New-York tribune., 1884-12-28
THE ADIR0hDA0ks,
wINTERlNG IN THE WILDERNESS
ROM .rArr oonnrsrospENr OF rue InmusEl

| ing steam. In the village deep ifnpo' VI ~" e
from all the cavos The figures in tho whito street
move quickly. beating their mittcns and stamping
their heavy feet The still air carries faint sonn"
of slcigli-bells ngling far away In the vahey' ic'
| tcrdav when the wave of Arctic cola hrst rcac"o"
us. there WAS frosty haze all over the iahdSc"po
and tho palo blue line Of tho more distant mou"-
tains was hardly disting giishabe from tho sky To-
day the atmosphere is transparent iho i"''"o
ranges show an intense blue ana tho rav'hes ap'
| creascs not ordinarily discerncd are markeu wiz"
glorious shades OF indigo and purple Under tho
sun at midday the heavens have delicate snlno Oh
tint. like the flesh of trout. Above tho village tho
soranac River covered with u sheet OF white looks
| like n part of the meadows through which IL ho"s'
but at the mill the stream comes tulnDihg INTO ''s"'
among grotesquc shapes OF Ice. Ihe ueep "'son
current smokes it runs through tho Viiiag'' III"
the cloud of vapor decorates the bushes on the soep
hanks with a tracery Of the most. delicate irost-
work.
What day for an early slcigh-ride! No sooner
ros breakfast over than we put on our ample furs
and with cans pulled down close to our eyebrows,
bunaIo robes around us and hot bricks Mt our iect
| we Turned tho horse and cutter down the Sarahac
| Valley and sped away with the bells making merry
music and our pulses beating faster mt every miic'
Cold! Not bit of it! To be sure. forty below zero
| IL about what our Arctic adventurers found tho
temperature in the Polar pack but IN TINS stl dry'
| delicious air we 40 not liilllu u, Wc'""'" WV
it but for the testimony of the spiritthermometer'
| and perhaps of some curious phenomena whch
| added pionancy TO our ride. We passed friend
| and did not know him because his black hair ana
| whiskers had turned entirely white barrier oil
| rimc grew up around our own faces Ice iormcu OH
orr eyelashes. Our horse was bay when we
started, but in half an hour he was a roam, whs-
| kered like n eat. As he sweated. each individnai
hair froze white and stiff. Up and down hili' now
| on the face of the cln now sweeping down
smooth and curvng descent to the edge OF the river
| now across the marsh and now through the wood
on we dashed shouting Mt the horse and laughing at
| each other There certain tbickcts where VIC
always cross the tracks Of foxes and rabbits ana
| this morning they were much thicker than usual
snow had fallen in the night and stretches ol tine
river opcn hitherto, had frozen mp, and think tine
| ANIMALS had gone far along the stream tor water.
never pass through the pines and hemlocks IN snow
time without foolish longing to camp In the winter
| woods: the ground looks 40 white and clean the
trees seem 80 noble In their nnchanging dark green
| and the fragments and patches of snow which cling
|, their branches stir many suggestions OF christ
| mas nnd Of bovhoud There nre little footprints to
be sren now which rscare ns In Summer and II one
| rnnl onlv rnnue into THESE romantic fecessrs- far
rote heartiful itore cheerful and nnfc Impressive
| - bsn te snuv hns siei into theii AMI the falling
| ~ ,he deehinnus leaves has let w the si thh'i
,t tben n,nsi ~ 40 sik nD tem intinr the heats ~
AVs,sj ~ sppN,s w. Ne that ,nant mystery ~ the
hepst sehi ietpal itself ahi SIZE h,ltlt ttet be-
| eaaa faiRlaf With Tho partridge atl 'hp htef,
ihpra Was iaFse eaip lip eh 'hu Nb"lhh sl'hth ~
earauae fabn jhn iast tima drnyo ~ that sheni ~
water and | GnVied tho w00i-GutieTs las s'pposp
| they werel who .alo working near u. Probably !
| ought to have known better,
| there are wood-roads within few miles of tho
| village, which can be followed into wlntry depths,
not always very safely in light sleigh, but always
| on horseback on foot We pushed into such ro-
treat during the menacing cold OF yesterday after
noon aud after winding around tho flank OF hill
we came unexpectedly upon clearing among tho
pines where a thln column of smoke was rising
from ramshaclle shanty of logs and slabs, and the
snow half covered q huge pile of ire-wood, ready to
he hauled out A path had been broken into the
woods from the rough sledge track, and fragments
OF hemlock were scattered the snow, as II men
had pushed through with their arms full of boughs
Here must have been gathered tho Christmas
green's which have been heaped in the main street
in front of the library building where the young,
peope are tyng wreahs and festo0ns for the church
and making ready for the gft-bearlng Tree which is
70 delight the children of tho village on Christmas
Eve. / hope that the festival may be as merry as
the nreparations for It, There IL reason to fear
that we shall lack requisite of Jolly Christmas
at any rate-a plenty of snow
Early I'm December before the nipping and tho
eager air grew no keen there were days when every
twia on the pines bent under a load of woolly snow.
and then the hill sides stood forth IN snmptuons
splendor which | have no language to describe
Once when the sun got up on a cold morning poh-
teous eXhaston followed 10 from tho lake, but
dndine the day too sharp, went back and setled In
crystalline farms every low twlg ana blade of
grass Than While tho trees 0n tho high hanks were
oluar tho prounl aud the brush sparklod with dla
| monde ny Tadh ~ tuttel frost -i0wnrs h0ss1noia a
0yar tho hnld Ut loo and tn pno-noyofoi lanln Ial
| out ~ tho Lake, where tho yapof had bnnn dnnsn
apInnfni lha structures ~ silver nafne without
,aallua ~ plenn ~ break tho hatsllng white, On
hn highest of tho mountains near us, whloh lnoo'o
| hafanno inha ~ IN baAln, tIe snow clouds often
discharge Themselves without dropping any llahes
over The village W. can watch the whlilina ~ the
storm about the submits, aud thu gradual tightening
aud dissolution of tho heavy clouds, aud whom the
squali Ia oym tho mountain ~ powdered with white
aud ihs pines up thofp above ~ look like the pulls
Of i'ompadout ooli'uro.
-Four or Avo years ago tho village Of snrnnno Lako
| was duh littlo crossroads settlement. of which
| tho world only know that u was the nearest place
10 tho popular summer hool. formerly called Mar
| tins aud now called Milicts at the foot OF tho
Lower Sarnnnc. II wns Stunned in summer because.
being IN basin. II IL hot md In winter nobody
| stayed in tho AdIrondncks who could get away.
But thnt physicians havo discovered tho bene-
Ats OF a winter In this region for pulmonary In
valids Saranac Lake Is becoming health resort Of
some celebrity. The hotel and the many boarding
houses are filled. Furnished houses are rented Mt
e1travagant prices. Two or three pretty houses
have been built for private owners. The health
colony Of winter visitors comprises perhaps seventy
five people and Ms ts number increases faster than
the accommodations the inhabitants have conceived
sous wild ideas OF vaues pnrtculnrls OF land md