Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-03-08
GUARDED BY ICY WIND
A Frigid Convict Station In the
Northeast of Siberia.
THE COOLEST SPOT ON EARTH

Escape at verhoyansk-Whsn the
Wind Blows, Half an Hour In the
Fierce, Biting Cold Means Death.
The coolest place in the world one
would naturally expect to be either
the north or the south pole, but it is
not 1t is village In the northeast Of
Siberia named Verhoyansk.
There the average temperature Of
the three worst winter months Is SO
degrees F. below zero, which means
IS degrees Of frost. During January
the average temperature Is Sc degrees
below zero, or SO degrees of frost. On
one occasion the thermometer regis
tered the remarkable figure Of 100 de-
grees Of frost! The average January
figure for London, on the other hand.
is Z degrees above freezing point.
But In Verhoyansk most months are
winter months. July, curiously enough,
is as hot there as in London. but the
shadow Of the terrible winter hangs
over even the warmest months.
Even in midsummer the forests
which surround the desolate plain in
the center of which Verhoyansk
stands are withered and gray. The
grass is colorless. The few flowers
are odorless. The bare soil Of the
plain itself refuses to produce vege-
tables Of any kind. The ground is
frozen hard to an incredible depth.
No farming, Of course, is possible.
There are no cattle or poultry. All
food is imported. Why, then, does this
little village exist? 1t Is convict sta
ton. and its population of 400 is made
up of officials and exiles.
No precautions against escapes are
needed. Prisoners are known to have
gone mad with the loneliness of the
place. But no one has ever been mad
enough to try to escape. Verhoyansk,
strange though it sounds, Is guarded
by the wind. A gale when the Their
mometer stands at so or more below
zero will destroy every living thing
that is not under shelter.
One Of the many curious facts about
cold is that intense cold Is in itself
easy to bear provided the air is still.
One traveller has declared that he has
often felt colder In Piccadilly on a
damp day in November than during
bis entire stay in Verhoyansk. where
the thermometer sometimes showed 80
degrees Of frost,
The reason is that at Verhoyansk
the air Is intensely dry. and dry cold
doea not penetrate far With tent
at night and warm furs In the day
time one can be quite comfortable.
however low the temperature.
But let a wind once rise and things
are different. As Verhoyansk is the
coolest place in the world, the few
winds that come must bring warmth.
But then all winds carry moisture.
And so we have the curious fact that.
though one may be quite comfortable
with the thermometer showing GO de-
grees Of frost, If wind springs up
and adds 20 or 30 degrees Of warmth
to the air one has to fly for dear
life to shelter.
Half an hour in that fierce, biting
cold means death. But the intense
dry cold that is Verhoyansk's normal
weather is. If not so dangerous. quite
as powerful in it's effects. In that icy
stiffness an iron ak head dropped on
the ground smashes like glass. A
board of unseasoned wood, on the
other hand. freezes hard as iron.
De Windt in his travels in this re-
gion carried his milk in solid cubes
in Il net attached to his sleigh. His
all burst, for at the
Verhoyansk temperatures quicksilver
freezes and can be hammered like
copper. 1t has indeed been turned into
bullets and shot through deal board.
All be could find Of a case Of claret
we're few Jumps Of red ice and some
splintered glass; But what troubled
him most was the discovery that it
was impossible to smoke. At 40 de-
,rees below zero frozen nicotine blocks
he stem Of the pipe. while cigarettes
,r cigars freeze to the lips.
1t must be embarrassing to find, as |
me does when the thermometer reach
IS 80 below. that ones very breath |
'alls at ones feet in a fine white pow
Ter. A mustache becomes torture
/ heavy. solid lump Of ice. To lay
)are hand on metal means that the
kin will stay where it touches. A
areless traveller once witlessly left
hirt outside his hut to dry. When he
licked it up again it bent and almost
'roke. When swung through the air
t made a noise like theatrical thun-
Ter.
At these temperatures many usually
rusty articles. such as combs and
azors and knife handles. shrivel or
end or break.
Verhoyansk is q huddle Of mud plas-
cred huts along one struggling street.
he windows are Of ice. so that can
les are needed both summer and win
er. Twenty miles away. across dis
,al plain of snow. lies a low. black
ne Of pine forests. II
On the other side Is the frozen river.
rom which dense. unhealthy mists
Ill up for weeks together in the au-