, 1885-02-17
WHERE IT Is COLD.
LIFE IN WINNIPEG AND IN THE
NoRTAwesT1TERRIToRY.
A Talk with n cenadian-uinter In
manitoba-Hew the Farmer Dresses
His Daily LSfe-Keepine
Warm In Winter.

during the cold snap q few days ago acoldi
why, surely you don't call this cold. Up IN
my country it Il occasionally 50 cold at this
season OF tho year that tho COWS give In
cram whom they arc MIXED 1 tell You
that there can be no trihlng with the cold up
there. Look at tho way we dress. In winter
We all wear furs. The policemen Al Winni-
peg have buffalo costs down TO THAR hesls,
and every man, rich or poor, in the north
west must wear a fur cap. hava known
the cold 10 penetrate the skull OF n man who
went out ono day with an ordinary felt hat.
and brain fever carried him OH In
fhrpe days Tbs strcsts OF Winnipeg
just now arc full Of men who move
about Ike animals In monngsrie cages.
You zoe nothing but beaver. and
otter, and Persian lamb, and seal, 'and mink,
and raocoon. and martsn, and muslrat, and
Al the furs that over adorned tho Cloths or
ostro-Goths, who first brought the choics
fur OF the north 70 southern and central
Europe. And the sleighs are covered with
bla OK and brown bear and grizzly skins and
buffalo robes, while al occasional Astrnkhan
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, as the Chinese use the err
mine. sable, or tho fiery fox, but we are
Obliged 10 use them as articles OF necessity.
And every species Of skin is utilized Tho
hardy voyngeurs and coureurs du bois dress
themselves In buckskin with headdrssses Of
wolf, lynx, badger, or wildcat hides, while
silver and blue fox fus may be seen on the
heads Of the rbh-
@As for tho cold" hs continued, at Is
severn, but we do not feel 1t as much as you
might fancy. We arc dressed for IL. and our
houses arc built to resist IT. All our houses
nave double door, and double windows.
Fires ara, Of course, kept going night and
day. We are not much out OF doors IN
winter, and yet nearly everybody gets frost
bittsn at times. When we see a man on the
street with a whits spot on his check or nose
we stop and point to the afflicted part. He
will understand at once. II the weather IL
very cold we can't speak to each other very
well, for our mustaches freszs to our boards
and form a crust OF Ice over our mouths We
must thaw thi. OF before We can talk On
tho plains, sometimes, a man Is Trojan to
death, but this does not often happen II
Ia no joke to be caught In n biz Il
On the p~rniFiea Il happened to me ones a
little north Of Medicine Hat" IL was in
January. and the thermometer was about 8
degrees below zero, but the wind blew at the
rate Of thirty miles an hour. l was travel
ing with a half-breed guide and n dog sleigh.
We upset tho sleigh, got the dog and our
selves under II as well as we could, wrapped
the furs around us, and let IL blow away.
Tho snow soon piled over US until we had an
irregular wall a quarter OF a mile long and
ten feet high on each side Of US next morning,
when tho blizzard abated. This may sur
prise you, but a mound, six inches high, Is
enough 10 enable tho snow to lodge and pile
up untfl Il forms q blockade miles long on
tho prairies.
@Yes, Il Is cold; but it Is not the cold we
object 10 50 much as tho length OF the win
tors. The snow Is on the ground for seven
months In our northwest Fortunately there
b not much Of it. We mover have moro than
q foot OF snow during the winter. or just
enough to mako good sloighing. At the
base Of tho Rocky mountains the ground Is
clear Of snow for tho greater part OF the SEA-
son. Tho climate there is as temperate as II
Is in New York. This Is owing to the Chinook
winds These winds como 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.
"One Of the best proofs l can give you
Of the severity Of the climate is foune
in the fact that you may travel for hundred
Of miles on the plains without seeing q
boulder or q stone. Tho frost pulverizea
them. They burst asunder as though blown
apart with punpowder, and solid materials
have thus been converted into soil. The
worst OF 1t Is the cold comes so carly and
stays SO 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 be a great
.1-N rs.ua~~~ Gr.a1 F~.tk .L---f.- -
berries, currents, and strpwbcrries, however,
will ripen. but we cannot hope to make fruit
abundant The cold Is too severe to enable
Us 10 raise anything but the hardest kinds
OF fruit and corn-those which ripen carly.
we who live In tho cities do not suffer
from tho cold half as much as the farmers.
Wood is scarce all over the country, and the
farmer Is Obliged to economizs his fuel.
This is one OF his greatest hardships. Along
tho limo OF railway be can get coal, which
Il now found In great abundance on the
Haskatchnwan, but whom tho farmer has to
depend on wood for fuel he has a hard time
Of 1t In winter. He sometimes makes fuel
out Of his manure heap I'm the autumn,
after the manner Of the Msnnonites, by mix
ing IL with straw, and working 1t into the
consistency OF peat. This burns well. but In
the end IL will be expensive. He must let
his Gre 20 out every night and light 1t next
morning when tho Thermometer may DO
20. 30. or 40 degrees below zero. His dog
generally sleeps at the foot Of his bed. Ev-
erything in tho house freezes. II he
happens TO put his lips to any iron
substance before he lights the fire his
lips stick to it and the skin peeis of before
he can release them II his cellar is not good
he will find everything he has, In the way OF
eatables. frozen He never wears boots II
he did his feet would freeza. He puts on
thrro or four pairs Of stockings aud 4 pair Of
moccnsins II be wants to visit a neighbor,
VIII probably lives miles away, no must
travel on snowshoez The air is 30 rareled
that his coming can be heard a mile away.
As he beats down the snow in walking the
noiss will make a dog bark ut the distance OF
half q mile. Tho stiffness Is depressing. He
nsvsr sees n bird all through the winter, and
the sight Of a coyote Il always welcome The
'csw-caw' Of a CROW TO him Is a misaenger OF
JOY, for IL preludes the spring. That cav
cav Is the northwest Canadian nrnors'
opera, and no lover OF music ever listened to
the qucen Of the operatic stage with more
pleasure than be does to the crow as II gives
out its cav over tho bleak plains Of Mani
tob, Alberta or Amaboid."
New xork's Fire Patrol.
The Nav Work ara rafrn1 s.rufa IN. inr,,r.