The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1907-02-08
COLD IN THE YUKON.
SEINE of the Effects Experienced by
s Dweliers I'm Dawson City.

Some OF the Effects Experienced ny
Dwe1lers I'm Dawson City.
An old time Yukon miner tells some
remarkable stories Of : happenings at
Dawson City when the thermometer
drops many degrees below zero. He
says:
"Strdnge manifestations appear as
result Of the extreme cold. One is
the way a IRE burns In the stove. 1t
roars and crackles like great forge,
and wood in the stove seems to dis
solve in the flames like chunk Of ice.
The wood is gone, and we wonder
where the heat went. At 60 degrees
below every stovepipe throws out a
great white cloud of smoke and vapor
resembling that from steamboat
stack In its Wilderness, and this cloud
streams away for fifty to a hundred
feet, mingling with the other white
gray mist or haze that remains per-
manent In the atmosphere of the town
like dense fog whenever it is 40 or
more degrees below zero. The white
gray fog is not a fog as you know it,
but frozen mist, and every man, wo-
man, child, animal and even the fire
that burns is throwing out moisture
into the air which is Immediately turn
ed into a cloud Of frozen yapor which
floats away and remains visibly sus-
pended in the air.
Exposed hands, ears and noses
freeze in this temperature while going
few yards unless they are well pro-
tected. The breath roars like a mild
jet Of steam, while dipper of boiling
water thrown out into the air emits a
peculiar whistling hiss as it drops
through the frosty air.
"Prospectors in attempting to boil
dish of rice or beans upon a campfire
unprotected from the weather find that
the side Of the dish which,i in the fire
will boil, while the part Of the dish ex-
posed to the weather will freeze. Edg-
ed tools subjected to this temperature
become as hard and as brittle as glass
and will break as readily under strain.
have seen safety valve blowing off
steam. with the temperature 60 be-
low zero, with icicles hanging to the
valve, having formed from condensa-
ton, the icicles not melting with the
outrushing steam, but remaining there
for days. All vegetables, apples,
fruit, eggs, ETC., can be allowed to
freeze until they become like bullets.
To make ready for use place them in
cold water for half day before u.s.
ing, and the frost will slowly with
draw without injury to the article. To
attempt to thaw them out by a more
rapid process, with fire or hot water,
spoils them for use.
ut is possible to thaw out frozen
foot. ear or hand by immersing the
member in coal oil for several hours.
This Is an absolutely safe remedy, and
a person thus escapes the surgeons
knife, as no bad results follow. This
is not mere hearsay, for man from
our camp was found several years ago,
after he had been out all night with
the thermometer so degrees below zero,
and both his hands were frozen to the
wrists. He was taken into camp and
his hands were soaked in coal oil for
| five hours, and all the frost came out
Of his hands without his even losing
finger tip. The doctors were amazed,
as they thought amputation would
have to be resorted to. His hands
were as white and as hard as marble,
and when placed in the oil they snap
ped and cracked as the oil began to
act upon the ice crystals. The temper
AZURE Of the oil should be about the
same temperature as that Of the living
room.
"Great caution must be exercised in
the extremely cold weather not to
freeze the lungs, which one will quick
|. " do If he hustles about at the or
binary pace. Quick and fatal pneu-
Inonia can be contracted in few mo-
ments. One has to be careful about
touching things with unprotected
hands. 1t Is dangerous to take hold Of
doorknob when it is 90 degrees be-
low or thereabouts with the unprotect-
ed hands, unless you are careful to re-
lease your hand instantly, for If you
do not it will freeze your inner palm
in five seconds, be very painful there
after, and the result be the same as
from touching redhot stove. Canned
goods undergo frightful contraction IN
extreme cold and suck in air, and in
summer, with temperature of 80 de-
grees, the reverse condition occurs,
causing leakage and loss. winnipeg
Cor. New York Tribune.