The silver messenger., 1908-12-29
4 PAJA MA
PROT TEST

r,,est?" repeated the man from
~ owhy the people in my cou1-
Alas@e' are as honest as the day is long up
tT' aiS ~ the 21st of June. In the rush
lls,1 .So Klondike a man wasn't allowed
10 ~ a.oss the Canadian frontier unless
!" nod NOD thousand pounds of provi-
he of course, he had lots of other
siOs' hesides and it took good many
s,as s.'ns TO carry his outfit from one point
uP Ponotber. He could have his two
gas ant of sight of one another with
p , tbe slightest danger of being
o Oobbed And it was pretty misccl
isneous crowd, too.
If YOU cache your extra provisions
"a sunnlies in Alaska, they won't be
.anobed by the man who happens to
ga them. unless he is in actual need.
l. hat case he will leave note ex-
alsinng the circumstances and giving
H. name and address. In Valdez peo-
-Io don't have locks on their homes.
wben a man goes away for the sum
NOR mining or prospecting, he leaves
bs latchstring out. If a neighbor
r.rts 10 borrow some dishes or cook
inc utensils she goes in and helps her
sof When she finishes with them she
puts them back.
oTberes one dwelling in the town,
however that has a Yale lock. l know
tbe story Of that lock, because / was
psrtly responsible for its being put
there.
Late one winter night there was a
gang of us having good time in
dance hall. A big fellow they called
Newburg Charley happened to say: /
hear that young lawyer from Denver
sleeps in a regular suit of Clothes
coat and pants. They're made of pink
flannel. Now, amt that putting on
style for you? Most of us think we're
blooming 'ristocrats if we take our
boots off when we go to bed
"How did you hear about this?'
some one asked.
didn't | see them at my wash
womans? She says he calls them pa
ja,mas,
"Td like to see them pa-ja-mas,
somebody drawled.
well, sir. the crowd took up the
idea like a shot. We grabbed our
overcoats and cloaks, men and women,
the whole shooting match, and piled
out into the street whooping and yell.
ing. The Denver chap wasn't married
and lived with another man. Guess
maybe he was a good bit surprised
when that bowling mob of men and
women broke into his house and up
the stairs. We lighted lamp.
What's the trouble?' he asked I'll
do him the credit to say that he wasn't
bit scared.
You have been accused before the
vigilantes of Valdez, said Newburg
Charlie, in a solemn tone, of the
crime of wearing pink pa-ja-mas. See
ing as you have been caught with the
goods on you, reckon there amt any
doubt about your guilt AS these
pink pa-ja-mas are very warm propo
sition, the sentence of the court is
that they be cooled in some honest
Alaska snow.
There were yells of applause. We
tore the covers off the man from Den
yer and carried him out into the oper
air, First we tied strings around his
pants at the ankles, and then filled
them full of snow. We carted hin
BACK into the house and started fol
the dance hall again, whooping like
Comanche Indians. Did it hurt him
Not bit. He didn't even catch cold
Ihe whole thing didn't take more thar
tour or tlve minutes. His side partne
nlled him with hot drinks and rubbed
MN until he got a good, healthy re
actlon 1t helped his law business, il
lact' People liked tho way he acted
lie never whimpered out in the colt
ana never said boo afterward abou
his visitors.
But ne put Yale lock on his door
ana l guess he's been wearing pinl
palamas ever since"