The Banner-Democrat., 1897-10-30
ALASKA WEATHER.
THE JAPAN CURRENT PROTECTS 1T
FROM EXTREMES.

THE JAPAN CURRENT PROTECTS I
FROM EXTREMES.
Midsummer Days that Have no Night
Hazy Mornings, with Glorious Awak
enng atNoon-Claciers that Shine Lik'
! Silver
In the Century there is an articl,
on ''The Alaska Trip" by John Muir
the California writer and naturalist
Mr.. Muir says:
The climate of all that portion of tn,
coast that is bathed by the Japan cur
rent, extending from the southern
boundary of the territory northward
and westward to the island of Atoo, 8
distance of nearly twenty-five hun
dred miles, is remarkably bland, ani
free from extremes of heat and colo
throughout the year. 1t is rainy
however; but the rain is of good quail
ty. gentle in its fall, filling the foun,
tains of the streams, and keeping 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 terri.
tory the sun does not set for weeks,
and even as far south as Sitka and
Fort Wrangel it sinks only few de-
grees 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 mid
night, from the middle point between
the cleaning and the dawn, low arc
of light is seen stealing along the
the horizon, with gradual increase of
height and span and intensity of tone,
accompanied usually by red clouds,
which make 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 uhcommunicative The clouds
fade, the islands and the mountains,
with ruffs of mist about them, cast i'll
defined shadows, and the whole frma-
ment changes to pale pearl-gray with
just trace of purple in it. But to-
ward noon there is glorious awaken
ing. 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 plume shaped streak be-
tween them, where the water is stirred
by some passing breeze.
On the mountains or the mainland,
and in the high-walled fields 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 angles to the sun, are kindled
into a perfect blaze of irised light.
The warm air throbs and wavers, and
makes itself felt as life giving, ener-
giving ozone 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, laving 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,
spreading their branches over thous-
and mountains; the vast forests feed
ing 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 woods, bears in the
berry-tangles, mink and beaver and
otter far back on many river and
lake; Indians and adventurers pursu-
ing their lonely ways, birds tending
their young-everywhere, everywhere,
beauty and life, and glad, rejoicing
action.
Through the afternoon all the way
down to the west the air seemed to
thicken and become soft, without los
ing its fneness. The breeze dies
away, and everything settles into a
deep, conscious repose. Then comes
5he sunset with its purple and gold
not narrow arch of color, but often
times filling more than half the sky.
The horizontal clouds that usually |
BAR the horizon are fred on the edges,
md the spaces of clear sky between
hem are filed in with greenish yellow
md amber; while the focks of thin,
overlapping cloudlets are mostly
ouched with crimson, like the out
Gaming sprays of maple-grove in the
of Indian. summer; and
title later smooth, mellow purple /
lushes the sky to the zenith, and fills
he air, fairly sleeping and transfgur-
ng the islands and mountains, and
hanging all the water to wine.