The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-08-05
ALASKA WEATHER.
THE JAPAN CURRENT PRO-
TECTS 1T FROM EXTREMES.
Midsummer Days That Have No
Night-A Glorious Awaken
ing at Noon.

In the August number of the Cen
fury there is an article on THE Alas
ka Trip" by John Muir, the California
writer and naturalist. Mr.. Muir says:
The climate of all that portion Of the
coast that is bathed by the Juneau cur
rent, extending from the southern
boundary Of the Territory northward
and westward TO the island of Atoo,
distance of nearly $500 miles, IS re-
markably bland, and free from the ex-
tremes of heat and cold throughout the
year. 1t is rainy, however, but the ram
is Of good quality, gentle in its faIl,
filling the fountains of the streams, ana
keeping the whole land fresh and ffuit-
ful, while anything more delightful than
the shining weather after the ra1n-the
great, round sundays OF June, July ana
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 Sftka and Fort Wrangel il
sinks only a few degrees below the hori-
ION. so that the rosy colors Of the even
ing blend with those of the morning,
leaving no gap of darkness between.
Nevertheless, the fun day opens slowly.
At midnight, from the middle point
between the cleaning and the dawn. a
low arc of light is seen stealing along
the horizon, with gradual increase of
hight and span and intensity of tone,
accompanied usually by red clouds,
which make a striking advertisement of
the suns progress long before he APP
pears above the mountain-tops
For several hours after sunrise ev-
erything in the landscape seems dull
and communicative. The clouds fade
the islands and the mountains, with
rufus of mist about them, cast Hide
fined shadows, and the whole armament
changes to the pearl-gray with just
a trace of purple in it. But toward
noon there is a glorious awakening. The
cool haziness of the air vanishes and
the richer sunbeams, pouring from on
high, make all the bays and channels
shine. Brightly now play the round
topped ripples about the 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 silver, and their
crystal fronts. and the multitude of ice
bergs that linger about them, drifting,
swirling, turning their myriad angles
to the sun, are kindled into a perfect
blaze of iriSed light. The warm air
throbS and waivers. and makes itself
felt as a life-giving, energizing ocean
embracing all the earth. Filled with
ozone. our pulses bound, and we are
warmed and quickened into 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 march
ing back and forth with weariless in
dustry, LAYING the beautiful shores, and
swaying the purple 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, spreading their branches over
a thousand mountains; the vast forests
feeding on the drenching sunbeams
every cell in a whirl of enjoyment;
misty fiocks of insects stirring all the
air: the wild sheep and goats on the
grassy ridges ABOVE the WOOuS, bears
in the berTy-tangles, mink and beaver
and otter far back on many a river and
lake: Indians and Adventures pur-
suing their lonely ways; birds tend
ing their young - everywhere, every
where beauty and life, and glad, rejoic-
ing action
Through the afternoon all the way
down to the west the air seems to thick
en- and become soft, without losing its
fineness The breeze dies away. and
everything settles into deep, conscious
repose Then comes the sunset with
it's purple and gold-not a narrow arch
of color, but oftendmes filling more
than half the sky. The horizontal clouds
that usually bar the horizon are fired
on the edges, and the spaces of clear
sky between them are filled in with
greenish yellow and amber; while the
fioclxs Of thin, overlapping cloudlets are
mostly touched with crimson, like the
outleaning sprays of a maple-grove in
the beginning of Indian summer; and
a little later a smooth, mellow purple
fiushes the sky to the zenith, and fills
the air, fairly sleeping an! transfgur-
ing the islands and mountains, and
changing all the water 10 wine.