Valdez daily prospector., 1912-03-23
A HOT TIME.

HcW tHlIlS. HOW muCn ozone nau to do with il, now much was due to the excitement in the search for gold, to what extent it was owing to the uniqucncsS of a klOndikc experience, no one can say, but there was always plenty of social and mental warmth in the old town. Brain torpor was unknown. Those who iran the White Horse rapids and mushcd the Skagway trail," were not de- generates. Nothing appeals to the romantic sense of adventure more than the life of the gold seeker. Bret Iartc, lIcnty, Bal lantync, Joaquin Miller, and later Jack London, Rex Beach and Ser vice have told us the story in it's many alluring forms. The dis covcry of gold on Bonanza in 1906 was a "call of the wild" in a sense different from that in which 1t is made use of hy Jack London; the news, flashed around the world, brought it's tribute of Elrd:'. adventurous, daring ard al. u . SanIc time genial splits, fr 'in every corner of the siC:c. To anacmic constitutions the call did not appeal. Red blood cir culatcd in the veins of the Klon- dikers. Hot-headcd they were, as we'll as hOt-blOOdcd, and cold winters added to their torridily, as opposition arouscs effort.
 That was long ago. It is not known whether the present in habitantS of Skookum gulch, Stewart, Indian, Miller, Glacier and FOrty-milc have through age and the gradual process of ac- climitiZatiOn lost their aforesaid snap and vim, and gentle prov idencc has set about warming up the mountains and valleys to protect an effete generation. Is it case of "tcmpcring the wind tO the shOrn lamb," or is the Ja- panesr current to blame for the remarkable appearance of Daw- son citizens the other day in dustcrs and straw hats. cotton shirt waists and fans? Or has the north pole, in a drunken frOl- ic, swcrvcd from it's usual sober angle?
 Should Dawson become tropical in Wcathcr--aS well as in lan- guaGc--and revert iO the days when hairy manlmolhS, tigers and Libcrian iunglrS and moraSscs, and wrndrd their way through boiling SwampS and nigG"r heads, inc dcbiliiating efforts arc sad tO contemplate. "ParkcyS" will be superseded by linen duStcrS. 'Mucklucks' must give way to pruncllO boots. DiaphanOuS dra- pcrirS and mosquito netting will take the place of fclt-linpd sleep ing bags. No more mackinaw and drifflcs. IIootch and Tom Chisholm's whiskcy are too DOW erful for a Riviera climate and Italian skies, and will be aban- dOncd for the mild beverages of Milwaukee and Adriatic wines.
 It is sad tO think of the i'm pending change and it's physio- logical results. In our minds eye we sec the virilc prospcctor, a mild and listlcss sybaritc, the editor of the News, lisping the language of Mayfair and the brisk policeman subsiding into q flaccid jelly.
 Before the ladies and gentle men of Dawson, don muslin and shirt waists again--Ovcr as many strata of undcrcloihos as would inark a dozen geological acons, let them ponder the Dhilosophy of Walt Mason: But I love q country with all kinds of snow, where blizzards cavorf and iciclcs cling all over your features till fhawcd in inc spring. For cold is q tonic that braces you up and makes you as gay as an unliccn- sed pup; it fills you with ardor to do hcffy things; the healthy man likes it and dances and sings. A wind whooping down from the white Greenland hills is better than anyonc's cottonwood pills, while languorous zephyrs will fll you with bile and make it. hard labor to burblc and> smile. There's energy, health and n sol ace in cold. The backbone of winter is better than goldr'--