The Wrangell sentinel., 1930-02-06
Life at Nome Not MonOtOnouS; Folks Glad When Winter Comes;
 Summers Are Short and Hectic


 early day glamour of beach mining, stampeding, dog racing. At least, that is the impression gathered by an Alaskan who is spending a win ter in the Seward peninsula coun- try after years of residence in other sections of the territory. The im- pressions of this sourdough obser- yer, who takes things as they come and manages to get a little bit of kick out of everything, as the say ing goes, are described in an in- teresting summary of conditions:
 The summers are hectic because SO much work has to be compressed into the few months when naviga- tion is open. and boats come and go just frequently enough to keep ev- eryone more than occupied. Then the hills are calling all the time to come picnicking and an abundance of flowers carpet the back country their span may be brief but they are profuse while summer lasts. People have little summer homes out of town where the women and youngsters spend most of their time, with the menfolks driving out after work There is fishing and swimming and later everybody gets interested in getting berries, and all Nome takes to the country on Sum days.
 Nome architecture presents some styles to challenge the variety of Juneau. Practically all houses have stormsheds or caches; in other towns these would be removed for the summer but in Nome it evident ly isn't worth while taking them down for the short season when they're superflous. Lawns of gfass are not, there are lawns of gravel and then there are flowers in con- servato1ies built onto the house, or in outside hothouses, or in the win dows. The population goes in for calendulas, begonias, flu c h s, sweet peas, dahlias, pansies, snap dragons, clarkia, etc., and now that winter has come, all have loads of bulbs.
 Many houses have an extra wall l built up several feet from the ground. a foot or nine inches away, and in the space is earth, to make the dwelling warmer; then most people also bank their houses with snow when winter comes.
 Nome is one of the few towns possessing telephone system where one asks for the party by name instead of number. To hear folks calling Central for the Nevada Saloon" or the Chamber of Com merce" rival sounds more like the days of 1900 than these good pro- hibition times.
 The saddest thing about the city of Nome is that there is no plumb ing. This means that a midnight scayanger makes the rounds. After this unpleasantness has been stated, however, the picture thenceforth improves.
 The race problem confronts Nome, and it does look as if the half breeds and natives will have place in the future of the burg. The young natives won their share of prizes at the winter masquerade; the judge without knowing the identity of the contestants and if the more conservative members of society were disgruntled, all they could do was grunt. A halfbreed girl was elected Queen of the May Mother" last spring, and the two white girls who were next in line for the honor acted as her attend ants when she ascended her throne and great was the discussion en- suing.
 It is amusing to see the exchange in style of clothing that has taken T
 place between the white people and the Eskimos. The white women tog out in parka, mukluks and big nit tens when they step country-ward during the winter and they are as likely as not to meet a group of fair native maidens picking their way along on spike-heeled shoes, and dolled up in tailor-mades, and wear ing up-to-the-minute toques and Kid gloves. The older native women stick to their customs and often can be seen fishing through the ice for tomcods-with the ever-present baby tied on behind, of course, in- side the parka. The little girls copy the style in their play and carry their dolls fastened on their backs.
 Summer or winter Boring Sea is