The Dickinson press., 1895-10-05
SEAsUN IN
Winter the Best for Travel In Spite
of Inten8e Cold.

S~S DSS& " A"vSA bA 0&A&
of Intense Cold.
Rev. VIM. Fl. Judge, who, like Father
Barnum, is a Baltimorean, is stationed
at a mission house on the Shageluk,
q tributary of the Yukon. The Sis
tiers of st. Ann have three houses in
the valley, and are cooperating with
the priests in the work which they are
trying to carry on. The priests are
hundreds of miles at a time in dog
sledges. They 60 up the Yokon as
far as the mines and the territory Oc-
cupied by the Indians and along the
coast to the villages Of the E%squimaux,
who are essentially q coast-dwelling
people, never to be found any distance
In the interior. and always relying
mainly for their food upon fish and
water animals.
winter Is the time for travelling
with u.s." said Father Barnum, land
nor especially the months of March
and April. We have only two sea-
sons, summer and winter, ten months
of winter and two months of summer.
To be more precise, we have ten
months when it is SO cold that it is
dry and two months of wet cold that
corresponds with the summers in the
states.
with us the summer is most of the
time exceedingly dreary on account Of
the immense amount Of fog. How
ever, when the weather is clear 1t is
very pleasant. The chief beauty Of
this season consists in the duration OF
the light. The sky is brilliant all the
time. The distance between the points
where the sun sets and where 1t rises
is 30 slight that the last hues of even
ing merge into the glow of the aurora.
''The ground never thaws in the
western part of Alaska. in summer
the great wet plains are covered with
q rank growth Of moss, but as soon as
one gets down beneath this the ground
is hard and icy. 1t is this which
makes travelling so bad in the summer.
The feet and the sledges sink down
into the moss with ease and it is very
hard to extricate them.
I'VE call 50 degrees below zero q
mild winter, and when 1t doesn't 60
below that we laugh with joy. When
1t gets up as high as zero we bank
TIN. fires and send the Esquimaux
| children out to play hocky on the ice.
1t has been frequently said that when
| the winter is q severe one in the Unit
ed States it is mild with the Alaskans
and vice versa. Last winter we had
it very mild, and l was told on reach
ing this country that the winter here
was q severe and hard me-.
winter comes suddenly and in full
regalia; there is no gentle graduation
about it's approach. The arctic cold
Is dry and intense. On a calm day
one can move about out of doors with
out discomfort. OF course, care has to
be taken that the face or hands may
not freeze. If there is any wind, the
case is very different.
1.-The dreariest feature of winter is
the darkness. The long hours Of
gloom from 2 o'clock in the afternoon
until 10 in the morning render this
season m~onotonous. Most of the time
it is cloudy, and a lamp is needed the
whole day. There is a constant sue
cession of storms, including terrific
billiards., lasting from three to five
days, during which not ven
ture out of doors except at the risk Of
life.
"In March the sun begins to be more
powerful, and then the eyes are at
IecteQ Dy the sldre. Ills sAoW-DAiuu.
ness is extremely troublesome and
productive Of much pain. Sometimes
after a trip the Jesuit fathers are
laid up for several days until the In
fammation of their eyes has subsidized.
Smoked spcrtacies. of course, would
prevent snow-blindness, but the metal.
lie rims render them unbearable; cog.
giles are much better. About June 10
the ice disappears and the long winter
Is over at last."-Baltimore Sun.