The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1907-07-22

is equally invaluable. Many stores |
and houses are constructed entirely of |
tin oil cans. Impervious OF rain or
snow, and proof against wind, they
We're a godsend when the only other
available material was earth, canvas
or tar paper The originator Of the
first tin can house in Seward PENN
sula was Col. Charles Sheaf, the pres
ent superintendent of construction of
the Nome Arctic railroad. 4 was
employed my first Alaskan winter in
the courthouse, said Col. Sheaf re-
calling the incident. Every night, on
my way home, 1 picked up on the
beach or in the tundra one or more
five-gallon tin cans, and carried them
to the shack l called home. beat out
each can to a level, and when / had
a goodly number l set UP the frame
work of a cabin. Lumber was scarce
that winter at $3.50 thousand feet. I
made my cabin frame of driftwood
igathered from the beach. AS wom-
an sews blocks for log-cabin quilt, 1
continued to collect cans and tack
them on to the frame one at a time
Often weeks would go by without my
finding can, then Unexpectedly I
would stumble upon half-dozen.
That was my busy day and the cabin
made rapid strides. I kept at it until
the whole was made doubly weather
proof by an inside lining of tin cans,
as the picture shows. When my can
house was completed l banked it with
snow and tundra and was snug as
bug in a rug, and the envy Of the
whole camp" The cabin still stands
and is Occupied, but has ceased to
be a novelty, so largely have tin-can
houses multiplied
When paint is available, tin-can
houses and roofs are thlckly coated
often giving a refreshing dash of color
to the bleak landscape. Paint is no
longer the luxury it once was in the
Northland, and so hungry for verdant
hues are the den.lzens of Nome,s tree
less waste, that all kinds Of habita-
tions are liable to break out in Yerit-
able Finnegan greens. The increased
use Of paint has not tended to de-
crease the tin-can Wastage, since it is
in cans it reaches the consumer. De-
spite the coming of corrugated iron
sheeting as building protector (there
is no fire insurance in the peniusula),
/ its costllness debars its general use.
! Even those who have struck pay" are
content to flatten out the discarded
cans.
Scarcely less homely or picturesque
is the role of the ne-gallon tin cans
As fiowerpots they are first aid to the
lover of the beautiful in a pathetic at
tempt to make a window or front-yard
blossom as the rose 1t is no unusual
sight on the Nome-Arctic railroad to
have track laborers board open freight
4 cars carrying, one-gallon cans filed
with wild flowers plucked from the
tundra's riotous bloom, for home dec
Grafton or transplanting These cans
are also used by thrifty housewives for
the preserving of blue and salmon ber-
lies, which grow in wild profusion in
the tundra and on the hillside, The tin
cans are no mean substitute for glass
preserving jars, which until very lately
We're unattainable at any price, and
now sell for 50 a dozen.
Cut in two, the cans are converted
into al sorts of toilet receptacles
serving as washbowls in almost every
mining camp Of the arctics. Notwith.
standing granite and porcelain ware
are now to be bought in the shops and
many homes possess them no kitchen
however well equipped, Is without on,
: or more flve-gallon tin cans, standing
on dresser or bench, or hanging ont.
= side the door. The Esqulmaux, will
the imitativeness of their JAPANESE
| progenitors, have not been slow il
e recognize their usefulness and tn,
white mans preference for them. II
berry and fishing season they are won
t now to discard their vessels of wood
lsealskin, or walrus hide for the tin
! tcan, whose utility they first learne,
aboard American whaling vessels. n
deer, so broadcast SO varied is til,
} role of the Standard oil tin can in III,
: Northland, that no Alaskan would h
4 surprised should the final discoyere
: of the North Pole find one danglin,
from that long-sought pinnacle-Lil;
Rose McCabe In Leslie's Weekly.