Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1900-12-22


After an absence Of twenty years in the
"wiId and woody northwest" in the ice
fields of Alaska and in the sunny cline of
Central America, Mr.. Solemn NJ. Mckee
son of Mr. VIM Mckee, OF Race street,
is again under The roof Of his parental
home.
During his long absence Mr. Mckee
has gone from one extreme climate TO the
other. from the Artic regions Of Alaska to
the sun-kissed land of Costa Rica, but the
change has had no effect upon his con
stituilon and he IS today the picture OF
perfect health He has but faint recol-
Ileclons of the comrades of his boyhood
days. for even when youth he had de-
sire to ee some of the land in the west.
ern hem sphere other than that in the
vicinity in which ne lived.
During his early travels he made visit
home about every year until shortly alter
he had reached his majority. when he
started out on long trip. How long he
would be away from home he had no idea
and the family knew less about the length
OF his absence; but they had no idea it
would be twenty years.
The last time Mr.. Mckee left home he
went from here to the north western part
of the United States and there spent a
number of years, About the year 1890
he journeyed to Uncle Sans new territory
Alaska. and in that icy land spent about
flee months. Klondike was not dreamed
OF then, but during Mr.. Mckee's stay
there he was interested in the mining of
gold. He did not venture far into the IN
terror, but stopped for several months at
the first mountain over which the gold
seekers were compelled to pass to reach
the gold fields.
After remaining there about five months
| Mr.. Mckee returned to the United States
and was employed by tie American Fruit
Company, the company which brings
| about all the tropical fruit into the
United States,a and was sent to Costa Rica,
Central America, TO construct telephone
! lines. He has Leen in Costa Rico ten years
and during his residence there superinted
the construction of three hundred miles OF
telephone line and managed the com
pany's lines in that country. He also con-
structed new line for the company in
| Nicaragua. While in Central America
Mr.. Mckee picked up the Spanish Ian
guage and now speaks it fluently. He
said he found that il was not hard to
learn. the words being pronounced just as
they are spelled. There is only one silent
letter in the language-t the letter "h. "
1t was while in sunny Costa Rica that
| Mr.. Mckee began communication with
home. and it was through THE WORLD
| that his whereabouts were made known.
He wrote here some years ago to the post
master and asked him TO have the best
local newspaper sent him and the post
master, OF course, had THE WORLD sent
and he has ever since been a sub
scriber Mr.. Mckee, like almost all read
ers, read the advertisements, as well as
the rest of the news, and wrote here TO-
one OF the articles advertised. His testir
monial showing the benefit he had de-
rived from the article was afterward pub
lished, signing it as"Casllla 68, Port Linz
on, Costa Rica, c. A, = to which address
the paper had always been sent, the name
of the distant subscriber not being known.
Mr.. McKee's father saw this testimonial
and when he read it he was at once struck
with the thought that "Casllla o8" might
be his long absent son, knowing not
whether he was dead or living. Correspon-
dence followed The result was the es-
adjustment of communication between
father and son and finally this visit of Mr..
Mckee to his parental home.
After an absence of twenty years Mr..
Mckee recognizes Martinsburg as 'the
same old town." but sees many improve
ments He is much pleased with his
native town and will spend about
month here. He will eat one more Christ
mas dinner with his father and the re-
naming members of the family and will
then return to Costa RIGA TO resume his
work.