The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-08-23
kLONOlKE AMENITIES.
It Is Not All "A Desert Waste, and People
May Live Comfortably.

IL Is Not All "A Desert Waste, and Peopi
May Live Comfortably.
The summer opens about May Is
The ice goes down the river. and b.
June no snow is seen anywhere. Yol
can plant or sow grain there on Ma,
Is. l have raised barley and oats ther'
for two years. You can raise potatoes
but they don't mature. Not enough
could be raised of any of these crops e
support the people, because there ar,
only few places where you can raise
J.ltIn.
On the highlands of the mainland the
frost strikes every month in the year.
The only favorite places for farming
are on the islands, and near the coast of
these. When you get back too far from
the water, the frost strikes there.
Mr.. McQuesten has garden at Forty
Mile. He raises potatoes, barley and
oats, horse feed, turnips, lettuces, rad
ishes and cabbage. He sells them and
gets good prices for them. Turnips sell
there for 10 cents pound. Mr.. Harper,
at Fort Selkirk, has garden. That is
at the head of the Yukon river, where
the Pelly and the Lewis rivers meet
lis miles from Dawson.
The summer lasts from May 10 until
Sept. /. Your crops can grow during
that time.
On March 81 and on Sept 2 we have
the sun as you do here. The days
lengthen and shorten there at the rate
of seven minutes day. The longest
day there is June 22 On that day we
have the sun for about 20 hours--a
clear, warm sun. 1t was 90 degrees the
day left there.
Winter Begins Sept. 1.
After the winter sets in, about the first
of September the cold comes gradually.
In the months Of September and October
the climate is fine. The month of Octo-
Der there is ebout the same as Novem-
Der here. After that everything is closed
up. The Yukon river usually closes be-
tween the lst and the 10th of Noyem-
Der. It is not navigable after that time
until the next spring.
The reason we cannot get provisions |
there is on account of not having steam |
ers enough in the summer, and in the |
winter the river is not navigable at all.
so that the best way Of getting into the
country is closed.
The ice III the river freezes - feet
.hlck, according to Mr.. Ogilvy, who cut
loles for measurement once a month
Turing the winter From that time un-
III June / of the next summer the life
he men and women lead is about the
anne as in any mining camp.
In the winter time the nights are
pent in playing cards. Among the
gamblers the great game is poker.
Among the miners the favorites are
Whist, pedro, criDbage and checkers.
Dawson is woman's country. ANY
woman who can get along in any ordi-
larily healthy town would be able to
axe care of herself there.
Russian Baths There Too.
AS far as cleanliness goes, we have
be Russian BATH The lighthouses are
lade out of logs There is an arch |
ullt OF rock, and this arch is fired un- ,
Il the rock is hot; then the fire is put '
ut, and barrel of cold water is thrown I
the rock until the house is filled full ,
steam. You can then get up on a {
lelf or lie on the floor and get any {
'mperature you want 1t is good
Heat bath and is all right too, for 9
Gaming. 1
There are bathtubs in the country. 1
hey are made there out of zinc, the
me as You have here. The barber shop /
fitted with one. The Russian bath 8
buses are mostly free. l had a bath f
ouse myself. AT the barber shop a q
nth cost 81. v
The currency there is mostly gold t
lst, and paying is done by weight
acn establishment has its scales. The t
an who makes purchase throws his b
ok OF dust over the counter, and the il
eper of the store weighs it out. The C
isis is 81 to one ounce. Il