The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-11-19
most important and lucrative in the

most important and lucrative in the
town.
He is allowed an honorarium Of eight
cents on each affidavit. and in hard
season the reports follow one another 50
rapidly that the man who puts his seal
on them has what is known In the
States as a good thing"
Several Of he more prominent resi-
dents OF Medicine Hat formerly lived at
the town Of Regina, about seventy miles
east Of the Canadian Pacific, and they as
seft that the winters in that place are
only ordinary compared to those where
they now are. In Regina the average
| temperature during December and Jan
uary is only AZ below zero, and remern-
brance S still lively of what is KIN wa
as the warm winter" when it wen up
to IS below for two weeks. The corre-
spondent of the Sunday Chronicle en-
route from Minneapolis to Medicine Hat.
stopped over in Regina and was warned
by the townspeopse that the residents Of
the little place where the weather comes
from We're prone to exaggerate things in
regard to the temperature which had pre-
vailed in the past This, however, turn
out to be based entirely upon sectional
jealousy, as single examination of tse
affidavit records, as we'll as by the per
sonat assurance OF Col. Beverly was
enough to dissipate all thoughts of exag-
geratien or "stuffing'' of the returns.
dust west of the town IS a deep ravine,
which was formerly the bed Of river
and which attained depth of nearly six
ty feet. This place fills with snow early
In November of each year. and its sides
are not seen again until the breakup
in the latter part of May. No man can
say, how many Hives have been fost In
this raVine. which Is known as idea TIL 9
hollow, travellers across the prairie
walking on its smooth but treacherous
N-c,~ IL
Stantly, never to regain their footing.
The snow in this ravine has some mys-
FERROUS force. similar to that of quick
sand, which draws it's victims down sud
denly and engulfs them. Action has been
taken repeatedly to bridge over the dan
gerous chasm. but each year that a
bridge is built Ii is swept away by one
of the first billiards. of the season, which
comes on an average three times a week,
and the solid beams and rafters are en-
quilted in the morass of snow.
No attempts at carrying on business
are made in the town after the weather
breaks for the winter. The residents
of the place realize that any outdoor
enterprise is liable to be cut short by q
storm or a drop In the temperature, and
therefore they keep closely to their homes
from the time of the first snowfall until
the warm spring sunshine and rains
break up the blockade of fee and snow.
The only man who works through the
winter season Is the weather observer,
and he sends his reports to Regina by
way of an underground cable carrying
the telegraph wires. Overhead wires on
poles were used years ago. but as the
poles were carried away by the storm
three or four times a month the tele-
graph company found that a cable serv-
ice would be far cheaper than the re-
pairs which it was constantly called upon
to make.
The mail goes out semi-weeklY after
winter sets in properly as trains make
little or no attempt to keep schedule
time. Col. Beverly, the weather man,
lives with his family in the stone house
the government has built him. and some
years none of them see the outside world
from Nov. / until late In May.