The Dickinson press., 1888-05-12
IN ARCTIC REGIONS.
THE PECULIAR MARBLE LIKE ouALl-
TIES OF POLAR SNOW.

Little Danger of Trains Being Blockutlcd
by Snow Drifts in the Extreme North
crn Observation-Disclosures Conditions.
Mistakes Which Writers Make.
When there was some talk a litt!e while
back about the Canadian government or the
Manitoba portion of it, building a railway
from Winnipeg to Il port in Hudsou's bay to
get water communication through HuGson's
strait to Europe, the press of the United
States, and especially that of the Atlantic
seaboard. was naturally against the scheme
that ignored their country and its com,ncl.-
cial advantages, tie most common argument
that l saw being condensed into the remark
of one paper, which said that ''thiS Arctic
railroad would be busy shovcling snow o!f
their track eleven months in the year and
could rest the other month waiting for ships
through the ice blorka,led straits" Hal
this railroad ever been built Il understand
that it is now abandoned. although The rail-
way company is anxious for anothc. cxi,esi-
tion to the straits, | surmise it would have
! been commercial failure, but wholly so
from the 'ice b.ock,ly-l straits, w;,ln Us lar
as snow impeditnentS We're concerned it is
very doubtful if it would have suffered as
| much as many of the railroads within our
OWL limits that have two or three serious
! blockatles every winter.
NO DANGER OF BLocKApw,
If any one Of my readers will closely
watch til" railroad news through Il winter
he will see that the worst snow hlorh;,.,'s
are not confined to the most northern rail
ways 10y any means. Only the other day |
saw Canadian criticism of the prospective
Russian railway from Europe across Siberia
to tue Pacific ocean, as competing with their
own for Chinese and japanese trade when
this same false idea that the Siberian rail
way would he closed half the year. with
deep Arctic snows," WAS thrown out as a
big piece of comfort in the case, when the
chances are good that it would be closed
less by this means than the Canadian Pacific.
while it has less trouble than trallsconti-
mental roads south of it. lived Il number
of winters OH one of these ineroceallir rail
roads running nearly through he center of
our country, reckoning north and snuthwisc.
and this fact was painfully Impressed o, IN,
in annoying blockade, of days i'll lcnyth
But it should b,. said on the other side.
also, that from its greater density a foot or
ward III depth of this hard marble like Arc
tic snow would probably impede Il train
much more than al equal depth of the soft
snow with which arc familiar; hut
giving this all due allowance it is still in
favor of the polar regions, and 10 capitalist
need hesitate to put his money into Arctic
railways on account of Snow difficulties.
There is already a railway in Eurole--in
Swcden-that runs into the Arctic regions
for the purpose of tapping districts rich in
the finest iron ores. 1t runs from the port
of Lulea, i'll Sweden, nl the head of the Gulf
of Bothna, across the Arcti, circle To the
Gellvara mountains, whore the ores are
found. 1t is only within the last month or
two that the iron hors" has invaded the
frigil zone for the first time. running over
this line, while the Hudson Bay railway,
which has been 5" generally called The Amer
iran Arctic railway, at IFS northern terminus
was over 600 miles from I, he Arctic circle, or
n little over half way from the Canadian
United States boundary to the irigi,l zone.
HARDNESS OF ARCTIC sHow.
The ShogtnesS of the two scasons. spring
and autumn, when the snow is falling. prob
ably helps to explain why there is SO little of
ii, at least ill comparison with the popular
'lea regarding the large quantity know
that occasionally some Arctic writer in
desperate attempt to portray the ,leeolatiou
of the north speaks of tile deep. deep snow
covering everything with its ,nournful man
tie. but in Il country where there are no
trees nor brush to project through the snow,
covering whatever may be its depth, it is i'm
possible for any one To tell whether that
covering is Il foot or fort. fathoms, far as
the superficial indications are concerned and
no such Il person is going to take ten-foot
pole and so thrustins into snowdrifts To con-
1ilm his assertions for the benefit of his
readers.
The peculiar hard consistency of the Arc
tic snoy" is due, according TO Eskimo author
IT., to two reasons-t!ie I:,ciiing power of
the polar gales and the action of the ex-
trcmcy low temperatures OF that region
At lea t both Of these conditions Will have 10
,a fulfilled before these Arctic architects
Will ,.s.. the fall SHOWS for blilt.ine: their
rnfieiis winter homes Of that material ol.
probably, t" put il palmer, after enough
snow has fallen to max huasc building safe
on the side of quantity, u regular old borei,l
blizzard must have swept over it and the
Thermometer must have had Il siege of de-
preston before the, consider 1t fit to cut
int" blocks and put together into houses
I.eut. Frederick Srwatl;a.