Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1914-08-24


the steamer Spokane. and, passing
through Puget sound. did not &c
through the Narrows, between the
north end Of Vancouver Island and
! the mainlandi until late the next night
( The island il more mountainous thaH
had supposed, many peaks showing
large fields OF snow when we passed
The weather. which had been fine
from the beginning OF our trip, chang
ed az We went north. sunday after
noon rain set In. which continued al
most continuously for five days. al
though not with rapidly nor with
much Wind or cold or any lOw-lyine
fog. In the late afternoon Of August
z we reached and stopped at Prince
Rupert, the Pacific terminus Of the
lGtand Trunk Pacific. and hopeful
on that account OF becoming a me-
tropois. Thus far Il has not achieved
lanythlng near greatness and In APP
pearance Is aa crude and as SPRAYING
as could well he imagined II is ON an
irregular hill side which runs up steep
from the waters edge. and as tide
runs high In all that region, an im-
mense amount Of planking has been
done on piles TO provide wharvcs and
causeways leading from them 20 the
higher laud. II is the farthest north
Pacific coast settlement OF any note
in Canada, and | shall watch with In
tcrest for notice OF rs progress toward
the goal Of It's ambition TO become a
great city.
North Of Seattle.
Before making further reference to
the places beyond Prince Rupert.
which we visited. viii attempt to de-
scribe the region In which they are To-
Gated. From Seattle. north, as / nave
already intimated. the mainland Is
well guarded by Islands, Vancouver.
which Is about A0 miles long, being
the principal one. The islands are SO
numerous and some so large. and
there are 80 many places where the
water penetrates the land In the shape
OF inlets or flords that one not fam
illar with the region often cannot de-
termine whether land TO the east of
him IL an island or part Of the main
land The shore on each side, as far
north as Skagway, is so near that Il
Is distinctly visible. and OF similar
character throughout. Everywhere
mountains rise from the water many
OF them with precipitous faces to-
wards the sea, beside which the
famed palisades OF the Hudson would
be dwnrfed 10 insignificance. There
Is snow on many Of the SUBMITS. so
many In fact that from the time Of
leaving Seattle. | think there Is not
point whore there are no snow-bearlng
mountains In sight. For the whole
distance, on islands as wen as main
land. and as far as one can see on
ench aidc, there Is a thick growth of
evergreen trees Of several different
unAllae ugFu1inpltt - II
although il must he that IN spots they
are large. as we saw logs OF good size
at some Of the saw mills. This growth
does net extend TO the tops Of the
higher mountains or. Of course to
sheer preeipices. but Il covers so much
Of the region as to lend character to
its whole aspect and gives II, especial
~ In stormy weather. a somber APP
pearancc IT Is said that back from
the coast a short distance this growth
ccnscs. and harrcnncss prevails. for
the most part Toward the north the
scenery while remaining Of the same
general type. becomes more pro-
nOunced, and the mountains more
lofty and snowy and those BY the wa
ter rising more abruptly from t. In
the entire trip from Vancouver is
land north | did not see one tree not
an evergreen. growing by nature. and
understand there are none. although
at some inland points there are q few
native oaks.
Streams Are Small.
AT frequent intervals there are
streams. mostly small, but some of
consil erable size. rushing down the
green-elad mountain sides into the
sea. from high-up bodies of snow.
From start to finish they are foam-
white, and to them, or their Ike must
be due the name white coal" applied
to streams furnishing power. All. /
think, of the Alaskan villages we visit
ed had electric light and some of them
power for other purposes from such
streams. As the supply Is immense, II
remains only to discover a cheap
method of storing electricity to make
Alaska an exporter OF IL TO an al
most unlimited perhaps an
improbable. but in view Of storage
II would seem not an impos-
sible consummation The rain fall
Is almost incredibly large. At Sitka
It Is officially about eighty Inches per
year. but at other points il is claimed
II reaches 100 Inches. and at one or
two places $50 inches per year. As
far north as Stka the cold is not ex-
trcme nor the snow fall very large
near the sea level. In the <londl<e
region II Is, Of course. different. One
man who had spent year at Dawson,
said he had seen mercury which was
hung out In front of a store in a bot
lie frozen solid for two days In sue
cession. Men who work in the mines
below ground. where they are warm
enough to persplfe at their work, are
not required to go in where forty der
grees is reached, as they cannot come
out into such temperature without Sc
rious hazard TO their lives. All streams
not of considerable depth freeze to the
bottom. and the water from their
sources spreads out over the ice and.
freezing. forms ice terraces. My In
formant. who went TO the Klondike In
the second year Of the rush. said that
In the short time needed TO eat a lunch
OF bread and beans. heated as hot as
they could heat them, he had known
the beans IN his tin plate TO freeze at
the bottom, and yet | learned of
woman who went there from Minne-
sofa well toward twenty years ago. and
who had been at Dawson ever since,
who said she had a good home at
Dawson, liked living there. and was
I this season for the first time going
back to Minnesota on a visit to see
whether she could make herself as
comfortable there as she was at Daw-
son. II IL impossible for an outsider
to see what the lure is probably, hui
there surely Is one. but as | did not
so to the klondike region. | will not
NO.