The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-27
lie SMOKED BIRCH BARK
FOUND TO HAVE PRODUCED THE
DESIRED EFFECT

Charles w. Norris, a Former Passen-
ger Agent of Chicago, Relates
Some of His Experiences In the
Mackenzie and Peace River COun-
try-Foe of White Rats and a
Victim of the Birch Tree.
one or the Notwithstanding men in
chicago was Charles W. Norris. travel
ing passenger agent Of the Big Four
railroad. He always wore the latest
styles OF clothes and hats, and his
shoes were polished so they seemed like
mirrors. He was clearly shaver, ex-
cept Tor mustaehe which he always
Kept nicely waxed, and he carried a
DAINTY little cane. What distinguished
MIN from other dudes, however. was a
haplt OF smoking cigars instead Of Gig
arertes. But last February Mr.. Nor
ana MS former companions lost trace Of
MIN. He sent his resignation to the
company, and no one knew where he
had gone, and he was counted among
the missing.
| one Of Mr.. Norris intimate friends
was Edward Bingham, auditor Of the
Dupont-Hazzard Powder company.
L
day morning, and was sitting in front
OF the Ryan hotel when he was &C
costed by slightly built man with a
black beard, dressed in a rough suit
and sombrero. The mans face was
almost as black as his beard. Mr..
Bingham refused at first to return the
salutation until the stranger intro
duced himself as the long-lost Norris.
Still Mr.. Bingham was incredulous,
but the man produced documents
which proved his Identity. Further
more, he had plenty of money and
| seemed in the best of health and spr-
| it's.
The two men were overjoyed to meet,
and they made a tour Of the railroad
offices, where Mr. Norris related the
story OF his wanderings during TIE
! past seven months. Mr.. Norris has
| been in the Mackenzie river territory,
and reached point LOO miles north of
Edmonton. He relates many interest
ing stories about that country.
II started up I'm February" he said
to a reporter for The G o b e. land
in Edmonton was grubstaked by a
fur dealer. I started out with my gun
and camping outfit and Travelled north.
I struck the Peace river after good
deal of wandering, and followed it a
long distance. And It is full Of rapids
Such rapids do not exist elsewhere
less compared to them. Send a log
down that river and It will come out
small pieces of kindling wood. A
number Of men have been lost in at
tempting to cross the river. You can
see the rocks jutting out Of the water,
and 1t seems easy to step across on
them, but as soon as a man trusts
himself among them, he is gone and
his body never Is found. He is torn
into small fra gments in a moment. The
roar of the rapids can be heard for
miles.
There is one point on that river
where it runs through canyon. This
canyon contains circular caves, and
sound is echoed five times. In the
can be heard, but here there are five,
and the most remarkable thing about
it is that the last echo is more dis
tinct than the first. I have spent
hours in that canyon talking to my
self just to hear the answers. and it
seemed as though I was with crowd.
"a number of maps Of the Peace river
have been made, but I have one which
Is the only accurate one. I traced it as
I went along, and I know 1t Is cor
rect.
1.-The finest trout stream in the world
is in that region 1t is a small river
which tumbles over ra pids and rocks in
most amazing way, but the fish live
in it and are larger than any we have
here. Fish of all kinds abound in that
country. Of course, there is game. Elk,
moose, bears and any number Of small
err kinds AS I went along I would
shoot moose, take four or five pounds
from the carcas and leave the rest.
IT had number of adventures, some
of which We're exciting. One day saw
a bear on cliff above me. He saw
f1n fnon Nd f1yo6 INV
revolver at him he made jump and
tried to land on my back. 1 lodged
and he went rolling down the precipice
into the river below. That night I
dreamed that bear was on my chest
and woke up to find white rat on
| my face. I threw him off. White rats
and mice abound in that country. They
are tame and will not bite, but they
| will steal everything in sight. They
| crawl all over one when he is sleeping,
| and are a great nuisance. Mosquitoes
are also numerous. They are big fell
| lows and they bite hard. They make
| life there almost unbearabe at times.
"The water in that part Of the coun-
| try is very bad. 1t is full of insect life,
| especially the dragon fly. 1t is impos-
sible TO drink the water on account Of
| the insects. Even the horses shut their
| teeth when they drink, 50 as to avoid
| taking the insects. Of course, there is
plerty of snow. TT is not like the snow
| we have here. 1t is like sand. 1t does
| not melt, but evaporates, and it is i'm
possible to thaw it for drinking or
washing purposes. It simply disap-
pears when heat is applied to it.
| went for several months without being
| able to battle my face and was black
| as cot.
1--WE think we know something about
| the Northern Lights here, burt we don't.
| One sight of the Northern Lights is
worth a journey to that region. The
| lights shoot up into the sky in all d.
recticns and then play about like school
| children at tag. They whirl around
and around, and then they make re-
| ports like the discharge of artillery
| Cne feels like reading his Bible when
he hears that sound for the first time.
1t is terrific and is so mysterious,
seeming to come from nowhere, that
one thinks it is the crack Of DOOM
IT did not reach the Klondike, but I
| heard of gold fields in the Great Slave
lake district. did not investigate
them though I picked UP little gold
myself in a few places, 1t is doubtful
whether 1t can be found there in pay
irg quantities.
During my travels I ran across
Frank Green, who is stationed at the
| mouth of the Mackenzie river. He is
at the highest point inhabited by white
men on the continent. He Is coming
out this fall, but will return.
| GAS I was about to come away the
| chief Of the Beaver Indians presented
me with two ordinary matches. I did
not know what they signif1ed until an
| matches would be recognized by every
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