Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1886-06-23


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ONLY e at
Ears. Ll8 l1wr F G
.ei, OF wlthll ii-l niles r1r-i- l- 7er-
1f e. ~arrilT on -le a-I parallel.
the same i1nZIslI.e. z-F .1 -.e le--ll-
b0rhO0d OF lIe LAKE 1f -ls Fd1,s.
the -leirnt above The sea a over
loo feet. and at tho iI1lse. 8f lie nouu- .
5ainS ii that laJitude u l8 over 5000 .
feet, or more than :. 600 feet llEler
than 20 IS in a relative position as 11 I
the mountains 600 OF 100 miles north .
Of it..
10 IS generally but err0leOuslT sup
posed that one travelling from the 18Th
parallel OF latitude u0rthward- say On
the l00th or 10th mer1diaus Of lOugi-I
tude, would ind the climate colder
each ffsy OF 100 miles, while the facts
are he viii lind it warmer as he p-O-
ceeds nOIthward, and this rule viii hO.d
good for 500 miles on the 10th meri-
dian, and for 1, 900 miles on the 1l0th
meridian, taking the 18th parallel north
rs a starting point. The writer hsls
proven this proposition from actual
observation, and it may easily be estab-I
lished from a statement Of the simplest
rules of natural science. As q general
principle, IN the north temperate zone,
as well as IN the sub-arctic regions, the
further north one proceeds the colder
lie will find the atmosphere, but this
rule will apply only when the traveller
IS going from lower to a higher altl-
tude above the sea. In the regions
Just mentiOned-andl let it be understood
the rule applies until the Glth parallel
is reached-altitude has more to DO
with the climate, so far as heat and
cold are cOncerned-and, in fact, as
far as all meteorological phenomena go
than latitude.
The writer has been upon the delta
shores of Lake Athablska, which are
only seven hundred feet above the sea,
and almost at the foot of the Rockies,
where snow will scarcely remain on the
! ground for twenty-fOur hours at a
stretch during whole winter. This
/ IS more than 500 miles north OF the
north boundary of Dakota or Montana,
where the mercury often goes down to
40 degrees below zero lFahrenheIt), and
/ where the winters are long and severe.
At the former places the mercury rarely
| touches zero, and in the grand stretch
/ of park country on every hand, and
| for 300 miles TO the northwest, the
cattle belonging to the Hudson Bay
| posts in that section have rOamed at
large through more than fifty winters
without the need of stable or cut hay.
The latter, cured upon the stalk, Is
| plentiful, and as rich fodder in midwIn-
ter as the excellent grass is in summer.
Aside from the question Of altitude,
the country last in question isfavOrably
affected by the Chinook winds, which
find their way from the Pacific through
the mountain passes. This is why the
thermal lines extend further nOrthward
on the 10th meridian and west Of il
than on the Tooth, as before indicated.
Important questions of mathematical
geography present themselves to one
on the western shore of HudSOn'S bay.
Longitudinally he is nearly in the cen
ter of the continent; little nearer tC
Liverpool or Queenstown than the
cities of New York or Quebec; within
$50 miles as near to San Francisco as
the city of Chicago; within / 500 miles
of the Pacific ocean; within 800 miles
of the northeastern border, and 600 OF
the centre of the great fertile prairie
country north of the height of the land
in short, a harbor on the western coast
of the bay, provided the latter and the
strait are navigable for a sufficient
} period, would command the traffic OF
half the continent.
|, 1t is curious to notice to what ex'
tent latItudinal distances diminish be.
tween any two meridians as one travel:
nOrthward. The width OF the continent
on the sixtieth parallel-apparently its
greatest width on most maps-is nearly
600 miles narrower than it is 12OC
miles farther to the south. On the
sixtieth parallel it Is scarcely 2, ,50C
miles in breadth. Over 1000 miles OI
this distance may be traveTsed in {
steamship, through Hudson strait anC
across Hudson's bay; the remainder ol
the distance, about 1880 miles, i!
across a low level country, ranging il
. altitude from fifty feet at the start Il
500 feet at the base Of the Rookie:
, above the sea. The mountain pasSe:
by way of the Pine river, q series o.
! summit lakes, and the Skneena, will a
no point reach more than $500 fee
above sea level. The average snow
J fall throughout the low tableland
does not exceed ten inches, anC
that through the mountain passe
mentioned not more than three feet
! The temperature of the atmOsphert
in the celdest months of winter alon9
the line in question is higher by at leas
20 degrees than it is along the 4Sth par
, allel except on the shores OF Hudson
bay and for about 100 miles inland
From the latter point to the Atlantic i
is much lower. frequently runnin,
down to 40 and 80 degrees below zero
The statements are in accordance witt
meteorological records kept by Hud
sons bay company posts. which exten,
from the Atlantic to the Pacific alonj
the sixtleth parallel, and for man.
miles to the north of it.
For the first 300 miles westward from
the bay, the traveller will meet will
thousands Of reindeer, and thousand
of ''barren ground Indians, brancl
of the Cree family, between whom an,
the Esquimaux, who inhabIt tn
country to the north of them, there ha
always been the bitterest hostility. Af
ter that Zone meets with the Cree
proper and travels through a delta o
silt country, composed of natura
! parks, embracing vast areas of the bes
grazing lands to be found anywhere
They are frequent.