Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-01-09

To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
In your issue of Deremtsr, go, 1899, the
following geographical error appears:a
Lake Salawik, near Dawson City Alaska,
which is sixty miles broad, is perhaps the
only one in the extreme north which does
not freeze in winter. 1t Is not known to
have any communication with the sea and
yet it rises and falls with the ocean tides"
Having spent year and half in that
remote part of the continent / know the
statement to be without foundation. Much
Of the country is unexplored, so We cannot
absolutely deny the existence of wonders
However, Dawson City Is not in Alaska
| but in the Yukon territory, Canada. That
in itself shows the writer of the article to
be careless and that he never was there.
Furthermore, there is no known lake sixty
miles broad within hundreds of miles of
Dawson, there is no known lake which
rises and falls. with the sea- which is a few
hundred miles away, and no lake which
does not freeze in winter.
There is, however, a little open water in
that cold country. Many springs, usually
alkaline, break forth, even in the coolest
weather. menacing the traveller with wet
feet. That is one of the principal risks in
winter tIave., for when the moccasins are
wet it is imperative to dry them immedi-
ately at fire to avoid freezing. Then, too
air holes remain open here and there in the
swift-running rivers and at the rapids.
With these exceptions open water is not
found. Every Yukoner is amused at the
readiness of the public to believe extrava-
CANT lies concerning that region, while re-
jecting truths. Thrilling escapes from mas
todons are more credited than many of the
matter-of-fact phenomena of nature. Nature
follows the same laws there elsewhere,
| though travellers unfami lar with arctic and
Subarctic regions are sure to experience
many surprises. The mosquito alone fur
nishes its share of entertainment, though in
the summer months it is rather familiar
and a good deal of bore. In the spring
hardly before May-it is not unusual to
see mosquitoes, even in snow storm, but
they seldom bite so early in the season.
| My champion mosquito story, however,
is the following, every word of which is
true: In MISUNDERSTANDING the
thermometer As degrees below zero, while
fill ing my buckets from water holes in the
Yukon, l have dipped out the larvae of
| mosquitoes and other insects which de-
yeloped wings when brought into the
warmth of the cabin. Mosquitoes in Feb
ruary with the thermometer ~ degrees be-
| low zero, Yes. The temperature of ice
! as of air and solid bodies, varies with the
| degree of cold, but fresh water the world
| over cannot be at a lower temperature
| than - degrees above zero, and this is
| medinm quite warm enough for the de-
| velopment of these larval forms of life
The annual swarms of mosquitoes GER
| tainy come from somewhere, and here in
| the waters of rivers and lakes is where the
| new generations winter.
| incredulity, even by men actually on the
| spot, but when they saw my pets they were
| convinced. and had no difficulty in getting
| all they wanted for themselves if they
| went after dark.
For some reason these schools of larvae
| only came to the water hoes after dark.
as far my experience of a whole winter
went, and they were not noticed earlier
! than February. simple experiment
| proved that they cannot endure low tenn
peratures. dozen or SO of the larvae
| were fshed out of the bucket and placed
| in a bottle of water, which was then put
| outside until frozen solid On thawing it
| out slowly in the cabin every one of the
| insects was found dead
| AS early as Apri, 4, referring to nv diary.
| I saw numbers of jet black insects about
1 quarter of an inch in length hopping
| about on the snow. Many, many other
| curious things We're observed The nom
| migratory animals, such as the moose, carl
| bou, sheep. bears, squirrels, ravens, ptar-
| migans, owls, snow buntings, beavers,
| wolves. lynxes and porcupines excited no
| sympathy, but rather envy, for their beau
| tiful adaptation to outdoor life. But 1t was
| always a source of wonder how the grace
| full and delicate little mice prevented their
| wee little tissue paper ears from freezing
| ]. F. SCOTT