otherwise. Every article seemed to have its own place and be in it, three or four racks on the walls containing many of the smaller articles. The size of this igaloo was twelve by fourteen feet. Outside, opposite the entrance, was the usual staging or scaffold, on which were some whalebone, perhaps fifty pounds of deerskins, a bear and other skins, two dead seals and other valuables. Evidently the owner of the place was in good circumstances.