The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1907-05-14
WHOLE NO. 1919.
YUKON BRAND OF COLD.
Winters When a Pot BoiIs Only on
One Side.

70. l.. Parsons. an old-time Yukon
miner, just returned from the frozen
North. told some remarkable stories
of happenings at Dawson City, when
the thermometer drops many degrees
below zero. He said:
Strange manifestations appear as
result of the extreme cold. A fire
In the stove roars and crackles like q
great forge, and wood seems to dis
solve in the flames like a chunk OF
ice; the wood is gone and you wonder
what became of the heat. At sixty
below zero every stovepipe throws out
a great white cloud of smoke and va
por, which streams away for fifty or
100 feet, mingling with the other
white-gray mist or haze that remains
permanent in the atmosphere, like a
fog, whenever such a low tempera-
ture is reached. This white-gray fog
is not the fog Fasteners know, but a
frozen mist; every man, woman,
child, animal, and even the fire that
burns, is throwing out moisture into
the air which is Immediately turned
into vapor, which remains visibly
suspended in the air.
'Prospectors in attempting to boil
a dish of rice or beans upon a camp
fire unprotected from the weather
find that the side of the dish which
is in the fire will boil while that part
exposed to the weather will freeze.
Edged tools subjected to this temper
allure become as hard and as brittle
as glass and break as readily under
strain. / have seen a safety valve
blowing off steam, with the tempera-
ture sixty below zero, with icicles
hanging to the valve, having formed
from condemnation. These icicles did
not melt in the outrushing steam, but
remained there for many days"
Mr.. Parsons told of some instances
when frozen foot, ear or hand had
been thawed by immersion in coal oil
for some time often for several
hours. He said: This is absolutely
safe remedy and one thus escapes
the surgeons knife, as no bad results
follow. This is not hearsay, for a
man from our camp was found after
he had been out all night with the
thermometer fifty degrees below zero,
and both his hands were frozen to the
wrists. He was taken into camp and
his hands soaked in coal oil for five
hours. All the frost came out and
not even a finger tip was lost. The
doctors were amazed, as they thought
amputation would have to be resorted
to. His hands were as white as mar
BILE, and when placed in the oil they
snapped and cracked as the oil be-
gan to act upon the ice crystals"
The temperature of the oil should be
about the same as that of the living
room. Great caution must be exer-
cised during the extremely cold
weather not to freeze the lungs, which
one will quickly do If he hurries
about. Quick and fatal pneumonia
can be contracted in a few moments.
Many fine team of horses has been
lost in this way up in the Yukon.
One must be careful about touch
ing metals with unprotected h nds.
1t is dangerous to take hold of a door
knob when 1t is sixty below, or there
abouts, with the unprotected hands,
unless you are careful to release your
hand instantly, for If you do not 1t
will freeze your inner palm in five
seconds. the result being much the
same as from touchinga redhot stove.
Canned goods undergo great contrac-
tion during extreme cold, and take in
air; in summer, with a temperature
ninety degrees above zero, the re-
verse condition prevails, causing leak
age and loss.-R. F. r., Winnipeg
Correspondent of the New York Eve
ming Post.