The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1897-09-21
the Clouds.


bathed by the Japan current, extend
ing from the southern boundary OF the
Territory northWard and westWad TO
the island of Atoo, distance of nearly
twenty-five hundred miles, is remark
ably bland, and free from extremes OF
heat and cold throughout the year 1t
is rainy, however; but the rain is OF
good quality, gentle in it's fall, filling
the fountains of the streams, and keep
ing the whole land fresh and fruitful,
while anything more delightful than
the shining weather after the rain
the great round sundays of June,
July and August-can hardly be found
elsewhere An Alaska midsummer day
is day without night. In the extreme
northern portion of the territory the
sun does not set for weeks, and even
as far south as Sitka and Fort Wran-
gel it sinks only a few degrees below
the horizon, so that the rosy colors OF
the evening blend with those of the
morning, leaving no gap of darkness
between. Nevertheless, the full day
opens slowly. At midnight, from the
middle point between the cleaning
and the dawn, low arc of light is seen
stealing along the horizon, with grad
ual increase Of height and span and
intensity of tone, accompanied usually
by red clouds, which make a striking
advertisement of the suns progress
long before he appears above the
mountain tops.
For several hours after sunrise
everything in the landscape seems dull
and communicative The clouds
fade, the islands and the mountains,
with rufus of mist about them, cast ILL
defined shadows, and the whole frma-
ment changes to pale pearl-gray with
just trace of purple in it. But
toward noon there is glorious
awakening The cool haziness of the
air vanishes and the richer supbeams,
pouring from on high, make all the
bays and channels shine Brightly now
edges of the islands, and over many
a plume-shaped streak between them,
where the water is stirred by some
passing breeze.
On the mountains of the mainland,
and in the high-walled fiords that
fringe the coast, still finer is the work
Of the sunshine. The broad white
bOsoms of the glaciers glow like sill
yer, and their crystal fronts, and the
multitude of icebergs that linger about
them, drifting, swirling, turning their
myriad anglea to the sum- are kindled
into a perfect blaze of irised light.
The warm air throbs and waivers, and
makes itself felt as 1ife-giving, ener-
giving ocean embracing all the earth.
FILLED with ozone, our pulses bound
and we are warmed and quickened in
to sympathy with everything, taken
back into the heart of nature. whence
we came. We feel the life and motion
about us, and the universal beauty:
the tides marching back and forth
with weariless industry, LAYING the
beautiful shores, and swaying the pur-
pie dulse of the broad meadows of the
sea where the fishes are fed; the wild
streams in rows white with waterfalls.
ever in bloom and ever in song, spread
ing their branches over a thousand
mountains; the vast forests feeding on
the drenchlng sunbeams, every cell in
whirl of enjoyment; misty flocks of
insects stirring all the air: the wild
sheep and goats on the grassy ridges
above the woods, bears in the berry,
tangles, mink and beaver and otter far
back on many river and lake. In
dlans and adventures pursuing their
lonely ways; birds tending their young
everywhere, everywhere beauty and
life, and glad, rejoicing action.
Through the afternoon all the wav
down to the west the air seems tn
thlcken and become soft, without los
ing its fineness. The breeze dies awav
and everything settles into deem
conscious repose. Then comes the SIM
set with its purple and gold-not a
narrow arch of color, but oftentimes
filling more than half the skv Tho
horizontal clouds that usually bar tho
horizon are fired on the edges and
the spaces OF clear sky between them
are filled in with greenish yellow and
amber; while the fiocks of thin, over
tapping cloudlets are mostly touched
with crimson, like the outleanino
sprays OF a maple-grove in the begin
ming of Indian summer: and a LITTLE
later smooth, mellow purple Pushes
the sky to the zenith, ana ...a me air
fairly sleeping and TRANSFERRING the
ISLANDS and mountains, and changing
all the water to wine