The new North-west., 1885-03-20
WHERE IT IS COLD.
LIFE IN WINNIPEG AND IN THE
NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
A Talk with n Canadian-winter i'm
ManItoba-How the Farmer Dresses
His Daily Life-Keeping
Warm I'm Winter.
New York SUM-

New York SUM-
@Coldp said Canadian from Winnipeg
during the cold snap few days ago "Coldi
why, surely you don't call this cold. Up in
my country 1t is occasionally SO cold at this
season of the year that the COWS give ice
cream when they are milked. tell you
that there can be no trifiing with the cold up
there Look at the way we dress In winter
we all wear furs. The policemen at Winni-
peg have buffalo coats down TO their heels,
and every man, rich or poor, in the north
west must wear a fur cap. have known
the cold TO penetrate the skull OF a man who
went out one day with an ordinary felt hat,
and brain fever carried him OFF In
three days The streets Of Winnipeg
Just now are full Of men who move
about like animals in menagerie cages.
You see nothing but beaver, and
otter, and Persian lamb, and seal 'and mink,
and raccoon, and marten, and muskrat, and
all the furs that ever adorned the Goths or
Ostro- Goths, who first brought the choice
furs OF tho north to southern and central
Europe And the sleighs are covered with
bla ok and brown bear and grizzly skins and
buffalo robes, while an occasional Astrakhan
gives evidence Of luxury in costly furs.
Without furs we could not live In winter up
In that country. We not only use them az
articles Of luxury, as the Chinese use the err
mine, sable, or the fiery fox, but we are
obliged 10 use them as articles Of necessity.
And every species Of skin Is utilized. The
hardy voyageurs and coureurs du bois dress
themselves In buckskin with headdresses OF
wolf, lynx, badger, or wildcat hides, while
silver and blue fox furs may be seen on the
heads Of the rich.
"As for the cold," he continued, at Is
severe, but we do not feel it as much as you
might fancy. Wea dressed for 1t, and our
houses are built 10 resist 1t. All our houses
have double doors and double windows.
Fires are, Of course, kept going night and
day. We are not much out Of doors in
winter. and yet nearly everybody gets frost
bitten at times When we see a man on the
street with white spot on his cheek or nose
we stop and point to the afflicted part He
win understand at once II the weather 10
very cold we can't speak TO each other very
well, for our mustaches freeze to our boards
and form crust of ice over our mouths We
must thaw this Off before we can talk On
the plains sometimes, q man is frozen TO
death, but this does not often happen. 1t
Is no joke to be caught In blizzard
on the prairies. 1t happened to me once "A
little north Of Medicine Hat" 1t was in
January, and the thermometer was about
degrees below zero, but the wind blew at the
rate Of thirty miles an hour. was travel
ing with q half breed guide and dog sleigh
We upset the sleigh, got the dog and our
selves under IL as well as we could, wrapped
the furs around us, and let IL blow away.
The snow soon piled over US until we had an
irregular wall quarter OF a mile long and
ten feet high on each side Of us next morning,
when the blizzard abated. This may sur
prise you, but mound, six inches high, is
enough TO enable the snow TO lodge and pile
up until II forms q blockade miles long on
the prairies.
~Yes, It is cold; but 1t Is not the cold we
object to 30 much as the length Of the win
ters. The snow Is on the ground for seven
months in our northwest Fortunately there
Is not much Of it. We never have more than
foot Of snow during the winter, or just
enough to make good sleighing At the
base OF the Rocky mountains the ground Is
clear Of snow for the greater part OF the sea-
son The climate there Is as temperate as 1t
Is In New York This is owing to the Chinook
winds These winds come from the Pacific
ocean through the Chinook pass. They af-
feet the temperature Of the adjoining coun.
try Out there have seen cattle feeding on
tho plains In January and February. But
the region thus affected Is small, and we
have no other modifying influences on cur
climate.
"0ne of the best proofs I can give you
Of the severity Of the climate is found
In the fact tnat you may travel for hundreds
OF miles on the plains without seeing q
boulc or O stone. The frost pulverizss
them. They burst asunder as though blown
apart with punpowder, and solid materials
rtad int he
worst OF IL Is the cold comes 30 early and
stays 30 late We can raise neither apples,
pears, nor peaches up there. Nor can we
raise Indian corn. and for that reason our
Canadian northwest can never DO a great
pork country. Small fruit cherries, rasp-
berries, currents, and Strawberries, however.
win ripen, but we cannot hope to make fruit
abundant The cold LIS too severe to enable
us to raise anything but the hardest kinds
Of fruit and corn-those which ripen early.
aWe who live In the cities do not suffer
from the cold half as much as tho farmers.
Wood Is scarce all over the country, and the
farmer is obliged to economic his fuel
This Is one of his greatest hardships. Along
the line of railway he can get coal, which
In now found In great abundance on the
Saskatchewan, but when the farmer has to
depend on wood for fuel he has hard time
OF 10 In winter He sometimes makes fuel
out Of his manure heap In the autumn,
after the manner Of the Mennonites, by mix
ing 1t with straw, and working it into the
consistency of peat This burns well. but In
the end IL will be expensive. He must let
his fire 20 out every night and light 1t next
morning when the Thermometer may be
90 80, or 40 degrees below zero. His dog
generally sleeps at the foot Of his bed. Ev-
erything In the house freezes II he
happens to put his lips TO any iron
substance before he lights the fire his
lips stick to 1t and the skin peels of before
ne can release them II his cellar IL not good
he will find everything he has, In the way Of
eatables, frozen. He never wears boots II
he did his feet would freezs He puts on
three or four pairs Of stockings and pair of
moccasins IL he wants to visit neighbor,
who probably lives miles away, he must
travel on snowshoes The air is so rarefied
that his coming can be heard o mile away.
As he beats down the snow In walking the
noise will make dog bark at the distance Of
half mile The stiffness Is depressing. He
never sees bird all through the winter, and
the sight OF q coyote 10 always welcome The
soaw-caw' Of a crow TO him Is q messenger of
joy, for 1t preludes the spring. That cav
caw' Is the northwest Canadian farmers
opera, and no lover OF music ever listened to
the queen of the operate stage with mora
pleasure than he does 10 the crow a. IL gives
out its 'caw' over the bleak plains Of Mani
toh, Alberta or Asnaboid."