Part 11 (2/2)
Whidbey, entering the Inlet in 1794, sustained his reputation for absolute blindness to beauty. He found ”a compact body of ice extending some distance nearly all around.” He found ”frozen mountains,” ”rock sides,” ”dwarf pine trees,” and ”undissolving frost and snow.” He lamented the lack of a suitable landing-place for boats; and reported the aspect in general to be ”as dreary and inhospitable as the imagination can possibly suggest.”
Alas for the poor chilly Englishman! He, doubtless, expected silvery-gowned ice maidens to come sliding out from under the glacier in pearly boats, singing and kissing their hands, to bear him back into their deep blue grottos and dells of ice, and refresh him with Russian tea from old bra.s.s samovars; he expected these maidens to be girdled and crowned with carnations and poppies, and to pluck winy grapes--with _dust_ clinging to their bloomy roundness--from living vines for him to eat; and most of all, he expected to find in some remote corner of the clear and sparkling cavern a big fireplace, ”which would remind him pleasantly of England;” and a brilliant fire on a well-swept hearth, with the smoke and sparks going up through a melted hole in the glacier.
About fifteen miles up Taku River, Wright Glacier streams down from the southeast and fronts upon the low and marshy lands for a distance of nearly three miles.
The mountains surrounding Taku Inlet rise to a height of four thousand feet, jutting out abruptly, in places, over the water.
CHAPTER IX
Gastineau Channel is more than a mile wide at the entrance, and eight miles long; it narrows gradually as it separates Douglas Island from the mainland, and, still narrowing, goes glimmering on past Juneau, like a silver-blue ribbon. Down this channel at sunset burns the most beautiful coloring, which slides over the milky waters, producing an opaline effect. At such an hour this scene--with Treadwell glittering on one side, and Juneau on the other, with Mount Juneau rising in one swelling sweep directly behind the town--is one of the fairest in this country of fair scenes.
The unique situation of Juneau appeals powerfully to the lover of beauty. There is an unforgettable charm in its narrow, crooked streets and winding, mossed stairways; its picturesque shops,--some with gorgeous totem-poles for signs,--where a small fortune may be spent on a single Attu or Atka basket; the glitter and the music of its streets and its ”places,” the latter open all night; its people standing in doorways and upon corners, eager to talk to strangers and bid them welcome; and its gayly clad squaws, surrounded by fine baskets and other work of their brown hands.
The streets are terraced down to the water, and many of the pretty, vine-draped cottages seem to be literally hung upon the side of the mountain. One must have good, strong legs to climb daily the flights of stairs that steeply lead to some of them.
In the heart of the town is an old Presbyterian Mission church, built of logs, with an artistic square tower, also of logs, at one corner. This church is now used as a brewery and soda-bottling establishment!
The lawns are well cared for, and the homes are furnished with refined taste, giving evidences of genuine comfort, as well as luxury.
My first sight of Juneau was at three o'clock of a dark and rainy autumn night in 1905. We had drifted slowly past the mile or more of brilliant electric lights which is Treadwell and Douglas; and turning our eyes to the north, discovered, across the narrow channel, the lights of Juneau climbing out of the darkness up the mountain from the water's edge.
Houses and buildings we could not see; only those radiant lights, leading us on, like will-o'-the-wisps.
When we landed it seemed as though half the people of the town, if not the entire population, must be upon the wharf. It was then that we learned that it is always daytime in Alaskan towns when a steamer lands--even though it be three o'clock of a black night.
The business streets were brilliant. Everything was open for business, except the banks; a blare of music burst through the open door of every saloon and dance-hall; blond-haired ”ladies” went up and down the streets in the rain and mud, bare-headed, clad in gauze and other airy materials, in silk stockings and satin slippers. They laughed and talked with men on the streets in groups; they were heard singing; they were seen dancing and inviting the young waiters and cabin-boys of our steamer into their dance halls.
”How'd you like Juneau?” asked my cabin-boy the next day, teetering in the doorway with a plate of oranges in his hand, and a towel over his arm.
”It seemed very lively,” I replied, ”for three o'clock in the morning.”
”Oh, hours don't cut any ice in Alaska,” said he. ”People in Alaska keep their clo's hung up at the head of their beds, like the harness over a fire horse. When the boat whistles, it loosens the clo's from the hook; the people spring out of bed right under 'em; the clo's fall onto 'em--an' there they are on the wharf, all dressed, by the time the boat docks. They're all right here, but say! they can't hold a candle to the people of Valdez for gettin' to the dock. They just cork you at Valdez.”
At Juneau I went through the most brilliant business transaction of my life. I was in the post-office when I discovered that I had left my pocket-book on the steamer. I desired a curling-iron; so I borrowed a big silver dollar of a friend, and hastened away to the largest dry-goods shop.
A sleepy clerk waited upon me. The curling-iron was thirty cents. I gave him the dollar, and he placed the change in my open hand. Without counting it, I went back to the post-office, purchased twenty-five cents' worth of stamps, and gave the balance to the friend from whom I had borrowed the dollar.
”Count it,” said I, ”and see how much I owe you.”
She counted it.
”How much did you spend?” she asked presently.
”Fifty-five cents.”
She began to laugh wildly.
”You have a thirty-cent curling-iron, twenty-five cents' worth of stamps, and you've given me back a dollar and sixty-five cents--all out of one silver dollar!”
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