Norwich bulletin., 1917-03-31
FHT4 YEARS OF sEwARD's FOLLY

/ widest sort Of extravasance and be-
cause a far-seeing statesman went
right on and consummated that pur-
vast territory Stewards Folly"
D5ubitIess few If any Of these moss-
backs are alive, to be confused on the
half century anniversary of the ac-
QUESTION of the great treasure land.
IF SO, how must they feel to reaIize
| that during these fifty years Alaska
times over! And she has but begun
Ito yield up her royal treasures Of
mines, forests and streams!
mats Wife I had Of course to. read
just my ideals of the country as one
must do who knows of a locality mere
" through the geography or through
| I had naturally expected to hea. that
| Alaska was q frozen place. where
everybody went about IN. beaTskin
8arb, too chilled to care much for
geld to feel justified in getting out Of
/ the country and into some Hveable
LAID as promptly as possible.
| To my surprise, was told that the
ordinary tailored suit which the Wis
| itor was even then, wearing was that
| in which she had made her return trip
from juneau, the Alaskan capital, ex-
eept that Of course she had had a
and had carried furs.
Her narration Of daily experiences
and happenings in her northwes tern
home, her reference to social affairs,
{commercial matters and the like. did
| not differ very markedly from what
one might chat about in telling Of do
ings In any New England town of
cit i1or riz Az nf -
/ knew that thoy must differ; but it
was merely an example of human
adaptability, that women in juneau
should have teas and card parties, and
that the men were interested in cub
houses and building coed roads for
automobile traffic and similar affairs,
which absorb the minds of women and
men right on our own street and in
our own town.
My conversation with this bright,
entertaining woman led me to find out
what could about this wonderful pos
aska, which has a coast-line about
&c, 600 miles long, more than twice as
long as all the rest of the United
States.
I learned that this wonderful Amer
lean wilderness has such marvcIous
scenery as is to be found in no other
place on the globe-forest-clad is
lands, lakes, glacier meadows, cas-
cades, fjords, sounds, majestic noun
tains, picturesque headlands. noun
tain walls, in infinite variety.
Far from being bleak and frozen
wilderness as is the popular idea, 1t is
rich in forested hills. with their
countless spruces, hemlocks, expresses,
pines. even familiar dogwood and alder
like our own, the wild apple. and
others.
Never was there such a land for
L. L. Ill L. - To-
salmon berries, blackberries raspber-
iries, with service-berries on dry open
places and cranberries in the boys,
sufficient for every bird, beast or hu-
man being in the territory and thous-
ands of tons to spare. according to the
testimony of such an accurate OBJ
server as was John Muir.
Huokieberries are especially abund-
ant. A species that grows well up ON
the mountains is the best and largest,
a haif-inch and more in diameter and
delicious in flavor. These grow on
bushes three or four inches to foot
high. The berries of the eommonest
species are Smaller and grow almost
everywhere on the low grounds on
bushes from three to six or seven feet
high. This is the species ON which
the native Indians depend most for
food; gathering them in large qudnti
ties. beating them into a paste, press
ing the paste into cakes about an .nch
thick, and drying them over a slow
fire, to enrich their winter srf'res.
Salmon berries and service-b berries are
preserved the same way.
The same In 1ians gather the fruit
of the widl apple to flavor their fat
salmon, intuitively recognizing the
hygienio principle that sour things
should be eaten with fish.
Then as to climate-en the shores
of the mainland and the island off the
coast, the climate is remarkably tenn
Fpsrate, free from extremes of either
heat or cold throughout the year. 1t
is rainy, however, only about one
third of the summer days being clear
and sunny; but the great round sun
days of July ami August surpass any
Alaska summer day is a day without
night.
In the Far North, at Point Barrow,
the sun does not set for weeks and
even in southeastern Alska, where the
majority of tourists go, it is only a
few degrees below the horizon at its
lowest point, willie the topmost coIors
of the sunset blend with those of the
sunrise, leaving no gap of darkness
between.
The highest summer temperature
observed by M1Ir in southeastern AL
aska was 76 degrees, and then the
velvet softness OF the atmosphere was
remarkable. The winter storms up to
the end OF December were mostly rain
at a temperature of 35 or 40 degrees,
with strong winds which sometimes
roughly lash the shore and carry
scud far into the woods.
Tho long nights are then gloomy
enough and the value of snug homes
with cracking yellow cedar fires may
be finely appreciated.
! Snow falls frequently, but never to
any great depths in that locality, or
to lie long.
It Is said that only once since the
settlement OF Fort Wrangell has the
ground been covered to a depth Of
four feet.
The mercury seldom falls more than
hve or six degrees below the freezing
point, unless the wind blows steadily
from the mainland.
Back fro mthe coast, however, be-
yond the mountains. the winter months
are very cold. On the Stickeen River,
at Glenora, less than a thousand feet