The Ordway new era., 1913-05-02

those great stretches OF snow anu Ice
which lay for months upon the
ground? No man can tell nor any pen
describe these manifold mysteries OF
the frozen north. Here! in these
brief, sweet summer months, the
nomad may linger. gazing by day or
night on a never-setting sun, breath
ing an air the purest and most invis-
Grating that ever was waited on the
breeze, coming from snow-tipped
peaks and down their slopes which
are densely clad with hardy noun
tain pines. But let the wanderer In
quest of sunshine beware lest he over
staps his welcome, since once that
great magician. King Frost. asserts
his sway. this is no land for the weak
lings:
Send me the best of your breeding. lend
me your chosen ones. -.
Them will take to my bosom. them Will
call my sons.
For this is the stern law Of Alaska.
and woe betide him who SCOTS at 1t.
Even among the chosen ones and
hardy pioneers Of today terrible In
deed are signs written on many OF
their bodies. Scared and rugged vet
erans show, with smiling face.
places where once fingers or toes
adorned their hands or feet, but which
have now gone forever. token OF
mans struggle against Natures
cruelty. Let those who sit In q com
Portable chair by the fireside at home.
In 20 degrees OF frost, think what life
hn ha
ready so degrees or go degree below
zero. Only those who have been and
felt 1t can realize what this means.
Probably no country on earth has
lured SO many people to ruin and de-
struction. In proportion to the num-
bers visiting 1t, as Alaska has done
In many of the great gold rushes
which have taken place In recent
years. The writer, during three sea.
sons spent in that country, and In
trips extending from its southernmost
portions to the arctic shores. has per
sonally been an eyewitness of many
pitiful scenes there. The time has al
ready arrived when fast steamers
make pleasure trips during summer
and convey tourists In comfort along
the southern coasts of Alaska. through
some Of the finest fjords and scenery
on earth. But probably none Of these
luxurious travellers has any idea OF the
privations suffered by many OF the
| old-time pioneers who followed this
| route on their way to the new Edo
RADIO. Nor can they hope to realize
| what a winter is like within the arc.
tic circle. Mr.. r. w. Service has
more accurately described this than
any other writer in the following
splendid lines:
The winter! the brightness that blinds
The white land locked tight as a drum.
| The cold fear that follows and finds you.
The silence that bludgeons you dumb,
The SHOWS that are older than history.
| The woods where the weird shadows
| slant,
The stiffness. the moonlight, the mystery.
| I've bade 'em good-bye-but l can't
| ! No more awe-inspirlng scene can be
witnessed than that Of the ice break
ing up on some big river. such as the
Yukon, or many others in Alaska
when the pent-up waters burst their
way In spring through many miles OF
Icy letters, with an accompaniment
I OF appalling noises which bewilder the
on locker. Or again, let the traveller
| gaze a while at some spot where one
OF the huge glaciers ends abruptly
In the sea, towering aloft above the
waters. Here vast masses OF ice con
stantly fall on. drift aimlessly about
and form continual source Of menace
to unwary mariners.