Douglas Island news., 1919-06-27
YELLOW "PERIL"
 FINALLY EXPLAINED
The Presence of Yellow Sediment on Water and Land Has Had
 Us Worried

e Local soothsayers have been puz' Q zled for the past several weeks over - the appearance of a sulphur-colorcd scum that has been on the waters of the channel and on the sidewalks lor the town and every other notice. rablc place.
 Many guosscs have been made aa Co the originatlon of the stun, also as to the composition of it. Some folks havc said that it is a volcanic ash5tliat has been blown here by the uIiper air currents. and inquiry has been made by wire whether there had been violent volcanic eruption anywhere in the world. Those In charge of these cruptions wired back that there had not.
 Some folks. real old timers, said that this yellow stun appeared in | 1865. just before the signing Of peace between the North and the South. and that it portcndcd peace on earth and good will among men. They could not explain the compo- sition of the stun but they said they did know it was a good omen.
 Other folks said that it was oil which was lost overheard when the Princess Alice secured supply at TrcadwclI a short time ago. They paid no attention Co the fact that there was plenty of the stun around before that time and that oil gen cralyI doesn't como up town. All they wanted to do was Co attach the blame for the phenomenon to cor poration.
 Some amateur fisherman said it was fish spawn that foretold big year for salmon this year main taining that it always appeared cy- cry four years when the big humpic run was due.
 Others claimed it was sawdust and that it was a shame that the sawmills were allowed to dump their sawdust into1hc waters Of Alaska that the legislature had failed in its duty for not stopping such a thing. and spoke of graft.
 Many people did not pretend Co | know what it was, but shook their heads and muttercd that under , Democratic administration most any thing might happen, and were more outspokcn in their demand that President Wilson return from France and pay attention to the needs Of the U. s. A.
 Those folks with a scientific turn of mind wcrc quite certain that the stun was sediment from mustard gas that had been let loose on che battlefield of Europe. They explain cd that it was just the color of mus tard. that the gas went up into he air and some cvaporatcd. but tho I sediment was carried by the upper air currents an over the world Ev- cry time a person sncezcd in their presence they said "l told you SO" and blamed the mustard gas.
 That its presence was not local is proved by the following, taken from the Dawson News of June 13:
 Eagle City yesterday afternoon
 reported that a fine dust, evident
 ly Of the nature of sulphur, was
 sitting gently down in that vi-
 cinity. It possibly was from some
 active volcanic crater A large
 volcanic eruption was reported a
 few days ago in Japan. Some
 think upper air currents may have
 carried the dust this way. Last
 week similar dust was reported
 falling at Dead Tree Ponit, B. c.
 Several volcanoes are active in Alaska. especially that of Mount
 Katmai."
 To satisfy themselves. chemists at Troadwell have made an analysis of the sulphur-colored stranger that has invaded our land and water and they find that 1t is the pollen of some plant that grows on land. They did not positively identify the plant or tree from which it has !, come. but they did identify it as a pollen. and that of land plant.
 The presence of it is explained this year by a wcll-known fact of nature that among plants and trees they have their certain big produc- tive years. such as the big salmon , berry year. the big bluoberry year. | etc. Well, this is the biz year for & the plant that produces this pollen n and as there is a big production. the V pollen has been caught by the winds f and spread broadcast over the coun- n try. making it more noticeable than Il in years when there Is only an aver n age production. Thus VIC have this Is yellow peril that has caused such z a commotion.
 r. This theory. which is undoubtedly ,- right. has been borne out by tho k statement of a local gas boat mar d who was in Taku Harbor recent,
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