The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-02-26
WRECKED BY THE SNOW HABIT.
Awful Fate of "a Man Who Turned
from whisky to 'the Beautiful"
Cleveland Plain Dealel

Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Every great discovery in the worlds his
tory has brought with ii an accompanying
affection, and it has remained for the Klon-
dixie TO develop a peculiar mania that threat
ems to %outrival opium eatHg. Among the
the snow habit and 1t is said TO be incur
able. Henry Barnum, of Great Bend town.
ship. has returned from the klondike ana
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 thermometer reaches 30 TO 10 degrees
below zero, a mouthful of snow is like
molten metal. It brings an Inflammation 10
the pal0Ie and tongue, and 1t is Impossible
10 quench the thirst. The first sadvlce an
IS: Don't eat snow There are men IN
that country, once hearty, robust miners,
now weak, efeminate creatures, whose fall
can be traced directly to the time they began
munchtng snow.
The matter has been but little investigat-
ed, put the scientists who have anime the
SUBJECT. say that the waters Of the north
are rich with mineral deposits. which are
oelng constantly washed down from the
% a certain per cent. OF TINS nm
the snow becomes impregnated with 1t.
There have been several falls of red snow
near Point Barrow, the deposits being of a
reddish-brown color. due entirely to miner
ais. Thus it can be seen that persons eating
large quantities of the snow takes into his
s sIs." a corresponding amount of miner
While coming down the Copper river last
spring Mr.. Barnum came upon a party of
miners where one was dying from the eff
reefs or eating snow. He had been a hard
drinker, but had run short of whisky. His
thirst became uncomfortable, and as water
was scarce in midwinter he had taken to
eating snow. Soon he claimed it relieved
ms appetite for the liquor, but his COM
panions noticed that his appetite for snow
increased until he was CONSUMING enormous
quantities. Gradually his skin, which was a
dark bronze, grew light. his rugged stature
became bent, and even his harsh voice
changed to the effeminate squeak of an old
woman His strength gave way, and his
companions tried to break him of the habit.
he would lie on his pallet and moan pitt
Tully for a mouthful of snow, and when
opportunity offered would steal unobserved
to the doorway and gulp down huge hand
rus. At last, seeing death was inevitable,
MS companions allowed him the snow, hop
ing to prolong his life. 1t proved unavafl-
Ing, and one morning just previous TO Mr..
Barnum'S departure the man was found
dead.
There are some spots IN the Copper river
where the snow, when melted and strained
through a cloth, shows perceptible signs Of
minerals, and often gold is foundp lentifully
intermixed, but, of course, not In paying
quantities. Where this comes from is q
mystery, but it may be brought from the
far north by the heavy winter gales that
sweep over this part of the country. 1t has
been said that if the snow could be melted
away it would leave deposits of millions of
dollars in gold dust on the ground.
Mr.. Barnum had q close call himself from
falling a victim to the snow habit. 1T was
in the winter of 1861" he said, "and l was
new to the country An old miner near
Dawson had warned me against eating
snow, but l, with my partner, had gone
back in the hills on a prospecting tour, and
had got caught in a blizzard. We were shy
of PROVISIONS, and on our way out lost the
package containing our cooking utensils.
This we remedied by broiling our cooked
foods, but we had nothing in which to melt
the snow. 1t is claimed that melted snow
is harmless, as the metallic deposits 1t con-
tains sink to the bottom Of the receptacle.
We decided to try it raw and we did.
Whether it was the food or the snow | don't
know, but during the week we waited for a
chance to get out we had an ever-increas
ing thirst, until, when we were finally able
to strike the trail, we were consuming snow
at a frightful rate. When we reached our
companions we attempted to assuage our
thirst with water, but it did no good. We
had acquired a taste for the frozen water,
and 1t seemed TO have tnvigorating qualities.
At night We could not sleep unless we took
our snow. We were fast approaching the
degenerate stage when l reached a realizing
sense of our condition and undertook to
break 1t off. began by degrees and worked
down, but up to the very moment l left the
country the sight of snow always raised in
me an fnordinate craving. 1t cost me
many Sleepless nights and weary days to re-
strain myself. Had l given way to the
habit, l would, like many another poor fell
low, have lost all ambition and filled an un-
known grave in that frozen wilderness"