Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1886-02-25
wIsrEa ~ MAxrresa,

The snow outside our house wss
from six 10 ten feet deep from No
ysmber 10 April | tried TO wear
boots last November. and one Of
nv feet frOze- MoccssIns, made by
the Indians, Of mooseskin, are used
instead Of shoes To cover the feet,
which are first cAsed in several pairs
OF stockings. For travelling on foot,
snos-shees were best. Miiiens 81
Persede gloves during the winter. As
the fingers, if separated, generally
freeze. We were forced - met
snow for all the water We used LAST
winter The cold Was so intense
that when melted snow-water Was
poured from the boiler into pail
aud taken al once across To the sta
bic, the ice on II frequently had TO
be broken with a stick before the
cattle could drink it, il froZe 80 hard
while being carried a distance of
some sixty yards il the open air Z.
Nv husband would sometimes come
from short distance to the stock
yard with his nose frozen. Indeed,
II Is rather common sight TO see
people partly frozen. The part at
fecIed turns as white as marble and
losts feeling. Unless you see your.
self in glass. or are told OF il, you
are not conscious of being frozen.
Ia this plight il Is not best 10 go near
a fire. as sudden thaving is very
painful People generally try fric-
tion-rubbing themselves with snow /,
better still, with parsffine oil. | was
surprised when l first found
tue mustard froze in my mus
lard pot, which stood foot
from nay kitchen stovepipe and two
feet above the stove. where there
was blazing fire all day and every
day through the winter. Yet the
mustard froze between every meal.
Bread froZe if left for half an hour
10 a room without a FIRE. / once left
a pitcher full of milk in the kitchen
all night, aud next morning, on try
ing to move it, the pitcher fell to
pieces and left the milk standing
solid in lis place. We could buy
frozen milk by the pound-froZen So
intensely that when l put lump OF
il in a tin into the oven, or ON tie
top of the stove, the first part that
melted would burn TO the tin before
the rest of it had been thawed. !
managed to melt it by first chopping
the ice-milk into very small pieces.
Clothes, after being dampcned and
folded, would freeze together and
when | have been ironing the top of
a pocket-hsndkeTchief, the lower
part would freeze TO the table, which
MAS close TO roaring fire. Ironing,
under these conditions. is rather slow
work. Such stories must sound al
most incredible. except to those who.
like myself, have witnessed the facts,
though. of course. only in the most
severe weather A bearded English.
man who stayed with us last winter
was often forced, when he came in
doors, to thaw the icicles from his
mustache, which troze to his beard
and hindered him from talking to us
A pail OF water left in the kitchen
all night would freeze solid to the
bottom before morning. In such q
climate every one who can afford it
dresses In fur. The Winnipeg po-
llcemen all dress in buffalo coats
down to the heels in winter. The
keenest winds cannot pierce them.
Winter is, of course. not usually Sc
we're throughout Part of my de-
scription applies only TO its colder
half. But to woman the coolest
part of a winter in Manitoba is not
its severity, but its length. Snow
lay on the ground last season for six
months and a half, and the great
lakes are frozen for the same period.
This sounds almost unbearably te-
dious to English years and ones
eyes grow very weary of the bare,
blank Wilderness, and long for some
thing green TO look at. Yet the
bright, clean, still frost and brilliant
sunshine, glorious skies and moonlit
aurora-colored nights have great
compensations of their own.