Traveller.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 369, 4 June 1903, Page 7

Traveller.

FBOM THE GOLDFIELDS OF ALASKA. - -^ winter postal service in Alaska yjrAa is full of hardships and danger, tjgbs In the winter of 1899.tw0 carriers started with the mail from Juneau on the route to'Clrcle Cityi The iiail was well-nigh impassable; the men were often compelled i td--: wade 'through" ioy water; the exposure to the Arctic severities of weather was hazardous in the extreme.

When near Star City the two carriers suddenly found themselves on a great block of ice apparently surrounded by water. Hurrying forward, they met deep water asd ithen started back, but discovered to their dismay that the ice they were on was now completely separated from the pack, and that they were floating down i with, the swift current to what seemed certain death. v?i '**. * •

Darkness' came on. They lighted a lantern, shouted and fired their guns. As they drifted by Star. City another carrier, who" had just reached that place and who was known as ' Windy Jim,' saw the imperiled men and, with the postmaster, seized a small boat and went to the; rescue, f

- After a desperate struggle amid floating ice, they succeeded; but before effecting a landing they had drifted more than five miles below Star City. The report giving the story closes, with these words: . -'This is just one of the ;common,.little, every incidents of the trail; If ■ Windy Jim'. (otherwise Mr J. W. Dodson) had hot been at Star the men and the mail would be at the bottom of the river now. If the department issues medals for bravery, certainly Mr Dodson ought to have two or J; three.' STEEET NEEDLEWdMENr |

f I ;i" ■• I If it is a novelty, it must sometimes :be a convenience to be able to have one's garments mendod in the street while one waits. Jn nearly all the principal cities of China native sewing-women are to be seen seated on low stools, or perhaps by the roadside, mending articles of masculine Weaiißg apparel. The accomplishments of these street seamstresses are somewhat limited, their efforts with the needle being confined, as a role, to. ' running.' Other branches of needlework are practically imknown to them. As a consequence their efforts are better appreciated by natives than by European or American travellers*->» never short of patrons among the Chinese tradesmen, for these are oftenifnMiveg «!; other districts, and. haVing** Sbmß W thehcityHo engage in business, have no one to mend a rent for them. Their wives being left at home, they are glad to employ the street needlewoman For this class of customers the skill of the itinerant sewing-woman answers every purpose. They are usually the wives of boatmen and labourers, who live in the houseboats which line the creeks, and thfir needles are a great help in 'solving the problem of maintenance in a crowded city. * ]■' -- i : ;

ELECTEICITY TO HEAT A TOWN.

The town of Davos is considering a bold scheme for the abolition of all the ordinary forms of fuel. It is proposed to erect an extensive electric plant at the confluence of two large mountain torrents, whose united waters will supply the necessary motive force. The first coat of the installation is estimated to be eight and a half million francs. Already electricity j is not only used for lighting aHd motive power, but is adopted in many -villas for cooking and heating, and in one of the largest bakeries. The idea is to do away with all contamination of the air by the use of fuel.

REVIVAL.§£ MOfeMONISM. '(I The Mormon hierarchy has an unyielding s rip on the machinery of the State of Utah/and on all its political and educational interests. Though often denied, there is no doubt that its practice of polygamy continues, in defiance of all the promises- mß.de to -the United States when Statehood was granted. Its power in contiguous:, States and territories is increasing at an alarming "rate. By means of colonisation it has so affected the States of Idaho,., Wyoming,, Montana, and Nevada, and- the territories of New Mexico and Arizona as will soon secure, if it has not already secured, practical political 'control in. all that region. Its missionary activity throughout tbe Union is almost incredible. It claims to have now 2,000 missj onarjeß T on the field-r----1,400 of them in Southern States—and to have made last' year 20,000 converts. They are also establishing missions in foreign countries on a large scale. At a conference held in Berlin 125 Mormon missionaries were present ~ who were working in the German' Empire. They reported 2.000 converts. In Norway and Sweden they have for many years been gaining a continually increasing number of converts. —' Sunday at Home.'

HARVEST IN THE iILPS.

In England the making of hay requires some time. Tbe hay.ir of ten piled up into rounded pikes, five or six feet in height, and so left for two or three weeks for the wind to penetrate it, sc that the drying begun, by the sun may be effectually completed. After' J this, the hay is stacked. But, in the high Alps of Switzerland, haymaking, in fine weather; is never more than an affair of three dajs. The sun: is very powerful, but of more account than the heat of the sun is the natural dryness of the atmosphere, which causes a quick evaporation of all forms of moisture, and which makes the air so valuable as a tonic both to the sick and to the healthy. | In the long .Swiss valleys which border -on the northern plains of Italy, the gathering in of the hay is done almost entirely by Italians, the natives finding a sufficiency of occupations in their own household affairs and in the service of the visitors who flock to the district during the summer months. Bands of haymakers, men and women, come up from Lombardy in July, when the grass is long. They fix on a; line of march, and work along it from village to village, staying in each until all the hay belonging to its inhabitants has been cut and stacked. They journey all the way on foot, walking through the cool of the night * and the early morning, and sleeping through the heat of the day. Sometimes they get a lift from a passing cart, and they will sit along the sides and: back, swinging their feet to and fro like children, laughing for theer lightness of heart, and singing in thoee : sweet, harmonious, musical voices which come to them with their southern birth. Their baggage is simple; the private possessions of each individual comprise a bundle and a huge coloured cottotf. umbrella, and in. addition to these there is a polenta pot, which is generally common property. They are a picturesque* people, with black hair and eyes, brown akins. "and teeth that gleam white by contrast. Many of them have very beautiful features, and they all possess the charm of perfect health and strength. Like all southern people they are fond of colour, and introduce it in a I very canning manner into their costumes.