I lI I —..—(~ A PICTURESQUE SPOT. Fertility and Beauty of Straw; , berry Point, Alaska. ' The Best Place in the Northwestern Ter- ritory for Agricultural Pursuits—A Perfect Wilderness of Plants and Grasses. The season that is- just finished has been the most profitable in the matter of tourists as well as gold miners that Alaska has ever had.’ Now that-it is over, and the regular inhabitants of the territory have had a chance to think ~ about it a little, they are beginning to 1 y . \ I ing the boat. 7 perfect order. talk abOut the great things in store for them. Alaska is gorgeous in summer. Nowhere else in the world is there such scenery as along the island-dotted channel from Port Townsend to J u- neau. Not only is nature dressed in her best to receive the tourists who are going there in ever-increasing throngs, but the inhabitants' also get on their good clothes and their good behavior, and for four or five months the whole territory is'arrayed in its Sunday best. But this good clothes exhibition comes only in streaks. It occurs for about two days'of each week, when the steam-' er from “down below" is in. The tour- ists come and go wit-h the steamers, and rarely stay over from one boat to another. As the steamers lie in each port only a day or less, the tourists have not much chance to make a last, me impression. Now, however, there is likely to be a change. Juneau men are nothing if they are not hustlers, and with the recollection of this sea- son’s profits and possibilities they are arranging to put up a big' hotel on Strawberry Point, at the entrance to Glacier bay, in southeastern Alaska. Strawberry Point is one of the most beautiful and picturesque spots in all Alaska. It lies between Juneau and Sitka at the entrance to Glacier bay. It is a glacial moraine, which extends out. into icy straits about ten miles from the mainland, and separates the en- trance to Glacier bay on the-east from the little narrow strait between Pleas- ant island and the mainland on the west. The moraine has an elevation of from 50 to 100 feet above high tide, and contains hundreds of acres of fer- tile level land. If there is aplace in the territory where agricultural pursuits can be carried on it is at Strawberry Point. The soil is a rich, sandy loam, and the benches are mostly free from the marshy groundwhich character- izes most of the level land along the coast in southeastern ,Alaska. The whole peninsula is covered with a lux- urious growth of blue joint, and other grasses, and many acres of it are dotted with the strawberry plants which give the point its name.,They are so thick that when they are in blossom in the early summer the land resembles a New York: farmer’s field of daisies, and in September, when the berries ripen, they fairly make the ground red. The climate of Strawben y Point is much pleasanter than at most other places in Alaska. At Sitka, for instance, the average is 220 days of rain, snow or fog in a year. Juneau is about as bad. It never gets very cold because of the influences of the warm Japan current, but there are very few days of clear skies and bright sunshine. But at Strawberry Point the precipitation of rain in summer, and the correspond- ing fall of snow in winter, are much less than at Juneau. This is because across the‘ bay in the west the lofty Fair- weather range lowers like an army' of giant sentinels stationed there to pro- tect this little garden spot from the terribly icy winds that would sweep across from the Pacific if these moun- tains did not hold them back. The rainfalls in summer are like those of the interior, and not like the long, steady drizzles and downpours of Sitka “and Juneau. Strawberry Point-is prob- ably the only place in Alaska Where the lightning plays and the thunder roars in a typical summer shower. In places on the benches there are bunches of young cedar and spruce, with occasmn- cl thickets of alders, but most of the ground is clear and rolling. The grandest scenery in Alaska is on view from Strawberry Point. Besides the giants of the Fair'weather range, there are the great ic'e cathedrals of the Muir and Pacific glaciers, which loom up 20 miles away and send off a continuous procession of tremendous icebergs, which pass down by the point like a great fleet of white war ships in review. The waters about the point teem with fish, and there is game a- plenty in the near-by woods. Already the enthusiastic Juneau men are plan- ning their summer hotel and calling Strawberry Point the “Saratoga of the Northwest.”—-N. ,Y. Sun. Drill at Life-Saving Stations. 0n Tuesdays there is boat practice; this consists in hauling the boat-car- riage to the bench, unloading, launch- ing her and pulling out through the surf—backing, turning, or doing just what the keeper commands, he steer- After pr actice, the boat is Dput on the carriage. hauled back to the boat house, cleaned and left in Wednesday is signal- ,drill day. There is an internation- al code of signals, composed of flags representing the different let~ ‘Lers of the alphabet. Each surf- man .has a set of minature flags, and he signals ‘to the. keeper, wh‘o an- swers them with his flags—so any man - at the station can read a- message from a wrecked ship. All the principal maritime nations have adopted this code, and as vessels are provided with flags, and books containing the key to different signals, printed in many ian-_ guages, communication between 1e5- sels and stations can be easily carried 011,- whatever the ship‘s nationality.— . Teresa A. Brown, in .St.II.Nicholas. 7., —-The present, the present, is all thou hast for thy sure possessing; like the patriarch’s angel, hold it fast till it gives its bleSsing. —~Whittier.‘ ANTARCTICI POSSIBILITIES. Explorer B'o'rchgrevlnk Thinks There May Be a Future Ifor CommerceI'rhei-e. The recent antarctic expedition was a commercial one, and commercially it, was a failure, because we did not find \the right whale, so valuable for its whalebone. The‘ Antarctic was fitted out for the hunt of thatparticular kind of whale; nevertheless, I have no doubt that the commercial result of the expedition would have been much bet- ter had we worked under more favora- ble auspices. I do not by anymeans consider the fact of our not having met with the right whale in those seas as conclusive. proof of their nonexistence in the bay- at Victori'zi Land. The Antarctic found the right whale at Campbell island in the winter time; the boats fastened to five of them, of which, however, only one was caught. Now, to me it does not seem improbable that these whales go south to the bay of Victoria Land, where Ross saw them, in the summer, and then, return north in the winter. It would seem incredible that a man of Sir James ll’oss’ standing, supported as he was by able scientists and experi~ enced Whalers, should have Imade a grave error when he said' that this valuable whale was to be, found in large numbers in these southern lati- tudes. The difference in the appearance of the blue whale, as we found it there, and the right whale, in the method of spouting, is so striking that even the most casual observer could not easily be deceiv.cd Very possibly, had we penetrated farther into the large open bay discovered by Ross in the vicinity of the volcano peaks Erebus and Ter- ror, we. too, would have found the right whale in great numbers. We saw very many blue whales, but had not the ap- pliances to take them. As I 1emarked at the international geographical congress, we found few seals. TheyI increased, however, in number as we worked eastward, and seemed afraidlof the land. All of the seals that we met 011 the shore showed much uneasiness and speedily made for the water, a fact which strengthened my belief in the existence of a large enemy of the seal on the continent. I do not doubt that the seals congregate together in larger numbers at some places on the bay. I consider the guano beds which we discovered of great commercial impor- tance, and they ought to be well worth the attention of enterprising business men. The. specimen which I brought back with me contains a large per- centage of ammonia. Furthermore, from the analysis of the specimen of rock which I brought back with me, the possible and prob- able presence of valuable minerals on the continent. is proved, although the lava and the volcanic aspect of the céast line do not speak favorably for the presence of «heavy metals near the surface. -—C. E. Borchgrevink, in Cen- tury. MAN AT THE WHEEL. Some of the Ingenious Devices for Navi- gating a Great Steamer. Let us spend an hour with Capt. Ran- dall, of the American linei St. Louis, on the bridge in midocean. He first takes us into the w heelho‘use. It is a room ten feet wide with a curved front. A wheel about three feet in diameter is placed in the center of the room, and 3 on are surprised to see that the quar- termaster keeps turning it almost con- stantly. You have . lways thought that he had simply to keep his eye on the floating compass in the box directly in front of him and hold the ship steady on her course. As you look at the com- pass you see the ship veering now this way and now that, as she rolls and plunges, or as one screw turns faster than the other, and thus pulls the ship around. It is hard to make two inde— pendent screws go exactly at the same speed, and so this man at the 11 heel is busy all the time turning the ship straight. He has to fight the waves and the screws and the winds at the same time, and he is a busy man. This steering wheel controls the ship by means of a small column of oil in a- little tube. By turning the wheel this my or that the oil in the tube is forced up and down, and that opens or closes certain valves in the steam-steering gear 400 feet away, and the rudder is turned as easily as if a child had done it. In most steamships the steam- sieering gear is controlled by hydraulic power—that is by water—but the use of a column of oil is an improvement. As you look about you see fastened to the cornice directly in front of the wheelman a little scale in black with white lines marked oii‘ on it. There is a dial on it, and as the ship rolls you see that this isa device to mark the degree (-1“, the roll. You may notice that it takes about a second for e1cry degree ‘0. a roll. On each side of the mom is another long black gauge, and the dials point to cerain figures, generally be- tween 90 and 95. These dials are little electrical devices, showing exactly how many: revolutions the screws are mak- ing. The‘ captain at a glance knows W hat 15 going on in the engine-rooms. Over in the corner of the room is an- 01 her curious electrical device. It is a little box with a clock in it. The cap- tain tells ybu it is the machine that controls the whistle in time of fog. The law requires a long blast of the whistle at such times every two minutes. By pressing a button on this little clock' apparatus, and by setting the (-lock in a certain manner, the whistle is blown automatically for-seven seconds every minute. There can be no error of man 1'11 that work. Just as sure as every minute comes around that whistle will blow seven sconds. Under the old way, when a man pulled the whistle cord, there, was no exactness in the work. When the fog' 1s over the button is 1eleased and the whistle stops. -—Har- . per’ s Round Table. —-Until. the'17th century a ring formed part of the olficial dress of every priest of the Roman church. V~r~~ er, - . Of recreation and exercise. I "SIMPLE SAVAGES. How They Bunkoed a —_Wh'isky Pirate Out . of a Sloop Loaded with Liquor. The Indians of the West coast of Van-’ souver island have adopted a novel and lecidedly effective method of dealing with white whisky pirates Who fre- quent their villages, as James Johnson, of Victoria, formerly master of the sealing schooner Kilmany, knows to his cost, remarks the San Francisco- Examiner. He has come to the con- clusion that there was big money for the man who made a systematic tour of the west coast with bottled samples of gin and whisky. Accordingly he purchased; a small t1 adinO‘ sloop, loaded her with a cargo of stimulants, and sailed for Barclay s'ound some time ago. few days, he did a rushing business re- tailing his low grade intoxicants at five to ten dollars per bottle. ’Dhe In— dians knew they were being robbed and rcmonstrated, but no reduction in the price was made. Then they held a council and a great plan was evolved. The aid of the In- dian police was secured, and while the master of the sloop slumbered he was surrounded, made prisoner, hand- cuffed, and led in triumphiito the vil- lage. In vain he pleaded fOr'release. He was told he would be held until the coming of the .r police patrol and then delivered to the officers for supplying liquor to Indians. This meant a fine of at least $200 and the confiscation of his craft, so he determined to suggest terms, and his offer of the sloop and its cargo for his freedom was quickly ac- cepted. The cargo was consumed in a single night by the dusky diplomats in celebrating the success of their Na- poleonic stroke of generalship. AN ACTRESS WEEPS, She Sheds Real Tears During the Scenes She Creates. According to Footlights there never was an actress who could command her lachrymal glands as Adelaide Neilson could. Several of her leading men found out her peculiar faculty to their cost. One of them was “Jack” Barnes. At the time the English actor was young and slendor and rather fancied himself in such parts as Romeo, going to considerable expense in dressing. For Romeo he had some lovely cus- tumes, all silk, satin and laces. A deli— cate pale blue jacket was his favorite in one of the scenes between Romeo and Juliet, but he was awfully sorry he had it before the season was over. After a few performances Barnes no- ticed that the beautiful pale blue silk on the front of the jacket was stained in some way. There were long streaks in it, which he could not account for. That night Miss Neilson and he were in one of their pathetic love scenes. Her head rested on his breast. She looked up, turned her face to the audi- ence a moment, which at once burst into most tumultuous applause. When she turned her face toward Barnes again he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. He glanced at his costume and saw the cause of the stains. There were several fresh wet streaks on the handsome pale blue silk made by J uliet’s tears. Barnes tried to hold her head away from him, but the cos- tume had to be sacrified to art, and when the season was over his costume was a striped instead of a plain blue silk. the change having been caused by J uliet’s too realistic weeps. Europe’s Gretna Green. It appears that the island of Heligo- land still continues under the German rule to maintain its character as a sort of European Gretna Green. The Heligo- land clergy are Lutheran. and are elected by the people, after the ancient Frisian custom. But most of their services as ministers of holy matrimony are not. required by the members of their own flock, but by outsiders who cross the seas to the island for the sake of getting married. Herr Berndt, the organist and music. teacher of the island, has officiated for several years as the “father” of numerous brides. and has accepted his fee as ““zeuge" no less than 500 times. When he gives away a lady whom he has never seen before to a gentleman about whom he knows nothing at all, Herr Berndt accepts a fixed “honorarium” of 1100 marks—so at least the Berlin Das Echoe tells us in a notice of the‘organist’s recent jubi- lee as a matrimonial proxy-father. Muscles in Bike Work. It is strange that so many people should seem to think that bicycling de- velops only the muscles of the leg. C-1i.ticisms of :this kind, how ever, are. usually heard ql'QlIl those 11 ho have. not tried this meet fascinating means Experience has pro1ed that bicycling brings into play and develops all the important muscles which help to build up the physical structure. Of course the legs receive the greatest amount of exer- cise, but the use of the arms, back and chest is very important. When a steep incline is encountered the legs alone would be unable to supply sufficient propulsivepower. Thehandlc bars must be firmly grasped, and the strain on them is very great; in fact they might be broken if at all defective, which rrives a faint idea of the great strength that must be put forth by the arms and back. _ Coldest Winter in New England. The most memorable winter in New England of which we have a clear record was that of 1740-41, says a cor- respondent- of the Stonington (Conn.) Mirror. Then people passed and re- passed from Providence to Newpo1t ’on the ice, and from the shores of Con- necticut to Montauk Point. One rec- ord say s that a man drove g horse and sleigh from Hurlgate, near New York, 'to Cape Cod. A sleighing party went from Norwich to Fisher’s island on the ice the same year. In the winter- of 1857 the boats on route for New Y ork were icebound 'near Hart’s island for 19 days, and for three weeks the mer- cury kept in the ne1ghborhood of zero. There, for a ' PRESERVE THE HAIR. I_.___I.__;___ , . .. 17311116 What Is Invaluable. Avoid tight fitting hats and collars, of some porous material. The two former prevent a due supply of blood to the parts; hence the hair papilla) are put, as it were, on short commons ,all the time the hats and collars are worn. The caps engender caloric, which sets up irritation and ultimately that most stubborn form of dandruff—namely, pityriasis (i. e. , branny scales). . Note that all the headgear which is not porous should be ventilated at top and sides to allow a free current of. air. Never sit or stand with the top of the head nearagas light or lamp light. The’ heat thrown out is apt to, paralyze the scalp tissues and dries up the hair itself. Don’t wash the head oftener than once a fortnight, when first rub in the yolk of an egg and thoroughly rinse out with warm water, into which has been thrown a pinch of borax. Dry carefully and apply a little pure olive oil. Beware of the common practice of dipping the comb in water when ar- ranging the hair. It promotes decompo- sition and rancidity of the natural oil, and so leads to “rotting.” If the hair be naturally dry, apply a little olive oil occasionally. If natural- ly oily, occasionally wash away the ex- cess of sebaceous secretion by means of a lather or tepid water and soap hark (Quitlaya sapoInaria). Salt water is most injurious to the hair, for which reason when sea bath- ing wear an oil cap.’ Always treat the scalp as if you loved it. Take to heart Dr. Godfrey’s dictum that “every touch affecting so delicate a.- texture as the scalp should be soft and soothing, eve’i'y application bland and mild.” Don’ t use stiff bristled or wire brushes, and in all cases brush gently. Also, always brush out the hair before attempting to comb it, and use the comb as little as possible. Have the ends of the hair clipped once a month, if only to prevent them from splitting. But don’t close crop. —Pl1ila- delphia Times. SHE OUTTALKED DUMAS. How a Clever Irish Girl Got Ahead of the Academician. Dumas fils had curt- manners. He was shy. Like most shy people, he vanquish- ed this defect by going into the other extreme. He softened as he grew old and took a relativepolish at the meet- ings of the academy. The tongue was always shrewd; it could be cruel. The code of social amenities was at the time I speak of a sealed book to him. I recol- lect a tilt between him and an Irish girl, brought up in Paris, who sat op- posite to him at dinner. She was singu-I larly plain. But her ugliness was most amusing, and she was a witty, good tempered being. The nose was short, funny. retrousse, the mouth wide and laughing and the tongue lisping, but, as the French say, bien pendue for rep- artee. ' Dumas, after staring some 'time at her, put his forefinger to the tip of his semiaquiline nose and pushed it up. He kept it so for some time, still staring. The pantomime was grossly impertinent. I thought—and so did every one else— that the poor girl would burst into tears. She laughed, nota bit hysterically, and, feeling she was an object of general at- tention and of sympathy, made a funny remark on the grimace that M. Dumas was pleased to give himself. He began to rally her. She flung back retorts. I never heard such a mimic war of words before or since. It ended in a splendid victory, through good humor andwit, on the young lady’s side. French to perfection. “M. Alphonse” was then on the stage. Mr. Ernest Pin- ard, who listened with rapture, cried, “Mademoiselle enfonce votre Alphon- sine !’ ’ Alphonsine was the comic actress in that play. Dumas retired from the combat net- tled, but he did not long bear malice. He afterward said what a pity it was that ' la jeune Irlandaise etait dans le monde. She had the vis comica in a greater degree than any actress or actor he had ever seen, and proved that where l’ame est bien faite there cannot be ugliness. —Paris Letter in London Truth. The Contagion of Idea}. Aflirmation, pure and simple, with— out reasoning and Without proof, is one of the surest means of planting an idea in the popular mind. The more concise it is, the more free from every appear“- ance of proofs and demonstration, the more authority it has. books and the codes of all ages have al- Ways proceeded by simple affirmation. Statesman called- upon to defend any political cause and manufacturers ad- vertising their goods know what it is cept it is constantly repeated and so far as possible‘in the same terms. Na- poleon said that repetition was‘the only serious figure in rhetoric. By repetition an aflirmation is incrusted in the minds of hearers till they at last accept it as a .. demonstrated truth. What is called the current of opinion is formed, and then the potent mechanism of contagion comes in. Ideas that have reacheda cer- tain. stage, in fact, possess a contagious power as’intense as that of microbes. Not fear and courage only are contagi- ous. Ideas are, too,o on condition that they are repeater] often enough. When the mechanism of contagion the phase that leads‘to success. Opin- tolerating and then accepting it. The idea heuce’forward gains a penetrating and subtle force which sends it onward, while at the same time creating a sort of special atmospheie, a general way of thinking. —I-Populu1I Science Monthly. j The \Ycathér- ” or rain; caster] wIinds. ~ . , , r. . Amenses.1.119141111121111.qux Some Useful Suggestions to Those who, also close fitting caps, unless these be She spoke» worth: Yet it has no real influence, ex- ' has begun to work, the idea enters upon- ‘ion, which repelled it at first, ends by Increasing clou iness, folloWed by snow- shifting to northerly, The religious . 1: Ilnly. Eight-Page lino Cent 1 L“ Paper in Connecticut" Norwalk, South Norwalk, East Norcl walk,-Westport, Saugatuck, New I Canaan, Darion. ,Rowayton, and Noroton. N 0 other Paper. in Norwalk compares with. it for , Local and General News.” Its local news is bright,- reliable and Well written. After once reading 'The Evening Gazette you Will be convinced that it is the best evening paper in Western Connecticut, and will take no other. Having. a special correspondent in each town, it. is en- abled to furnish the lateSt and freshest news. ONL SUBSCRIBE £01111“. OFFICE OPEN 'DAY AND EVENING. » , 9 ' 'k 3:? Ask your newsdealer- or neWSboyI to brmg it __ to you for a week. $35 «f: A
Norwalk Chronicler