The herald., 1898-02-06
+; .

will turn back or lose much time and
patience through bad preparation for the
trip, and nothing In the line of bad prep
aration Is much worse than loading down
with stuff that is not absolutely needed.
Mere convenences cannot be considered.
Everything not Indispensable must be left
behind or 1t will contribute to partial
or total failure.
Many of the preparations for enduring
the cold are ridiculous in the care taken,
while others are equally bad in the other
direction. No greater absurdity can be
seen than one preparing great fur coat
while intending to wear common boots, but
this is only sample of many inconsistent
0ies, into which one can easily fall who
has never spent much time In a very cold
country.
1t is probable that temperatures and all
else relating to the cold of Alaska are
exaggerated In the same way they were
forty years ago about Minnesota, and
which continued for years after people
knew better and when that state had
gained soma reputation as health resort.
1t is not likely that the thermometer ever
goes much itwer at Klondike than in the
northern And central part of Minnesota,
whore people would laugh at most of the
preLArations that are being made for WIN
tSflng in Alaska.
Ten winters spent In Minnesota, during
which went out OF doors as much as in
California. and spent many months in
bunting, convinced me, as well as everyone
Else have ever seen. that 60 or 70 degrees
below zero would be no worse than 40 or
30. / have carried a rife from morning
until night with the spirit thermometer at
46 below and the mercury frozen, and had
no idea Of what the temperature was until
the next day Eighty men at the logging
camp where I was stopping turned out to
work as usual without an accident, except
the curious one of one man having a spot
about the size of dollar frozen over one
cheek bone. 1 felt no colder than usual
about the body, but the red-hot poker that
In such weather seems within an inch Of
your nose. felt about half an inch nearer
and when l got in by the fire at night 1
found that the rifle barrel had frosted the
tips Of my fingers through two pairs of
woolen mittens In other respects l could
not tell that the weather was any different
from 30 below. at which 1t had been rang
Ing for many days. Thousands Of peo-
pie drive all day over the prairies In
singing wind at such temperatures, and
think nothing Of 1t, the losses OF life IN
blizzard coming from getting lost and out
Of food. when a person not well prepared
will easily freeze.
No one in that country would dream of
using any such rig as the Klondike outfit
we see pictured in the papers, except to
ride IN. and even then 1t would have to be
unusually windy to tempt an old hand to
bother with 1t. 1t Is next TO impossible to
even walk in the coldest weather any dis
tance so dressed, and to work in 1t would be
quite absurd. Men work in the very cold
est weather with only two flannel shirts
and a vest, one pair Of drawers and or
dinary pants. and many wear but one
shirt For riding In the wind or sitting
still after working, of course, heavy wraps
are needed; but even then not one in
Hundred bothers with fur of any kind A
common overcoat or q blanket fastened
with a skewer, or made into a poncho by
cutting sHt in the middle and running
the head through 1t, is generally enough
for riding. and for very heavy wind the
-two may be combined.
The trouble with fur and such heavy stuff
Is that you Cannot take 1t off without talk
Ing or too much. It is too hot for any
exertion. and is of little use except to
wear, whereas a blanket is just as good to
put on the bed after being worn all day.
Plenty of pure woolen underclothes, with
a leather coat to turn the wind are far
better. One shirt and two good wooden
sweaters, with dogskln jacket, will prob
ably carry man to the pole, if he has
plenty of breakfast inside, and If he has
not, fur will not save him. The first point
to guard is the ears, which will freeze
before you know it IL exposed when the
mercury is at 20 below or near it. These
are easily protected, and fur is all right
there. The next is the feet. Few people
know that at about Is or 20 below zero
common boots will freeze on the feet as
stff as iron. In a few minutes afterward
your toes will be in about the same situ-
alton. If you try to obviate this by two
or three pairs of stockings, then the boots
are so big and clumsy that you can hardly
get around in them. And they are always
too slippery. even with all the hobnals you
can put in Some kind of a moccasp
soft enough to give play to the foot, large
enough to enable you to wear three pairs
of heavy woolen stockings, with a piece
Of heavy blanket outside the stockings, are
Indispensable for safety when it falls to
10 or 30 degrees. Indian moccasins of
smoked buckskin are the very best, but
almost impossible to get good Buckskin
sticks on snow like sandpaper, dries soft
when smoked, and is so light that you can
wrap all the blankets around your feet
you need, without making your feet clum-
sy. This extra blanket is generally better
than pair of stockings, as too many of
them make the ankle too hot. A piece of
about fifteen inches square Is laid on the
floor, the foot set In 1t diagonally; one
corner Is then pulled up over the toes, the
two side corners carried over the top, and
the whole pushed into the moccasn. II
have seen many use several of these with
are better on account of making the ankle
warm enough and keeping any snow from
melting on the moccasin there from the
heat of the foot. Feet so clad will be as
light, warm and dry as in slippers on a
summer day. and will not wet through
when the mercury is near zero. Various
kinds of moccasins and alleged moccasns
are made. with and without legs, and
some are called boot-packs or shoe-p
All of them are better than boots, which
are never seen all winter on the feet of
anyone in the logging camps of Minnesota
and Wisconsin. The principal thing Is the
play they give to the foot, with the possi-
bility of putting several pairs of stockings
or "footrags" inside without making them
too clumsy. Rawhide soles are an abom-
nation, on account of the slip. Arctic
overshoes. II made large enough. would
DO quite well, but almost anything is bet
ter than boots. which you cannot safely
wear at low temperatures, no matter how
thick they may be. The man who goes
into the far north without understanding
these matters is sure to suffer but anv
kind or moccasins loose enough and soft
enough to be very good will make the feet
sore II care is not taken to get accustomed
to them gradually, when there is no from
bic.
The hands are easily taken care of Mit
tens are far better than gloves but If the
arms are well wrappd with flannel from
the wrists up you can get along with cloves
quite well by whipping your hands occa-
sionally. Wristlets of any kind go a long
way in keeping you warm, and so does
.<t1 1N Ntzrr