St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-08

of the bay. TINS forming cosy amphi-
theater where nestles the quaint little town
built of hewn spruce and cedar logs. Many
of the buildings are whitewashed, and with
its grassy courts and smooth, graveled walks
the place presents neat and tidy appear
ance.
sITKA, WITH ITS SURROUNDINGS.
its water and islands, its Indians and their
canoes. its traders and their stores filled
with Indian curios, together with its quaint
architecture, has much semblance to the
old town of Mackinaw, at the head of Lake
Huron.
The principal hotel or boarding house is
well kept, the landlady being
neat housewife and good cook.
The table is beautifully supplied with the
delcacies of flood and field. of which this
region furnishes an abundance. Deer,
mountain grouse and wild duck are among
the staples at Sitka, while the waters of
the bay are picnic ground for the fishes
of the sea. From off the landing wharf
salmon, halibut. mackerel, rock cod, found
ers. sea trout, sea bass and many other
kinds are taken in profusion. Brook trout
abound in the mountain streams. There Is
an abundance of clans, and shrimps are
DIPPED UP BY THE BUCKETFUL.
The Indians take many sharks. They
take out their lvers and use it as remedy
for some of their ailments. A sharks liver
is said to be one-half the length of its body.
North of the town skirting the beach, is the
Indian village, where live about one thou
sand of the Sitkas including men, women
and children. They are low in stature,
stout and robust. like a Canada Frenchman,
and about the color of new saddle. They
have broad. flat faces, and look like cross
between an ordinary Indian and a Japanese.
The men are mostly away among the adj
jacent islands during summer, where they
find employment with the canning COM
panies, catching and cleaning salmon, and
in the manufacture of fish-oil. The women
employ their time in picking berries in sum-
her, and in winter they devote there lives
to the manufacture of curios, for which
they find a ready market with the traders
and with the tourists who invade this re-
gion in summer. Cranberries are sold to
the traders who ship them to Portland and
San Francisco in large quantities
THE ALASKA CRANBERRY
is a superior article. smaller and not of the
oblong shape of the common cranberry.
They look like a tiny red apple. The
squaws receive Is cents per
gallon for them in trade.
Near the Indian village is located their
cemetery. 1t consists of village of little
board houses, generally about three feet by
five on the ground, and from three to four
feet in height, with gable roofs. They Gre
mate their dead by placing the body be-
tween two logs placed about four feet apart,
filling the space with resinous wood, which
when fired creates extreme heat. When
la cd thQU 0afbpr
the charred bones and deposit them in the
little houses Each well-to-do family has
bone house in the cemetery. They look
like a congregation of dog kennels. Alaska
Indians never remove a dead body from
the door, but through the smoke
hole in the roof. Among the
population of Sitka are about one hundred
and fifty Russian creoles. They are peacea-
BILE and industrious people, and make good
American citizens. OF Americans, there
are at present about one hundred souls.
including the officers of the civil govern
ment, military and naval officers, school
teachers traders and others. At the lower
end of the town, facing the bay, is square
of about, two acres, called the green. Here
stand
TWO MOUNTED DAHLGREEN GUNS,
which, together with about a dozen old
Russian cannon, form quite an imposing bat
terry. No doubt but it would present saucy
look to an invading fleet of-canoes. The
government buildings face the green, and
like the old cannon, are but antiquated rel
les of the reign of the naughty Russian
mobiles, who for many years maintained
miniature court and entertained handsomely
at Sitka. At the eastern end of the town,
foa; &c, tad
of the Indian industrial school, now uuder
government patronage. Here little Indian
boys and girls are taught to speak English,
to read and write and the rudiments of
arithmetic The boys are taught the car
penters and ShoemakerS trade, while the
girls learn to sew and knit, to cook and
bake, and other arts of civilized housekeep-
ing. 1t is a successful and worthy inStitu-
ton. Among the pupils is a siX-year-old
half-bred boy, with sandy hair. The
novelty of
A RED-HAIRED INDIAN
was enough for me to say to him: "Whats
your name?" The answer came promptly:
mike Murphy" That settled it, and an
Irish Indian is with me no longer myth.
The climate of this portion of Alaska in
winter is of about the same temperature as
where a record has been kept for forty-five
years, it has been found that the mean
spring temperature was 41.2o; summer,
54.6o; autumn, 44.9o; winter, 32.5o
and for the entire year, $3.50. The
greatest degree of heat recorded was S7.So,
and of cold. 40 below zero. The Their
mometer has recorded below zero only in
four of the forty-fve years, and above 500
during only seven of those years. The an
nual rainfall was 81 inches.
Since our arrival the weather has been
much the character of that on the shores of
Lake Erie at the same time Of year, yet not
as chilly. Now, in October, rain falls a
portion of each day, alternate rain and
sunshine dividing the time about equally.
There is popularity about the rain in
Alaska, inaSmuch
IT IS NOT A WET RAIN,
the atmosphere remaining dry under shell
ter. Clothes dry readily when protected.
The rain does not pour, but falls easily
and quietly; it just rains, and that is all
there is of it, as no one pays attention to it,
but go and come without giving it consid-
Grafton. There is no muck in Alaska.
When the water reaches the earth, it at
once starts at double-quick for the ocean
over decline paved with rock.
Out towards the sea on the north side of
the bay stands Mt. Edgecombe. a subdued
volcano. 1t belched out its last quota of
hot cinders, ashes and smoke when in an
angry mood in 1895. Now, in its old age,
it is very orderly and well-behaved vol
canO.
We have colony of ravens. the identical
ominous bird of yore, occupying an ada
cent mountain side, that make daily visits
to town and hold dress parade on the green.
Their gyrations are in fair imitation of that
of the marines when performing their
morning drill. Seal and sea lions crowd out
and sun themselves on the outer rocks,
while the festive dolphin INDUCES its gym
nastic propensities within the inner bay.
We have q weather clerk WIN flies his