Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-05-18
EFFECTS OF INTENSE COLD.
Some Strange Manifestations When Temperature Is 60 Degrees Below.

Some Strange Manifestations Whe
 Temperature Is 60 Degrees Below.
 Look out or you will drop tha
 chisel!"
 l Before the sentence was finishe the tool had slipped from the han Fof my assistant and, striking upo
 some bar iron, flew into pieces as
 it had been glass instead of steel.
 This reads like bit out of Alice i
 Wonderland, but 1t is sober Tact, "
 are told by Chester w. Tennant o
 Dawson, Yukon Territory.
 T am writing this on January 25
 for two weeks we have had a coll
 spell. Temperature has ranged iron
 A degrees below zero (the warmest
 down to 68 degrees below Some o
 the outlying Yukon police stations
 report so degrees below. These colt
 waves alternate with warm periods
 of 10 degrees below.
 | Strange manifestations appear al
 a result of the extreme cold; one Il I the way a fire burns in the stove. I
 roars and crackles like great forge
 and wood in the stove seems to dis
 solve in the flames like a chunk o ice. the wood is gone and we wonder
 where the heat went.
 At 60 degrees below every stove pipe throughout the great white cloud of smoke and vapor, resembling 1 a steamboat in it's whiteness, and this cloud steams away for fifty to 100 feet, mingling with the other white-gray mist or haze that remains permanently in the atmosphere of the town like great fog when 1t IS 40 degrees or more below zero. This white-gray fog is not fog as you know it. but is frozen fog, and every man, woman, child, animal and even the fire that burns is throwing out moisture into the air which is i'm mediately turned into cloud of froz- en vapor, which floats away and re- mains visibly suspended in the air. Very slowly this settles to earth, and in the morning about the steps and any protected place one can see a very fine film of flourlike dust de- posited, which is composed of frozen vapor."
 Exposed ears, hands and nose, MT Tennant tells us, freeze at this tenn ,perature in going the distance of about one block unless well protect ed. The breath roars like mild jet of steam, while dipper or boiling water thrown out into the air emits a peculiar whistling hiss as 1t drops sr al 0h f. mosphere. To quote again:
 "Prospectors, in attempting to boil a dish of rice or beans upon camp fire unprotected from the weather. find that the side of the dish which is in the fire will boil while the part of the dish exposed to the weather is frozen. To remedy this the dish is set completely into the fire. Edged tools subjected to this temperature become as hard and brittle as glass and will break as readily under strain. have seen pop safety valve blowing of steam when the weather was below 60 degrees, with icicles which had formed by the condensa- tion while 1t was blowing off hang ing from the outer rim of the valve. The icicles were not melted by the outrushing steam, but remained there for many days, through blow-offs, as I passed this station every day and watched the operation. All vegeta- bles. potatoes, apples, fruit, eggs, etc. can be allowed to freeze until they become like bullets. To make ready for use, place them in cold water half a day before using, and the frost will slowly withdraw without injury to the article. To attempt to thaw them out by more rapid process by fire or hot water spells them for use.
 Mir Tennant tells some remarkable tales of thawing out frozen foot. ear or hand by immersing the mem- Der in coal oil for some time-often several hours. He says:
 This Is absolutely safe remedy, and one thus escapes the surgeons knife, as no bad results follow. This is not hearsay. as man was saved a few years ago at our office by the night watchman, who found him in the snow (45 degrees below zerob and both hands frozen to the wrists. He Was taken into the office and treated as above for about five hours, when all the frost was drawn out without so much as losing a finger tip. The physicians were amazed. as they thought amputation would have to be resorted to. His hands were as white and hard as marble, and when placed in the oil they snapped and crackled as the oil began to act upon the ice crystals. This remedy should be remembered by all residents of cold climates. as 1t would save many a limb. The temperature of the oil should be about the same as that of the living room tabout so degrees above zero). Great caution must be exercised during extreme cold weath- CT so as not to frost the lungs. which one will quickly do if he hustles about at ordinary pace. Quick and fatal pneumonia can be contracted in a few minutes. Many a fine team of horses has been lost in this way.
 One has 10 he careful about things with unprotected hands. It is dangerous to take hold of a door knob when it is 60 degrees below zero or whereabouts with the uncovered hand. unless you are care fui to release your hold instantly. for If you do it will freeze your inner palm in five seconds. be very painful thereafter. and the result Is the same IS from touching a red hot stove.
 Canned goods undergo frightfui during extreme cold. and tuck in air: in summer with a tenn perature of 90 degrees. the reverse occurs. causing leakage md loss"
 Distinguished Precedent