The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-09
THE KEONDIkE.
Facts and Fancies Concerning the
New Ell Dorado.


Conversation with parties intending to
participle in the aLuriug game of gold
mining in the northwest. and with others
whose efforts are or Will be directed TO-
ward moving the force of operation to
it's destination, reveals d most lamentable
lack of knowledge regarding the region
which has Iatterly become so prominent as
the new FL Dorado To many this region
is only known from hasJy inspection of
maps or the study of recently issued doc
uments;" TO others it is known about as
Thessaly was just previous TO the recent
outbreak of Graeco-Turkish hostilities;
and TO by far the greater number ii seems
to loom up much like the heart of Africa
did to geOgraphers previous to the eXplor-
atoms of Burton, Spoke Grant and Stan
ley This want of knowledge is. however
not specially surprising, as it is only of the
kind which pertains TO regions which are
ordinarily or frequently assumed TO be
mot economically valuable" AS a study
of territory Immediately joining the ma
tiOnal domain, whose physical features.
even to the economic aspect, are in a
measure repeated within the actual con-
fines of the United States. it may not be
amiss at this time to state a few words
by way Of comparison and correction.
The broad region of the <londlke. if we
may gather under this name the gold
bearing tracts that are now being worked
and an adjacent surrounding territory of
l00-l50 miles, is approximately crossed in
its meridian line by the siXty-third par
allel of north latitude, the latitude of the
heart of Finland, north of which are sit
uated many important towns of Europe
such as Throndhjem, in Norway; Umea, in
Sweden; Archangel in Russia, etc. To
make a still stronger comparison, the po-
sition of Dawson City is barely 200 miles
north of the site of St Petersburg, a city
which at the present time number con
siderably over a million inhabitants:
again, it lies barely $50 miles north of
where. in the Shetland Islands. 1t is Gus
tomary, or the habit of women of the
British aristocrary, to play tennis in lawn
dresses during a period of some five
months of the year Such being the case
1t might properly be asked: On what foun-
datton are based the somewhat roman
tic notions which are prevalent regarding
the climate of the region OF Klondil1e? The
misconceptions on this point are numerous
and varied. and they touch equally the va
riations of the temperature tending to both
cold and heat. The lack of scientific
method in the region under consideration
makes ii as yet impossible to accent with
full confidence the data that have from
time to time been received. but sufficient
the climate to permit it to be approx
mately rated in comparison with the eli
mate of other countries.
The climate of the Klondike NAV prom
erly be divided into two classes-the eli
mate of summer and that of winter. At
the present time most of the statements
that are returned from the region hear
upon the winter aspect and their express
sion colorS severity which is by many
applied to very nearly the full term of
the year of twelve months. The fact of
there being anything like a summer tenn
perature in this far-off land of the north
when it is stated that the mercury not
rarely rises to rs degrees, 80 degrees. or
even higher, the statement is received
with thorough ineredulity The region of
the upper Yukon, it should be recollecteds
lies south Of the Arctic circle, and. there
fore, withoLgthe Arctic realm. but. even
If 1t were otherwise placed. several
months of the year-from May or June
TO september or October--wonld abe dedi-
Gated to true summer, with the Their
mometer marking well within what In
more favored ATTITUDES are recognized as
the summer lines. To describe the summer
heat as excessive is merely stating the
actual fact. proof of which is found
apart from personal feeling and Their
mometric registry, in the luxuriant growth
of vegetation which is in part a charac-
teristic of the land, and in the wealth OF
animal life which this vegetation harbora
Let it be remembered that in the most
northerly region vet reached by man on a
land surface, which is approximately / 400
miles northward of the position of Daw-
son City, there is still a temperature suf-
hciently high to incite to labor the vital
energies of plant life. The beautiful
meadow lands of Northern Greenland
with their charming vistas of wild poDpv
AnplnOna PppnGVlVapta fpIx
dwarf rhododendron, of forests of dwarf
blrch and willow, are an expression of the
short, but Vivifying, season. Along the
Yenissei river, in Siberia, Nordenskiold
found the forests of evergreen extending
quite to the 10Th parallel of latitude, and
their individual opponents rose to the ma
jestic hight of 60 to 70 feet or even more:
and much the same condition repeats IL
self in the region of the Yukon river.
where, north of this mighty stream, the
forests of spruce. poplar and birch extend
far into the Arctic tract. The excursions
which during recent years have been or
gained to Sitka and the Muir glacier
have made tourists familiar with the exub.
Grant forest growth of the coastal tracts
about the Alaskan capital, a forest
growth which in its density and magnih-
cent development has been compared with
the primeval jdngles of the tropics.
Mr.. Henry W. Elliott, in his work, "Our
Arctlc ProVlnce.' thus refers to this veg
citation and to its generally considered as
ISOLATION with climatic conditions: The
great growth of trees everywhere here,
and the practical impenetrability of these
forests on foot owing TO brush and
bushes, all green and growing i'm tangled
jungle, Is caused by the comparative inn
munIty of this country from the scourge
of forest fires. This is due to a phenom-
email dampness of the climate; it rains
rains and drzzles here two-thirds of tho
time. Ferns-oh, how beautiful
they are!--also grow most luxuriantlyl
and even abundanty upon the fallen, rot.
rITDEnOE DIT oOD DOIcoM