Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-03-23
WRITES FROM
DISTANT NORTH
HENRY COPPLE TELLS OF 68 DE-
GREES BELOW ZERO TEM-
PERATURE IN kOTZEBUE.

Mails from Alaska travel slowly in
summer time but in winter they hard
ly move, as will be seen in the letter
;, just received from Henry Copple, a
we'll known former Ottumwa now To-
Gated near Kotzebue, Alaska. Mr..
Couple wrote January 7, 1917, and the
letter has just arrived. A letter re-
ceived from him several weeks ago
had been written few days before
| Thanksgiving day and did not reach
here until several months later.
! Friends of Mr. Copple and other read
ers will find the following letter of in
! terest:
Kotzebue. Alaska,
Jan. Z, 1917.
James F. Powell,
Ottumwa, Iowa.
Dear Jim:
! Your letter of September % was re-
ceived January g. Was very glad to
hear from you but very sorry to learn
Of the death of Claude Myers. l had
not heard Of it until I got your letter.
You see, the last Courier l received
was dated August and the next was
September 49,. You are the only Of
'tumwa person write to but am going
to write to some more of the boys, If
l can learn their addresses. Where is
Dwight Devol? You remember he used
to run grocery store and sold out to
Mort Pile just before left. Where is
Tom stodgill? Is he married yet?
Well. it has been very cold SO far
this month. have one of those max
imum, minimum thermometers and
keep a daily record of the weather
Will give you a few of the last days
beginning January 3, coolest, 40 de-
grees below zero: warmest, 80 below.
January 4. coolest, 60 below: warmest
Sc below; January 5, coolest, GO below;
warmest, Ga below. January G, coolest.
6S below: warmest. "a below. Janu-
airy Z. today, coolest. Ga below: warm
est, go below: So you see how it is
running here for cold Well. in few
more days will be able to see the sun
shine. You see. where live am
north of the Arctic circle and have
about forty days that cannot see the
sun, so when he comes back he looks
pretty fine. That makes one appreci-
ate the sun. In summer, June and a
few days in August, when he shines
the full twenty-four hours, then it is
fine UP here. Just think. fine sunshine
at IL o'clock at night You call it mid
night out there.
had letter from Berry Aldridge of
Fremont. an old friend of mine. He
read that letter in The Courier and
so wrote to me. You say you don't
know how stood it for seven days on
top Of my house. Well, you see. Jim,
VIXEN I could stand it no longer lay
down to it, but just the same it came
very near getting me. l see in the
paper where the river there rose six
teen to eighteen feet above high water.
Well, / measured it here and it was
thirty-five feet above low water The
canyon is about fifteen or eighteen
miles below me and the ice damned
there. The walls of the canyon are
rock, seventy-five to hundred feet !
up and down, and the river is |
nearly 600 miles long. live about six.
ty-five miles from the mouth. Well, | |
wrote you short time ago telling you !
about The Courier. | see on the wrap. !
per it says April 1. 1917. Now. Jim,
don't let it stop-keep them coming. |
Yes, my letter to you made good con.
nections. In summer time when the |
boats are running letters make good |
time. In winter mail travels by dog |
team and takes some time l am com. |
ing back to old Ottumwa some of these |
times just to see how 1t looks back |
there. Is John Lewis. the lawyer, still |
in Ottumwa? Best wishes to all the |
boys. Where is Hal Patrick?
Your old friend,
Henry Copple. !
Kotzahue Alaska |