Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1924-08-06

high ground Of the interior is COW
cred with an everlasting neve, which
consolidates at the sources Of all the
valleys to form tongues of Ice, most
Of which extend clear into the sea,
ending in abrupt walls.
The one incomprehensible statement
in Captain Cooks account of South
Georgia is his emphatic testimony that
he saw no brook or stream along the
whole coast Certainly today the
rushing torrents are a great impedi-
ment to progress on land, and during
January thaws cleaning cascades, Wis
IDLE from far at sea, pour from the
lodges of the coast hills
The climate Of South Georgia varies
relatively little throughout the year.
The mean annual temperature is very
close to the freezing point and the
sky is prevailingly overloaded. Feb
ruary is the Warmest month. Snow,
generally in the form Of hard, globu-
lar particles, which sting the skin like
hail, falls in every month, and rain
and sleet storms are both frequent and
prolonged during the summer. Either
rain or snow falls on about five-sixths
of the days Of the whole year.
The greatest proportion Of clear
days is in winter; but November and
December, the springtime of the south
ern world, are often made memorable
by few successive days Of sunshine,
while on rare midsummer afternoons
of January and February the jealous
Ice King is sometimes lulled to sleep,
the thermometer rises as high as 68
degrees Fahrenheit, and South Geor-
gia basks in a sparkling calm. Only
on such fleeing occasions is the
subtle feeling of the glaciers absent
from the land and sea.
Has Oceanic Climate.
South Georgia has an oceanic, as
opposed to a continental, climate; it
is under the continual equalizing in
1uence of the sea, and it thoroughly
demonstrates how much more unfav-
orable to the production of a varied
flora Is a constantly low temperature
than seasonal cold Of the severest
kind.
Owing to the same oceanic life con-
ditions, the land animals of South
Georgia are even fewer than the
plants. There is no indigenous ter
restrial mammal, but rats, horses and
reindeer have been introduced and are
thriving In a wild state. The rats
were probably first brought by sealing
vessels hundred years ago.
Most remarkable of all the living
things of South Georgia, perhaps, are
the great clumsy sea elephants. They
have contentious dispositions and are
given to fighting among themselves
from earliest puphood, yet fondness
for company Is one Of their marked
traits. An animal coming out Of the
sea is obviously not contented on q
lonely shore. 1t wanders about nerv
ously between brief resting periods
and soon returns to the water, per-
haps feeling that it must find some
one to quarrel with.
A sea-elephant, when landing, crawls
slowly up the strand, stopping to let
the waves break over it and taking
advantage of every swell to aid its
progress When 1t has reached the
upper beach it rises to its full height
and reconnoiters then, proceeding
little farther, it repeats the action; or,
if it spies none Of It's kind, 1t may take
siesta before continuing the search.
The two dozen species Of birds which
breed on South Georgia offer fas.
cinating field for the study of certain
biological questions, notably the strug-
gle for existence. OF special interest
are the penguins. Two species are
still common at South Georgia,
The nobler tribe of penguins, the
kings" form sort of hereditary aris-
tocracy. They are stalwart birds
which stand a yard high They wear
gold collar round their necks, and
deport themselves In rather lofty
and snobbish manner
A band of king penguins makes a
glorious display when the morning sun
! light shines on the golden threats
and orange ear-patches of the soldier
ly birds. Sometimes the brigades,
| scattered here and there over the
beaches and moraines, hail and an
swer each other with long drawn, mar
tial, bugle calls, and then, as If at a
concerted signal, all will start march
| ing toward the sea. Sometimes the
birds stand together ON the sunny
side of a snowdrift, preening their
feathers, marking dme," or even per-
forming the difficult stunt of balancing
themselves on one foot and scratch
! Ing their heads with ths other.