The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-01-17
WRECKEDBY sNoWnABIT.
The Awful Fate Of n Man who Turned
from Whiskcy to "Thc Beautiful.

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Every great
discovery In the worlds history has
brought with It an accompanying ar
Fiction, and It has remained for. the
KlondIke 10 develop n peculiar mania
that threatens 10 outrIval opium eat
Ing. Among the residents OF the far
north It Is known as the snow habit"
and It is said TO be incurable. Henry
Barnum. OF Great Bend township, has
returned from the klondikc. and tells
the strange story.
There are many strange things In
the Klondike." said Mr. Barnum, but
perhaps the strangest and that about
which nothing has been written SO far
Is the dissipation caused by eating
snow. In the north, when the thermom-
rter reached thl:ty TO forty degrees be-
low zero, a mouthful OF snow is like
molten metal. 1t brings an lnilamma-
ton to the palate and tongue, and 1t Is
impossible to quench the thirst. The
first advice an old-tlmer offers new
CONFER in the region IS. Don't eat
snow" There are men In that country,
once hearty. robust miners, now weak,
effeminate creatures. whose fall can be
traced directly to the time they began
munching snow.
The matter has been but little In
vestigated, but the scientists who have
examined the subject say that the
waters OF the north are rich with min
eral deposits which are being CONSTANT
~ washed Gown from the mountains. a
certain per cent. OF this mineral Is taken
into the air when vapor arises and the
snow becomes impregnatcd with it.
There have been several falls OF red
snow near Point Barrow, the deposits
being OF a reddish brown color, due en-
tirely to minerals. Thus It can be seen
that a person eating large quantities
of the snow takes into his system cor
responding amount OF minerals.
While, coming down the Copper river
last spring. Mr. Barnum came upon 4
party OF miners where one was dying
from the effects OF eating snow. He
had been hard drlakcr, but had
short of whisky His thirst became ,un-
eadurable, and as water was scarce In
midwfntcr he had taken to eating sno,v.
Soon he claimed 1t relieved his appetite
fer the liquor. but his companions no.
ticed that his appetite for snow IN
creased UatE he was consuming endr-
nous quantities. Gradually his skin,
which wns a dark bronze. grew light,
his rugged stature became bent and
even his i1hrsh voice changed 10 the cf-
Terminate squeak of an. old woman. His
strength gave way and his companions
tried to- break him Of the habit. lie
would lie on his pallet and moan pitt
fully for mouthtul OF snow, and when
opportunity afforded he would steal un-
observed to the doorway and gulp down
huge handouts. AT last. seeing death
was inevitable. his companions allowed
him the SHOW, hoping TO prolong his
life. 1t proved unavailing, and one
morning Just previous TO Mr. Barnum's
departure the man was found dead.
There are some spots on the Copper
river where the SNOW, when melted and
strained through 4 cloth, shows per-
ccptible signs OF minerals. and often
gold Is found plentifully intermixed, but
OF course not In paying quantities.
Where this comes from Is mystery,
but 1t may be brought from the far
north By the heavy winter gales that
sweep over this part OF the country. It
has been said that II the snow could be
melted away 1t would leave deposits OF
millions OF dollars In gold dust on the
ground. -.
Mr.. Barnum had a close call himself
from being victim to the snow habit.
"ft was in the winter OF 1867" he
said, land l was new to the country.
An old miner near Dawson had warned
me against snow eating. but I, with my
partner, had gone back In the hills on
prospecting tour and had got caught
In blizzard. We were shy Of. provis-
ions and on the way up lost the pack
age containing our cooking utensils.
This we remedied by broiling our cooked
foods, but we had nothing In which 10
melt the snow. 1t Is claimed that melt
Cd snow Is harmless. as the metallic
deposits 1t contains sink to the bottom
OF the receptacle. We decided ts try
1t raw and we did. Whether II was
the food or the snow I don't know, but
during the week we waited for Il chance
to get out I've had nm ever.increas!ng
thirst. until. when we were finally able
to strike the trail. We were consuming
Snow at Il rapid rate. When we reached
our companions we attempted TO as
sauge our thirst with water, but It did
no good. We had acquired n taste for
the frozen water and Il seemed to have
invigoratinS qualities. At night we
could not sleep until We took our SNOW.
We were fast approaching the degen-
crate SINCE. when rachel n realizing
sense of our condition and undertook
10 break 1t OFF. / began by degrees
and worked down. but up 10 the very
moment ! left the country the sight
Of snow always raisctl In the an iaordIn-
ate craving. II cost me many sleeplcss
nights and weary days TO restrain mT-
11 ptss H.. t.