The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1906-05-10
WHEN THE DUNES WALK.
4 sa.a ss~s~ Rsperts~~s ~ sAs
p~ssvs ef sahara.

. Z ftitFf w " WtNN&"fFt AHftt ~'NAt& ~ Nv
surd performance. Tho Arab. however.
experienced In the ways Of aahars.
knows that when tho rain stcps the
dunes are apt 10 begin their most ter
rible walking" lie seeks shsltsr
while there Ia yet time
Our worst experience of the desert In
one u its mad tts. says tho author Of
"ln the Desert was on morning
when. luckily for us perhaps. we were
nearing tho large oasis of Neffa, near
the Tunixian frontier, The Tapping of
the tent and the drumming Of rain.
drops upon Il awoke us. and Ahmeda.
IN some excitement. hurried our depar.
ture, He explained that 10 long ~ tho
rain lasted II would keep tho sand
quiet and that this was our opportnni.
". Accordingly. IN a very short time
we had struck tent. loaded camcls. sad.
died ponies and were under way.
II sccned 10 ms somewhat purpose
less prccecding The rain was and had
been heavy. The ground was saturat
I'd. There secmed no prospect Of its
drying In = hurry, Az Nefta was only
half = days march awny II seemed
unnecessary 10 start In frantic haste In
the middle of the night In pouring
rain. Ahmeda, however. made no an.
swer TO our protests. The other Arabs
seconded his efforts with all their en.
ergy.
Morning broke wan and sickly. Az
the light grew the rain siackened The
big warm drops became less frequent
and at last ceased Tho dun, opaque
sky was pasty white and the air hot
and oppressive. but the wind still blew
40 hard M or harder than ever.
Hardly had the rain stopped when I
tasted between lips and teeth the IA.
miiiar. gritty texture Of sand. Hardly
had the light increased sufficiently to
disclose TO view the drifts when all
their edges and crests could be seen
crawling and fickering In the gale. Al
ready there was the dronlng sound In
the air which meant that the dunes
were walking. We saw at last the ree-
sou for the hurry. The rain cannot bold
the sand for more than tho instant II
IL falling. As soon ns II strikes the
earth Il sinks In. One moment you may
be streaming with water like drown
cd rat, the next you are choking In
clouds OF sand.
The air grew da kcr and darker, and
the roar OF tho sand as II rushed along
the desert made speech, except By
shouting, impossible. could Just dis
tinguish our tall camels In the gloom,
their ungainly action giving them
something the look Of ships pitching
and tossing In gale.
Ahmeda led the way by some mys-
terious Instinct TO us totally incomprc-
hsnsible. We followed as best we
might. breathing sand as we went, our
heads bent to protect our faces. Ny
recollection Of the next two hours is no
more definite than would be the recol.
lection OF being rolled over and over
by huge breaker. A singing and
roaring In the ears. almost total blind
ness, q sense Of suffocation and the
feeling that I was In the hands Of
elements more powerful than myself
are the vague impressions that remain.
When we ut last got TO Meta We
could not have been more saturated
with sand had we been buried In u
and dug up again. Hair. ears. clothes
were full Of II. Our cheeks were scar.
let and sore with tho csaseless batter
ing, and on them had formed hard
crusts Of sand, csmented by the va.
ter that had strenmed from our eyes.
When II Is sixty Degrees Below Zero
This Ia comfortable season for
thinking Of life at 70 degrees below
zero, yet few Of US know what Il
means. A writer In Popular Mechan.
les, Mr.. Chester W. Tenant Of Daw-
son, tells how II feels when tho tsm-
pcrature drops to that something not
uncommon In Yukon territory. Says
Mr.. Tenant.
] am writing this on Jan. q. yos two
weeks We have had ''coid spell" Tsm-
perature has ranged from " degrees BE-.
low sero tths warmssp down To % degrees
below. Some Of the outlying Yukon 70.
lice stations report 20 degrees below.
These cold waves alternate with warmer
periods Of 10 degrees below.
Strange manifestations APPEAR - ~.
suit OF the extreme cold: one n tho way
nrs burns In tho stovs. II roars and
orackies like = great forge and wood In
the stovo seems 10 dissolve In the names
like chunk OF ice; tho wood IL sons, and
we wonder whore the heat won't
Al w degrees below every stovepips
throws out a great white cloud of smoke
and vapor. resembling q steamboat In
It's whiteness, and this cloud streams
away for nfty 10 hundred foet. minsiins
with the othsr white-gray mist or hase
that remains permanent In the atmos.
phTre OF the town like u great foG, when
Il II W degrees or more bsiow ssro. This
white gray fog IL not fog ~ you know II.
but II frozen fog. and every man, woman.
child, animal and even the nro that burns
u throwing out moisture inao ths air
which IL Immediately turned Into cloud
of frozen yapor which nosts away and
remains visibiy suspended In tho air.
Very slowly this ssttles 10 earth. and In
lhs morning. about the stsps and any
protected place. ons ean sse q very hns
aim Of nour like dust deposited. which u
composed Of frosen vapor
Exposed ears. hands and moss. Mr..
Tennant tells us. freeze at this temper
lture In going the distance Of about
Dbe block unless well protected. Tho
breath roars Ike mild Jet OF steam.
while q dpper Of boiling water thrown
but into the air enits a peculiar whis-
ding hiss ss its drops circle through
Ibe frosty atfnOspbere.
To quote again,
One has 10 be very careful about
ouchinG things with unprotected hands.
L IL dangerous 10 take hold u door
mob when II 10 10 degrees bsiow ssro os
hereabout with the uncovered hand. un-
ss~ you are careful 70 Instantly rsiAass
,our hold. fos II you DO II will frssss yous
nnsr palm In I'VE seconds. b. very painful
hereAftar, and ths result IL tAs sazss ~
rom touching q rodhot stowe
We get frosty iron In this country
hat 1t ~ not pleasant 20 handle. and
many daring children find 10 their ear
'ow that touching their tongues 10 II is
he rsnkest folly. But most Of ~
Inow nothiag Of kettles contents