The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1910-02-24
GUARDED BY ICY WIND
A FriJid Convict Station In the
Northeast of Siberia.
THE COOLEST SLOT OH EARTH
No Precautions Are Necessary Against
Escape at Verhoyansk-When the
Wind Blows, Half an Hour In the
Fierce, Biting Cold Means Death.

Fierce, Biting COLO means Dsath.
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 d village iii the northeast of
Siberia named Verhoyansk.
There the average temperature of
the three w0rs; winter months Is SO
degrees r. below zero, which means
So degrees of frost. During january
the average temperature is ST degrees
below zero, or IS degrees of frost. On
one occasion the thermometer regis
tered the remarkable figure of l2O 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. c~uriously enough.
is as hot there as III 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 N~erhoyanSk
stands are withered and gray. The
grass is colorless. The few flowers
are odorleSs. The bare soil Of the
plain itself refuses 10 produce vege-
tables of any kind. The ground is
frozen hard to IN incredible depth.
No farming. of course. is possible.
There are no cattle or poultry. All
focd is imported. Why. then. does this
little village exist? 1t is Il convict sta
ton. and IFS population of 400 is made
up of officials ard 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. Ve~rhoyansk.
strange though it sounds. is guarded
by the wind A gale when the Their
mometer stands at 80 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
his 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
does not penetrate far. With a tent
at night and warm furs i'll the day
time one can be quite comfortable,
however low the temperature.
But let a wind nee rise and things
are different. AS .Verhoyansk is the.
coolest place in the world, the few
winds thai 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 60 de-
grees Of frost, If q wind springs up
and adds 20 or 80 degrees of warmth
to the air one has to fly for dear
life to shelter.
Half an hour in that fierce. biting
dry cold that is Verhoyansk's normal
weather is. if not SO dangerous, quite
as powerful in its effects. In that icy
stiffness an iron ak head dropped on
the ground smashes like glass. A
board of u~nseasoned wood. or the
other hand. freezes hard as iron.
De Windt in his travels in this re-
gion carried his milk In solid cubes
in a net attached to his sleigh. His
thermometers all burst. for at the
V~erhoyansk temperatures quicksilver
freezes and can be hammered like
copper. 1t has indeed been turned into
bullets and shot through a deal board.
All he could find of a case of claret
were a few lurnps of red ice and some
s%plintered glass. But what troubled
him most was the discovery that it
was. impossible to smoke. AT 40 de-
grees below zero frozen nicotine blocks
the stem Of the pipe. while cigarettes
or cigars freeze to the lips.
1t must he embarrassing to find. as
one does when the thermometer reach
es 80 below. that ones very breath
falls at ones feet in Il fine white pow
der. A mustache becomes Il tOrture-
a heavy. solid lump of ice. To lay ii
bare hand on metal means that the
skin will stay where ii touches. A
careless traveller Once witlesSly left a
shirt outside his hut TO dry. When be
picked it Vi, again it e and almost
broke. When swung through the air
it made a noise like theatrical thun
der.
At these temperatures many usually
truSty articles. such as combs and
razors and knife handles. shrivel or
bend or break.
V~erhOyalIsk is IL huddle of mud plas-
tered hutS along n Struggling street.
The windows are of ice. Sc that ran
G.es are needed both summer ard win
fer. Twenty miles away. across Il dis
mai plain of SNOW. lies a low. black
line of pine forests.
On the other side is the frozen river.
from which dense. unhealthy miSts
roll mp for weeks together in the au-
tumn. There are not flowers in spring.
and summer is dingy. Perhaps they
are right at V~erhoyansk in looking
forward to the long months of winter
But il is not a cheerful p~lace.-Pear-
sons Weekly.
The order Of society is founded on