Part 12 (1/2)
I counted the money. It was too true.
With a burning face I took the change and went back to the store. My friend insisted upon going with me, although I would have preferred to see her lost on the Taku Glacier. I cannot endure people who laugh like children at everything.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Copyright by E. A. Hegg, Juneau
ESKIMO IN BIDARKA]
The captain and several pa.s.sengers were in the store. They heard my explanation; and they all gathered around to a.s.sist the polite but sleepy clerk.
One would say that it would be the simplest thing in the world to straighten out that change; but the postage stamps added complications.
Everybody figured, explained, suggested, criticised, and objected.
Several times we were quite sure we had it. Then, some one would t.i.tter--and the whole thing would go glimmering out of sight.
However, at the end of twenty minutes it was arranged to the clerk's and my own satisfaction. Several hours later, when we were well on our way up Lynn Ca.n.a.l, a calmer figuring up proved that I had not paid one cent for my curling-iron.
From the harbor Mount Juneau has the appearance of rising directly out of the town--so sheer and bold is its upward sweep to a height of three thousand feet. Down its many pale green mossy fissures falls the liquid silver of cascades.
It is heavily wooded in some places; in others, the bare stone s.h.i.+nes through its mossy covering, giving a soft rose-colored effect, most pleasing to the eye.
Society in Juneau, as in every Alaskan town, is gay. Its watchword is hospitality. In summer, there are many excursions to glaciers and the famed inlets which lie almost at their door, and to see which other people travel thousands of miles. In winter, there is a brilliant whirl of dances, card parties, and receptions. ”Smokers” to which ladies are invited are common--although they are somewhat like the pioneer dish of ”potatoes-and-point.”
When the pioneers were too poor to buy sufficient bacon for the family dinner, they hung a small piece on the wall; the family ate their solitary dish of potatoes and pointed at the piece of bacon.
So, at these smokers, the ladies must be content to see the men smoke, but they might, at least, be allowed to point.
Most of the people are wealthy. Money is plentiful, and misers are unknown. The expenditure of money for the purchase of pleasure is considered the best investment that an Alaskan can make.
Fabulous prices are paid for luxuries in food and dress.
”I have lived in Dawson since 1897,” said a lady last summer, ”and have never been ill for a day. I attribute my good health to the fact that I have never flinched at the price of anything my appet.i.te craved. Many a time I have paid a dollar for a small cuc.u.mber; but I have never paid a dollar for a drug. I have always had fruit, regardless of the price, and fresh vegetables. No amount of time or money is considered wasted on flowers. Women of Alaska invariably dress well and present a smart appearance. Many wear imported gowns and hats--and I do not mean imported from 'the states,' either--and costly jewels and furs are more common than in any other section of America. We entertain lavishly, and our hospitality is genuine.”
Every traveller in Alaska will testify to the truth of these a.s.sertions.
If a man looks twice at a dollar before spending it, he is soon ”jolted”
out of the pernicious habit.
The worst feature of Alaskan social life is the ”coming out” of many of the women in winter, leaving their husbands to spend the long, dreary winter months as they may. To this selfishness on the part of the women is due much of the intoxication and immorality of Alaska--few men being of sufficiently strong character to withstand the distilled temptations of the country.
That so many women go ”out” in winter, is largely due to the proverbial kindness and indulgence of American husbands, who are loath to have their wives subjected to the rigors and the hards.h.i.+ps of an Alaskan winter.
However, the winter exodus may scarcely be considered a feature of the society of Juneau, or other towns of southeastern Alaska. The climate resembles that of Puget Sound; there is a frequent and excellent steams.h.i.+p service to and from Seattle; and the reasons for the exodus that exist in cold and shut-in regions have no apparent existence here.
Every business--and almost every industry--is represented in Juneau. The town has excellent schools and churches, a library, women's clubs, hospitals, a chamber of commerce, two influential newspapers, a militia company, a bra.s.s band--and a good bra.s.s band is a feature of real importance in this land of little music--an opera-house, and, of course, electric lights and a good water system.
Juneau has for several years been the capital of Alaska; but not until the appointment of Governor Wilford B. Hoggatt, in 1906, to succeed Governor J. G. Brady, were the Executive Office and Governor's residence established here. So confident have the people of Juneau always been that it would eventually become the capital of Alaska, that an eminence between the town and the Auk village has for twenty years been called Capitol Hill. During all these years there has been a fierce and bitter rivalry between Juneau and Sitka.
Juneau was named for Joseph Juneau, a miner who came, ”grub-staked,” to this region in 1880. It was the fifth name bestowed upon the place, which grew from a single camp to the modern and independent town it is to-day--and the capital of one of the greatest countries in the world.