The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1897, Page 30

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

Esquimau Dogs.

Our picture is a good picture to look at in
the hot summer time.
It takes you to a far northern country where
the Esquimaux live amid ice and snow. Two
of them you see drawn on a sledge by Esqui-
mau dogs.

and have been known to make daily journeys
of sixty miles for several days in succession.
Captain Parry, in his well-known ‘‘Journal,”’

It might cool you off. | remarks, that ‘‘neither the dog nor his master

| is half civilized or subdued.’’ The Esquimau

|

bears no love toward his dogs, and looks upon
them as mere animated machines, formed for
the purpose of conveying him and his prop-

The Esquimau dog spends almost its entire | erty from one place to another. He is a most

life in drawing sledges and carrying heavy
loads, being the only beast of burden in the

exacting and cruel master, feeding his dogs on
the scantiest fare, and then inflicting severest

northern parts of America and the neighboring |torture upon them if they break down in their

islands. Some, indeed, are turned loose at
the beginning of the summer to get their living
as best as they can until winter summons them
back again to scanty meals and neverending
toil. But many of the Esquimau dogs are
made to work the entire year, and these are
the happy ones, for the work in the summer is
not nearly so heavy as in the win-
ter, and the food is much better.

There is a wolfish look about £F-
the dog, owing toitsobliqueeyes,  ;
bushy tail, and long nose. In
its full face the Esquimau dog
presents a ludicrously exact like-
ness of its master’s countenance.
The color is generally a deep
dun, marked with dark bars and
patches.

When harnessed to the sledge,
the dogs obey the movements
of their leader, who is always a
faithful and experienced old dog.
There sre no means of guiding
the animals in their way, for each
dog is simply tied to the sledge
by a leather strap, and directed
by the voice and whip of the driver.
The whip is of very great import-
ance to the driver, for by the
sounds which he brings from the
lash, and by the ably directed strokes aimed
at refractory dogs, he guides the team with-
out the aid of bit or bridle. The old and
experienced animal which leads them knows
the master’s voice, and will dash forward,
slacken speed, halt, or turn to right or left at
command.

The actual stroke of the whip is used as
little as possible, for when a dog feels the
sting of the biting lash, he turns and attacks
the dog nearest him. The others immediately
join in the fight, and the whole team is thrown
into admirable confusion, the traces getting
entangled with each other, and the sledge in
all likelihood upset. When such a rupture
occurs the driver is generally forced to dis-
mount and to harness the dogs afresh. Usually
the leading dog is allowed to run his own
course, for he is able to follow the right path
with marvelous accuracy, and to scent it out
even when the thickly falling snowflakes have
covered the ground with a white carpet on

_ whose surface no trace of the path is to be seen.

” These dogs are able to travel very great dis-

" tances over the snowclad regions of the north,

steer a

work from want of nourishment, or if, incited
by the pangs of hunger, they obey their natural
instincts, and make a meal on the provisions
which had been Jaid aside for his own use.
The poor beasts have been known, when suf-
fering from long continued hunger, to devour
their tough leather harness, and as if excited

Esquimau Dogs.

by this imperfect meal, to fly upon the weaker
members of the team and tear them to pieces.
In this fit of unrestrained fury they would make
their masters the first victims, were they not
driven back by swords and clubs.

—+ eo

Go Ye.

After His resurrection Christ met His dis-
ciples and said unto them: ‘‘Go ye and teach
all nations.’’” And again He said: ‘‘Go ye
into all the world, and preach the Gospel to
every creature.”’ This is the Master’s simple
command: ‘‘Go ye.” He did not say, ‘‘If
you think it will be a successful thing, go.
If you think there will be such results as will
justify your going, go. If it seems safe to
you, go.”” Yet He understood all these matters
better than we understand them. He simply
said, ‘Go ye.’’? The results are in His hands,
our duty is simply to obey the command,
‘'Go ye.”?.. “Ke

Who were to go? Evidently not the eleven
only. Evidently not the five hundred only that

were present. This is clearly seen from the
promise added to the command. Christ said,
“Lo, Iam with you alway, even unto the end
of the world.’’ The command is to be carried
out unto the end of the world. As long as the
world stands the command stands. It is given
not only to those who first heard it, but to all
in that age and in after ages who should be-
lieve through their word. The ‘‘ye’”’ of the
risen Saviour means every Christian. The
duty to preach the Gospel to every creature
rests upon the Church, upon each and all its
members. Whenever a man, a woman, or a
child enters the army of the Lord he is enrolled
for a campaign that is worldwide and lifelong.
Never, as long as the world stands, will the
great Captain of our salvation recall the order,
‘Go ye into all the world,’ or release any Chris-
tian from his personal obligation to obey it.
The early Christians understood
=>, this. They ‘went everywhere,
preaching the Gospel.’’

“Go ye,”’ is the Master’s com-
mand to-day. It is the command
to each and to all. Every Chris-
tian should make known the Gos-
pel to those that know it not. He
will find opportunity in his family,
among his relatives, among his
acquaintances. Not every Chris-
tian can become a called mission-
ary in the mission field, but every
Christian must know that those
who go to the front in this great
campaign are our representatives.
If we can not go, we are to sup-
port those who go and devote their
lives to mission work. They are
doing our work as well as their
own. They are toiling and suffer-
ing in obeying a command which
is given, not only to them, but
the whole Church, to each of us, who belong
to the Church. But alas! how feeble is the
sympathy of those whose work they are doing!
How meager the contributions to sustain them
and to carry on the work which the Master
commanded the Church todo! Is not greater
liberality in regard to mission work one of the
needs of the hour? May the great mercy of
God which we enjoy through the Gospel of
Christ move us to greater zeal in our mission
work,

+ om 0

His Only Comfort.

“I have taken much pains,’’ says a very
learned man, ‘‘to know every thing that
was worth knowing among men; but with
all my readings, nothing now remains with
me to comfort me, at the close of life, but
this passage of St. Paul: ‘It is a faithful
Saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Jesus Christ came into the world to save
sinners,’ to this I cleave and, herein I find
rest.” ;