The St. Louis Republic., 1903-02-08

fire. ,f
AS Miss Fitz lay looking at this weirt
spectacle. the dogs. for some unknown rea
son, began fierce fight worrying. bitinl
and tearing one anothers throats and emit
ting the most horrible noises and barkin.
| anu hoWlins with pam. Above ali could b.
heard the rough voices of the men swearing
and ghouting at the top of their lungs. II
| the frightened Young woman it seemed as
| though this lasted for an age. and ever
after the melee was over the growing oi
the dogs lasted for the rest Of the night:
| There was another way" explained Mis-:
| hot air wagon This was sort of stage
| fitted with cover and ,rove inside. One
not be induced to start before u O'Clock al
night. He would sit up and smoke ant
talk This meant that hls passengers. too
ting their n h eood Hp t n,eh; rs beere 9r get
journey. which would keep them up at least
two more nights. But the hot air wagon
try, and it frequently toppled over. until it
finally caught fire from the stove upsetting
/ and that was the end Of it,
After many other experiences of the same
periIous description she reached Nome and
took steamer to Seattle. At Omaha she dis
carded her furs for the dress of civiliza ton
and so proceeded to New York.
The story of Miss Fftz's life in Alaska
reads like romance. She had taken along
her inseparable companion. the typewriter.
and a few days after. her arrival she was
installed as clerk in the Office of the town
Recorder Here she soon became an inval-
liable functionary. her work consisting of
contracts. bills of sale and a mass of busi-
ness correspondence. Her income was many
times that of a stenoerapher In the United
States. and she soon began to look around
for investment for her savings
She built herself very substantial log
cabin. making IT strong and warm to keep
be necessary to have cellar for her winter
stores, she tried to hire men to dig it, hut
none were to be had.
!, So did the work myself" she said. 'and
the only tools I had TO excavate with were
a tin spoon, trowel and dust pan
Unless one is we'll provided with winter
winter. she explained Il paid $50 for 100
pounds of onions. So for 100 pounds Of DO
tatoes, and SIS for ten gallons OF Standard
OIL Meats average from 45 to IS cents a
pound.
ODD LOOKING SNUGGERY
Miss Fitz's cabin at Council City i. an
odd-looking snuggery. Rude, but comfor-
table seats. homemade cushions and divans,
and a great stove in the center. make it an
ideal winter home for the Arctic. There
are few social advantages in Council, and
Wnen the population Is under the snow for
months with the winter gales blowing so
perry surface of the snow Is well nigh i'm
possible and with the thermometer any
where from 80 to 90 below zero: formal So
c1al functions are few and far between.
But the presence of a bright woman in a
mining camp works Transformation, and
when Miss Fitz gives an occasional little
dinner in her cabin. there is no lack of
guests. Before coming away. she gave a
full five-course dinner. consisting Of oys-
ters SOUP, salad, fish, entrees roasts veg
tables. Dessert. fruit and coffee, Mrs
Phillips. the only other social light in the
community. and who owns a roomy cabin
also gives occasional dinners. These and
similar events are ,red-letter days in the
long winters In that snowbound country
During the long winters. which last from
the middle Of September to the middle of
to be buried under twelve to fourteen feet
of snow.
Il have seen drifts" said Miss Fitz, ..sev-
enty-five and eighty feet deep. Entrance to
the houses Is gained by tunnels dug through
the snow. As the snow on the roofs IN
creases in depth extra lengths of stove pipe
are added to the chimney. The winters are
hard, they are terribly hard. and any one
who has not been out there. cannot realize
how cold 1t is.
IF death occurs at this season of the
year it IS. of course. impossible to bury the
Dody, so it is laid away in the snow, where
1t remains until the thaw comes. when II Is
properly inferred. On fine winter days the
men of the community hunt the seal, shoot
and trap the ptarmigan-a native bird, the
flesh of which is very paiatable-or fish
through the ice. Fish are abundant in the
Alaskan waters. Cutting wood for fuel is
cabin has its wood heaped up in large auan-
titles Occasionally party would make an
excursion on sleds on the ice.s far out TO
where the winter bergs formed, miles of
shore. On more than one occasion steamers
nave landed passengers on these extended
fcebergs. being unable to come within sew
eral miles of the land itself On some parts
OF the coast the snow and Ice were piled up
into miniature mountain peaks. which sfo1e
IKE crystals in the sun. Thus through the