Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-02-07
WHERE IT Is COLD.
LIFE IN WINNIPEG AND IN THE
NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
A Talk with Canadian-Hintrr in
Manitoba-How the Farmer Dresses
His Daily Lifc-keepins
Warm I'm Winter.
New York Sun.l

-Cold!" said u Canadian from Winnipeg
during the cold snap a few days ago. Cod,
why, surely you don't call this cold. Up IN
my country it is occasionally 50 cold at this
season of the year that the cows give ice
cream when they are milked / tell YOU
that there can be no trifing with the cold up
there Look at the way 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 man who
went out one day with ordinary felt hat,
and brain fever carried him of 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. AMI seal, anl mink,
and raccoon, and martsn, and muskrat, and
all the furs that ever adorned the Goths or
O-tro-Goths, who first brought the choice
furs of the 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 as
articles Of luxury. rs the Chinese use the er-
mine, sable, or the fiery fox, but We are
obliged t. use them articles of necessity.
And every species of skin Is utilized The
hardy yoyageurS and coureurs du bois dress
themselves in buckSkin with headdreSses of
wolf, lynx, badger, or wildcat hides, while
silver and blue fox furs may DO seen On the
heads Of the ii h.
AS for the coli,1 he continued, 1t l.
severe, but We do not feel it as much Is You
might fancy Weare dressed for it, and our
houses are built IL resist it. All cur houses
have double doors AMI double windows.
Fires are, Of course, kept going night and
day. We ara not much out Of doors IN
winter, and yet nearly everybody gets frost
bitten at times When We see man on the
street with a white spo: on mis- cheek or nose
we stop and point to the afflicted part He
will understand at once Ii the weather 10
very cold We can't speak 10 each other very
well, for our Inustaches freeze TO our boards
md form crust of ice over our mouths We
must thaw this of before we can talk. On
the plains, sometimes. a man Is frozen 10
death, but this does not often happen. IL
is no joke 10 be caught in a blizzard
on the prairies IL happened 10 me once a
little north of Medicine Hat" Ii 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 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 mile long and
ten feet high on each side NJ Us next morning,
when the blizzard abatel Thi, NAV sur
prise you. but mound. six inches high, is
enough t. enable the snow TO lodge ami pile
up until il forms a blockade miles long on
the prairies.
YES, il is cold; but it is not the cold we
object TO so 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 il. We never have more than
a foot Of snow during the winter. or just
enough to make good sleighing. AT the
base of the Rocky mountains the ground IS
clear Il snow for the greater part Of the sea
son The climate there i temperate a Il
is in New York. This Is owing TO the 'Cnino0k
winds These winds come from the Pacific
ocean through the Chinook pass. They az
feet the temperature Of the adjoining coun-
try. Out there have seen cattle feeding on
the plains IN January and February. But
the region thus affected Is small. and W
have no ether modifying influences on cur
climate
One Of the best proofs ! can give yoa
of the severity OF the climate is fOuni
in the fact that You may travel for hundreds
OF miles on the plains without seeing \
boulder or stone. The frost pulveriEes
? k.aEr, n
apart with punpowder. and solid materials
have thus been converted into soil The
worst Of it is the cold comes 80 early ami
stays ~ late. We can raise neither apples
pears. nor peaches up there Nor can we
raise Indian corn, and FOR that reason our
Canadian noythweS; can never be = great
pork country. Small frat. cherries. rs,sp-
berries. currents, and straw berries. however.
will ripen, but we cannot hope 10 maze fruit
abundant The cold i too severe 20 eua5ls
Us TO raise anything but the harliss. k.uis
OF fruit and curn-those which ripau early
I'VE who live in the cities do not sun r
from the cold half much a. the farmers
Wood is scare all over the country, ami tie
farmer is Obliged - economic hi fuel
This is one Of his greatest hari>hipS. Along
tie line II railway he can get coal. which
u now ioand IN kteaa auuii1i4Se %. s-ie
but when the farmer has .
depend on WOOD for fuel he Ia, a hard time
Of il in winter He sometimes makes fuel
out Of his manure heap in the autumn,
after the manner Of the Meanoni;es, by mix
ing it with straw, and working II into the
q. peat This burns well. hut in
the end it VIII be expensive be must lei
his fire SO out every night AMI high; it nsSs
morning whea the thermoaetsr MAY b.
b, 50, or 70 degrees below zero HIS dog
sleeps at the foot of his bed Ev-