TSa© Csremmaftibifii ®iF Sauna M®G©©
By ROBERT W. SERVICE
There are strange things done in the midnight sun,
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have there secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge,
I cremated Sam McGee.
Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows,
Why he left his home in the south to circle round the Pole, God only knows.
He was always cold, but the land of gold, seemed.to hold him like a spell
Though he’d often say in his homely way that “he’d sooner live in hell.”
On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way, over the Dawson trail.
Talk of your cold! Through the parka’s fold, it stabbed like a driven nail.
If our eyes we’d close, then the lashes froze, till sometimes we couldn’t see;
Twasn’t much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee
And that nervy night, as we laid packed tight, in our robes beneath the snow,
And the dogs were fed, and the stars o’erhead were dancing heel and tow,
He turned to me and “Cap.” says he “I’ll cash in this trip I guess;
And if I do, I’m asking that you won’t refuse my last request.”
Well, he seemed so low that I couldn’t say no; then he says with a sort of moan:
It’s the cursed cold, and it’s got right hold, till I’m cleaned chilled through the
bone.
Yet it aint bein’ dead—it’s the awful dread of the icy grave that pains;
So I want you to swear that foul or fair, you ’ll cremate my last remains. ’ ’
A pal’s last need is a thing to heed, so I swore I would not fail;
And we started on at the break of dawn; but God he looked ghastly pale
He crouched on the sleigh and he raved all day, of his home in Tennessee;
And before nightfall a corpse was all that was left of Sam McGee.
There wasn’t a breath in that land of death, and I hurried, horror driven,
With a corpse half hid that I couldn’t get rid, because of a promise given;
It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say: “You may tax your brawn and
brains,
But you’ve promised true, and its up to you, to cremate these last remains
Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.
In the days to come, though my lips were dumb, in my heart how I cursed that
load.
In the long, long night, by the lone fire light, while the huskies, round in a ring,
And we started on at break of dawn; but God, he looked ghastly pale.
And every day that quiet clay seemed to heavier and heavier grow;
And on I went, though the dogs were spent, and the grub was getting low;
The trail was bad, and I felt half mad, but I swore I would not give in;
And I’d often sing to the hateful thing, and it haerkened with a grin.
Till I came to the marge of Lake LeBarge, and a derelict there lay;
It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice, it was called the Alice May
And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum;
Then “Here,” said I with a sudden cry, “is my cre-ma-tor-eum. ”
Some planks I tore from the cabin floor, and I lit the boiler fire;
Some coal I found that was lying round, and I heaped the fuel higher;
The flames just soared, and the furnace roared such a blaze you seldom see;
And I burrowed a hole in the burning coal, and I stuffed in. Sam McGee.
Then I made a hike, for I didn’t like to hear him sizzle so;
And the Heavens scowled, and the huskies howled, and the wind began to blow.
It was icy cold, and the hot sweat rolled, down my cheeks and I didn 't know why
And the greasy smoke, in an inky cloak, went streaking down the sky; _
I do not know how long in the snow, I wrestled with gristly fear;
But the stars came out and they danced about, ere again I ventured near;
1 was sick with dread, but I bravely said, “I’ll just take a peep inside.
1 guess he’s cooked, and its time I looked,” then the door I opened wide.
And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar
And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and he said “Please close that door,
It’s fine in here, but I greatly fear you’ll let in the cold and storm—
Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it’s the first time I’ve been warm.
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic tales have there secret tales that would make your blood run cold;
The Northern lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake LeBare I cremated Sam McGee.
DOUGLAS DOTS
Harold Manners a brother of II. E.
Manners has arrived from California.
He is said to resemble his brother, and
is therefore a very good looking young
man.
H. V. Sully’s shop is nearing comple
tion. The structure shows enterprise/
and is an industrial credit to Douglas.
Douglas now has two night watch
men.
E. G. Datson has inspected the Port
land job, and returned to Douglas to
stay.
John Henson and company have mov
ed into their new offices. A number
of safe deposit boxes have already been
engaged in their new fire and burglar
proof safe.
Lock Mulligan has gone to 4 Puget
Sound to get married. . r - .
The hall of the Alaska Labor union
is nearly completed. It was, erected
under contract by L. G. Thomas, and
is one of the most substantial and in
teriorly the most ornate in town.
Little Edwin Eogers died last Satur
day and was buried Sunday afternoon.
The little fellow was a general favor
ite.
The Eed Men will give a masked ball
on the 29th of this month. The social
functions of the Eed Men never fail
to draw large crowds.
GASTINEAU CHANNEL NOTES
Jake Yaquen has brought suit m the
dsirict court against David lommer,
over a lot boundary. Jake Yaquen is
an Indian who alleges that the property
in question has been in his possession
f.r 27 years.
Court officials are expected bark
from Ketchikan the last of the week.
George Simpkins, deputy Collector of
c; .'toms is back attar a trip to the
Sot nd.
Caro and company have bought
p'<perty. opposite tlib Doran Drug
si ore in Juneau and will improve it.
Gov. Clark wi l move into his new
office this week.
ASK PARDON FOR DUNN
. Fairbanks friends of Frank Dunn are
making an effort to secure a pardon
for him. Two years ago,vat Fairbanks,
Dunn was convicted o'f;..the murder of
Carl Ebling and sentenced to twelve
years in the McNeil’s island peniten
tiary. The appeal for clemency has
already been signed by eleven of the
jurors and a large number of friends
of the prisoner. An effort is now being
made to secure the co-operation of
Judge Thomas R. Lyons, who presided
at the trial.—Seward Gateway
Dispatch Office for Job Printing.
.4.************H************H
To JUNEAU
HOUSE
HOLDERS
THE DOUGLAS ISLAND CONCRETE WORKS
have made the blocks for nearly three hundred chim
ney during the summer just past and all of them are
giving perfect satisfaction. 8 inch Chimney Blocks
50c each. Telephone Douglas 4-3-6.
GOOD PLUMBING PAYS!
Take a look at my work in the neW ‘
Alaska Labor Union Hall:
j.MINKOVE
E, M. Peters
PLUMBING
STEAM FITTING, SHEET
METAL AND MACHINE
WORK. JOBBING AND •
ALL KINDS OF REPAIR
ING DONE ON PHONO
GRAPHS, GAS ENGINES,
& SEWING MACHINES.
FRONT STREET
Near Baseball Park
DOUGLAS CITY