St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-10-16
VOLUME 4S---NUMBER 2464

20 near fire, rs sudden thawinr is
very painful. People generally trv
friction, rubbing themselves viii,
| SNOW, or, better still, with parafine oil.
occasionally when one is frozen and
far from help, the part frozen, if an ex
trennty, Will snap off. Last year a
man llving about thirty miles from us
was told that his ear was frozen In,
put up his hand to feel, aud the ear
dropped off in his hand. Limbs have
tn be amputated from severe frost
bites. My kittens ears froze and
broke of last winter, and IA neighbor's
pony lost Its ears in the same way.
l was surprised when | first found
the mustard frozen in my mustard-pot.
which stooI foot from the kitchen
stove-pipe, and two feet above the
stove where there was II hlazing fire
all day and every day through the
winter. Yet the mustard frOze be-
tween every meal. Bread froze if left
tor half an hour in room without IL
fire. j once left II pitcher fun of milk
in the kitchen ali night. and next
morning on trying to move it the
pitcher fell to pieces, and left the milk
standing solid i'll its place. We could
buy frozen milk by the pound, frozen
so intensely that when | put "a Iump of
1t IN TIN into the stove, or on top of
the stove, the first part that melted
would burn to the tin before the rest of
1t had thawed. | managed to melt il
by first chopping the ice milk into very
small pieces. Clothes which had been
washed froze before could hang them
on the line to dry. | used to leave
| tham nut fNVn n1 tbraa
snow and frost to bleach, and they al
ways needed thawing and drying
again when they were brought in
doors. Even after dampcd and folded
they would freeze together, and when
have been ironing the top of pock-
ct handkerchief the lower part would
freeze to the table which was close by
Il roaring wood fire. Ironing under
these conditions is rather slow work,
Such stories must sound almost in
credible except to those who like my
self have witnessed the facts, though
of course only in the most severe
weather. A bearded Englishman who
staid with us last winter, was often
forced, when he came indoors, to thaw
the icicles from his mustache, which
frOze to his beard and hindered him
|
left in the kitchen ali night would
freeze solid to the bottom before morn
ing. This happened every time one
was left, for two months. 1t is disap-
pointing to lovers of skating that the
outdoor ice is completely spoiled by
snow which begins to fall as soon as
the hard frost sets IN. Though lived
within easy reach of Lake Manitoba,
| xEhI i,t,
long, and was frozen hard for six
months last season, | never once had
my skates on. There are several COW
cred rinks in Winnipeg, which are
flooded, and so renewed every night.
d In such climate every one who
can afford it is dressed in fur. Seal,
beaver, and otter skins are most FASH
ionable. Ordinary people are content
with bear, raccoOu or buffalo. The
Winnipeg policemen all dress in butfa-
lo coats down to their heels in winter,
and almost every house contains at
least one buffalo robe or rug. These
cost from two to five pounds each and
, are used for camp bedding and driving
, wraps. The keenest wind cannot
pierce them.
: Winter is, of course, not equally sc
|
tion applies only to it's coolest half.
But to Il woman the most trying part
of winter in Manitoba is not its Sc
verity-for you live in a warm house
but its length. Snow lay on the
ground last season for six months and
, Il half and the great lakes were frozen
for the same period. This sounds al
most unbearably tedious in English
, ears and ones eyes grow very weary
;; of the bare, blank whiteness, and long
for something green to look at yet
, the bright, clean still frosts, with bril-
liant sunshine, glorious skies, and
moonlit, aurora colored nights, have
great compensations of their own. A
blizzard ii. e. strong keen, bone
piercing storm of wind with more or
D less snow keeps every one indoors
until its rather rare visit is over. But
; in spite of every Inconvenience ont
doors and indoors, of the winter time,
| say deliberately that | would rather
pass three winters on the prairie in
Manitoba than one SUMNER Har-
per's Bazaar.