Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-03-25

tongue of land extending from the south
western end OF the territory as far as from
New York to Cleveland. | have skirted the
coast under the shadow OF the katmai vol
cano, which few years ago spread coat,
of ashes over the northland, and have seen
something of the island Of Kodiak the lar
gest in Alaska, where the government is now
experimenting in dairy and stock farming.
The whole of this region is practically I'M
known. Let ME give you few facts con-
corning some parts of it.
First take Boring sea, over which i
steamed in the good ship Victoria coming
from the Seward peninsula to the Aleutian
islands That body OF water is twice as big
as Hudson bay. 1t has greater area than
the Gulf OF Mexico. 1t is as long from north
to south as from Chicago to New Orleans,
and its extreme width is greater. than the
distance between the mouth of the Hudson
and the Missouri river at Omaha. The sea
is colder than the Pacific ocean, from which
ii is shut off by the Aleutian islands, and the
climatic conditions are such that it is usually
shrouded in Jog. 1t is noted for its storms,
and during the winter a great part OF it IS
covered with ice.
When we left Nome the water was
smooth and we had no wind to speak of all
the way to the Aleutians. The sky was
bright with leecy clouds floating here and
there through it, and fog bank or so were
now and then to be seen in the distance.
There was not enough breeze to raise white
caps Here the color of the water was
green. A day or so later it changed to a
deep blue, caused by the greater depth, or
possibly by the clouds The northern half
of Boring sea is so shallow that if YOU could
drop the Washington monument down into
it the aluminium tip would reach above the
surface OF the waves Further south, along
, the Aleutian islands, the sea is much deeper,
and in places it reaches a depth of almost
two miles Near the Aleutian islands are the
great banks, somewhat like those of New
foundland. upon which feed tens OF millions
OF cod and halibut. They are among the
best fishing banks OF the world and are a big
asset in Our aquatic wealth.
AS we came south. | talked with the cap
tain about his annual voyages. He makes
every year. Navigation is open early IN
June and it closes about the middle of Octo-
Der. The ships often break their way in
through floating ice. and they go out chased
by Jack Frost. The ice comes to Nome al
most in night 1t freezes first along the
shore, and the whole sea becomes mushy
The water looks as though it was covered
with white caps the caps being sush. Then
a cold spell will come, and the sea will freeze
far out from the shore. The ice may not be
thick at first and it breaks with the tide and
floats away If the wind blows toward the
shore, it is driven on to the beach and banks
up When the winter is established there is
ice everywhere near the shore. 1t some
times extends from Nome as far as Nunivak
island, and it floats in from the Arctic ocean
through Boring strait
When the ice breaks in the spring it goes
almost as fast as it comes in tbs fall. A
channel may form between the shore and
the solid body OF ice, and there may be 4
river of water with banks of ice on each
side. Sometimes the first passengers are
landed upon the ice and the ships are frozen
in. Later the ice disappears and the landing
has to be done in great cage that runs on a
trolley from a station near the ship across
the water to the shore.
| shall not forget my first sight OF the
Aleutian islands. We had passed no land
for two days when we came to the island OF
Unimak, which is at the end of the Alaska
peninsula and which forms the beginning of
the great chain of islets that reaches from
Alaska almost to Asia. The islands lie in a
great crescent which look hike stepping