THE BISHOP OF THE ARCTIC.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LX, Issue 143787, 10 May 1912, Page 3

THE BISHOP OF THE ARCTIC.

Of all prelates tho Bishop of Alaska, the Right Reverend Peter Trimble Rowe, has perhaps the hardest time, tho roughest work, and leads the most unepiscopal existence. Of his bishopric, which contains 600,000 square miles, a large portion lies above the Arctic Circle, and the yearly visitation covers a chain of missions extending over an immense distance. For nearly eleven months in the year Bishop Rowe is travelling and during that period he covers more than twenty thousand miles. Sledging in tho winter, and canoeing in the summer, are the main* methods of transit. Journeys 'have to be made in dead of winter, with heavily laden sleds, in the teeth of blizzards, when the fingers freeze and the very eyes become closed with frost. "Whenever news comes of a gold rush and the establishment of a new mining camp, the Bishop either visits tho spot himself or sends a representative of tho Church. With tho aid of his fellowworkers and a few unskilled Eskimos, he has built a church with a cross so liigh that it serves as a landmark for passing whaloships. And not only churches, hut hospitals, dispensaries, schools, clubs, and reading-rooms have been erected under tho Bishop’s directions. The Bishop is a man frank and open in maimer, of direct and unstudied address, thoroughly at homo with sturdy, plain-speaking men, a naturally gilted story-teller with a keen sense of humour. Once, so the story goes, the Bishop met a lonely prospector foundering along over lumpy ice with wearied dogs. The Bishop made inquiries of the stranger with regard to the route. “It’s hell,” replied the prospector, and proceeded to relate with profane embellishments tho exact state of tho track. “And how’s- it been your way, partner?” he concluded. With sincere conviction the churchman responded earnestly, “Just the same.” The improvement in the condition of tho Eskimos since the establishment of the missions is very noticeable. In many parts they are poor and neglected, with little clothing and less food, and a ready prey to tuberculosis and other diseases. Their hunting grounds are overrun by tho white men, and they are pushed back into the fastnesses or made victims of debauchery. Yet where the mission work has had its best effect, as at Point Hope, they are the most, cleanly, honest, and dependable natives to bo found in the North.