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Life In Wild Siberia

Life In Wild Siberia image
Parent Issue
Day
18
Month
March
Year
1887
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

"In each cabin is tho large fireplaoe, wluch is osed for both heat ing and eooking," said Lleat, W. H. Sclieutze, who has traveled In northwest Siberia. "Thore is seldom more than onc room in these cabius, and usually the owner's cattle, if he has any, occupy one end of the room in which he lives, being tied or prevented front trampllng on the babies by a bai The houses are commonly very comfortablo, but are awfully dirty, and smell - tkere is no word to describe it. Often. until I got uscd to it, I would rather lay down in the snow outside, with the thermometer 50 degveos below zero, th:in sloop in one of the huts. But on'vo no idea what a man can stand when he has to." "Havo Ihcy windows in thcir houses?" "Yes, ice windows. ïhey use ice as we use glass. A clear piece is selectcd about flve or ix inclies tbiok, morti.scd in tho w'.iidow-opcnitijj in blocks tvvo feot and sometimos as large as four fe,et square, and with water is made solid. The water is as good as putty. When the windovv beconios dirty tlicy serapo it ofi' with a knife, and when it lias bcon serapcd thin thoy substituto a now pane." "Doesn't the windovr ever melt?" "Bless you, no; it isfreezingcold that íar (rom tho tire. If the room ever got rarm cnough to melt the ico the Yakut couldn't hvo in it, and would have to go out doors to cool off. At night the fire is allovrcd to go out, as they havo ! to econonaise in fuel. All they have is ! driflwood, gatlicrod on the banks of j the Lena river in the suinmer time." "How do thoy sleep? Do they uudress when they go to bed?" "Alwaya. They strip to their shirts, wliich are made of a thick sort of liussuni clcth, as heavy as our canvas. Tho raen and omen wear the samo kind of garments, and nevcr liavo more than one at a time. I took up a lot of thick Öannel for them, enough to last tho rest of thair lives, and it will bc a great deal more eotnfortable than the nativo suit, althongh thcy don t like it at first. Whcn they undress they get into bunks built in the side of the house, sometinies a man, his wife, and all bis childrcn in tho same bunk. They have reindeer skins under and over thenj, and curtains of the same hanjjiug beforc the bunks." "Do they ever bathe?" "Never in tbeir lives. 'i'hoy haven't any word for bathingin their languagc. and the impossibility of keeping cloan is one of the greatest hardships of Arclic life." "What do they eat?" "Reindeer meat, beef,- they hare eows, queer looking animáis about half oslargeu oura, with a hummock on their backs like a camel, - fish, bread made of black ryo flour, tea, and an imported food made of chopped beef rolled into balls about the size oí a marblc íind covcredwith a dough. These thoy pound up and make into a soup. Thcre is a wood that is very nutritious whcn tis ground up andboiled. Mixed with roindeoi' meatit makes a good soup. Xhey often eat their fish raw. Of course they freezo solid as soon as they are taken out of tho water, and tho native, parlicularly if he is on the road, cuts them off in shavings as thin as our chippcd beef, and cats them raw. They are palatable, and I have lived for days at a time on them, with a cup of coffeo, made over an alcohol-lamp, by way of varioty, The greatest luxury thej' have is butter, and they will eat it by the pound as our people eat confcclionery. A poor sort of butter is made from the milk of a native cow, that look.? and tastes more liko cheese, and they prize it above all other classes of fooil, "The amount of butter a native will eat when he can get it," continuod Lieut, Scheutze, "is astonishing. A frlend of mine in Siberia told me of a mini wnoan; iuuiy-ai. juuuu.i m vnw day, and then didn't get all he wantod, They have a way of pounding up a red berry and mixing it with butter, which g.ve.s it a bcautiful pink tiut and improvea the flavor. Their drink is the Russian vodka, almost pure alcohol, and they will trade thoir shirts for it. Thü liquoris scarcc but expensive, so they aro neccssarily a températe

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Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Democrat