Alaska, Icelanders, Gold, and "Sweets"
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
(6:38am) Mr. English’s and Mr. Toast’s birthday – Mr. English would be 48. And the temperatures would be down to 20 or so that day. However, Collette woke up comfortably under a good layer of blankets with the ceiling fan spinning for circulation. She did manage to have a sizable headache, however.
The night before, OLeif had once again shipped over to Stallone’s, while Collette waited in the car reading Mitford, after they had dropped by Quiktrip for a strawberry hot chocolate for Collette, and an ice scraper (seeing as they had used library cards one too many times when the windshield had frosted over). Afterwards, they watched “Mad Hot Ballrooom” upon returning from Stallone’s, where about 6,000 fifth graders from New York public schools competed for the prize ballroom trophy through a mandatory dance class during school hours.
Tuesday morning, Collette ran across a passage in the old Tabletalks from November 2001, which she particularly liked. It reminded her of various things which had been on her mind lately.
“Ingratitude doesn’t have a high “shudder” factor… We don’t look back over history and list the ungrateful among the hideously wicked, along with the Hitlers and Stalins. But perhaps we should. Consider the grace God has showered on all men. First, He creates us and the world around us, even though He does not owe us existence or a place in His created order. Second, He reveals Himself to us. Third, He sustains us day by day. He gives us, like the sparrows, the food we eat, the water we drink, the very air we breathe. But He does still more, for even the heathen are more valuable than sparrows. God imbues all men with dignity, declaring them to be bearers of His image. He gives men the capacity to reason, to feel, to communicate. We are dust, and see how He has lifted all of us up. Our response is rebellion and ingratitude. But He responds with still more grace. He provides a way of escape in the work of His Son, commanding all men everywhere to repent and believe. And then, still by His grace, He postpones the execution of His justice from the time of our conception to the time of our death. And still we are not grateful.
We, of course, receive still more – His special redeeming grace. He not only makes it possible for our sins to be covered, He makes it so…
“Ingratitude does not shock us, not because it is so damning, but because it is so common. We are at peace with the lack of gratitude in the world around us because we are at peace with our own lack of gratitude…
“If, however, we live before His face, coram Deo, then we know Him as He is. And if we know Him, how can our lives be anything but the manifestation of our truly grateful hearts?… We glorify Him both for what He is and for what He has done for us in His grace.”
– Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.
As a school project, Collette had been taking Joe and Rose through Grandma Snicketts’ book, 72 Years and Counting, about her life. She would read to them a paragraph, and then they would summarize on paper. One interesting tidbit learned, was that Great Grandma had done side jobs around the time of the second World War, selling ads in a newspaper, ironing white shirts at the laundry, and peeling tomatoes at a local cannery. Amazing how time had changed things for the MidWest over sixty years or so…
Several years earlier, Collette had unearthed from a box of old papers, the following letter, written to her Great-Great Grandfather:
Mr. H, W, Liese Esq,
Corder
Lafayette Co.} Missouri
In circle stamp – Fielding, Sep 30, 1899-, CAL
2, 2 cent stamps (red)
From Mountain Sept. 29th /99
Mr. H, W, Liese Corder MO,
Kind friend
I received your welcome letter
Yesterday and was glat to learn that yo
and famely are not only well but hav
ben blessed with an addition to your famely
which is no dout the greatest blessing
to a man on Earth and more so whare
a man is in faberable circomstance
you might think when you read this
letter that I am trying to stuff you
but that is a mistake, as my expereance
in boath good and evle has gome far
beyon everything you would created me
with, yet I must admit that I am
not happy. I go whare I pleas and do
what I lik but it seems to me that
that (crossed out) all is ameless time killing and passes
away like a cloud. The hapiest hours
of my life have been those spend with
with Enfand children and if I was maried
and it was forable for me to love my onne (second “n” crossed out)
children eney better then I do otherr I
I (crossed out) could not live onely in thare perence
but I am a coward and the courdly
fear to be able to provide and furnesh
a comfardable home has recked my life
and hapyness, but I shall try to make the
best I can of the balance of my time.
Well Henry I gus I hat better not burden
you with a confession as you are not a
C. heart you couldnt do everything
to better my conditcon eney how so I
better tell you somthing about my trit
I seen in your letter that you have hat a
great menney ups and downs at the mine
in the last year but that belongs to the
coal buisness and you must do the best
you can and leave the rest to Provedence
I see in your letter that you have the Oklahoma
fever I think you will hartly improve your=
self in that country and if you can get
reasonable wages whare you are you should
not make to hasty a break Okalahoma
has been all right for 2 years but before
that it was all sony and above all it
is a dry dusty and hot country. I rescend
a letter from W. Wagener he has the Oklahoma
fever to he wants to stard a branch store
thare if he dos I will probably go out thare
for him but I have little faith in Oklahoma
Well I must get down to my alaska trip
Tell Lillian that I will bring them Nuggets
if she will pomise to be good to little Mabel.
tell hir that if she dont like hir to sent
hir to me and an (crossed out) she can aent (unintelligible) me my
Rocking chair as wee have No Rocking chair
out hear. (Is little Mabel pretty)
Give my reguards to all who know
me. Give my love an best Wishes to Wife and
Babys hoping this will find you all well
I will close for this time
Rsf, H, S, Froeschle
It, was on (word inserted) a Friday evening on March 10th 1898 that I walked into
The Ticket office at Kansas City and planked down $50.00 for a ticket to
Seattle Wash, it was a dark rany evening at 7 30 oclock I Boardet
a U.P. traine and was soon rooling on toward the west the
night (word inserted) was very dark coald and rany when I awoke the next
morning wee ware flying acrost a desert looking like
pary with about 3 inches of sno on the surface all that
day thare was very little change of senery untill the folowing
morning when wee was withen about 150 miles of denver
wee could see mountains to the right and the country was
very rolling but all smooth pary and concidrable
up grade wee landed in denver at 3.30 and remained
thare till 7 30 which gave me a good chance to take in
a concidrable part of the town Denver is a very nice town
it has a beautiful location but the evning was
clouty so I could not see the mountains I could
only see the foothills on acount of the clouds being
very lo. At 7 30 I again started it wass an uphill
buisness and we reacht poka tella about 2 in the mornig
whare wee changed cars wee wass only delaid about
30 minuts the folowing day wee rooled over snowcapt
mountains and a very rough country till wee
landed at Eanger Oregon thare I was delaid
12 hours it wass a lonely desert like place surrountd
by sagebrush and Rock it was the lonliest day of
my journey that night at 9 30 I boarded an Oregan
short line train which caried me to Portland
Oregan about 150 miles or 200 miles before wee got to Portlan
wee ware on the downhill ride on the Pacific slope
everything was green Bluegrall was about 6 inches
high and the senry at Portland was simply beautiful
at Portland I was delaid 4 hours so I took in the
town. I also changed my ticket thare and got a rebait
of $25.00 at 11 30 oclock I again Boarted a train which
lanted me at dacoma washington about 6 P.M.
that day I made the acquaints of a fine loking young
man from Newyork also on his way to alaska he was
realy al (word crossed out) an honest looking fello and he preposed to get
of at decoma and take a steamer to seattle so I
agreed with him as I was tired of traine riding but it
ditent take long to learn that my partner was well
aquainted in decoma altho he was just from Newyork
so I saw at once that he was uncomen wise or hat
lying to me but I let him lead on so it hapned
that when wee got to the wharf wee stroled around
behind some buildings whare wee met No 2. and it
warent but a few minets till wee hat another alaska
friend who hat lots of money and a little game it
looked very simple and my first partner won
$25 so thay wanted me to try my luck but I dit not
invest. Thay boath got mad and for a while
I thought I was going to get into it and I think
I (word crossed out) thay would have jumpd me right thare only
for that longbladed knive I hapent to be whitling
with so often I got out of that plors I took a st car
up town and staed in decoma that night and
took a boat the next morning to Seattle. Thare I
met James Birt of Higginsville he agreat to go
with me but finely when the time came he backed
out and said he was going to Cooks Enlet
he left Higginsville with $500.00 but I think he
hat most of t blate in when I met him if
you have heard of him pleas let me know how
he came out. Seattle is a beautiful town and
war a lively town at that time Baard was
very cheap meals ware 15 (cents sign) and good meals to,
after burning in Seattle a week I sailed for Die
Alaska on March 24th on the Steamer Delnorth
the Ocean was very quite for the first 2 days
then wee hat a very ruff night but in going
that way wee never got out of sight of land as
wee went Through what is called the Lin canal
leaving vancuver Island on the left, wee wer
7 days in making that trip. our goods wer
landet on the 13t apil at die and the 2th wee hat
them hauld to canyon city a distans of 9 miles
for 70 (cents sign) pr. 100 lbs. and the next day wee hat
them forwadet to Sheepcamp wee reacht that
place about noon a few hours after the snow –
slide thare wee poot up our first camp and
intended to pack our owne goods the wether
was very soft and slushy after wee hat
out camp in shape wee strolled around
to see what wee could learn about that time
thay ware bringing in the dead an slays
thay ware all laid out in a large tent in roes
thare was about 40 of them in that tent at one
time it was a pityfull sight but people
ware to busy to pay much atintion to the dead
as thare was no packing done for 2 days after
the slide nearly everyboty went to shovel snow
well wee non much in a hury as (word crossed out) and took
things easy I hat gone in with 3 Icelanders
and so wee camped togather wee then packed
part of out goods and hat some hawled and
on Apr. 18th wee pased over the sumit is crater
lake then wee made a move to Lake Lenterman
and struck camp again until wee hat all our
goods forwardet to that place then wee made a
one more move to lake Bennet wee landet
thare on the 28 of Apr. then wee went to drag –
ing logs for lumber as lumber was 30 (cents sign) a foot
wee could not afford to buy eney the wether was
beautiful on that side of the mountains and
the snow was melting fast. the mountains
ware very steep and high. Wee saved lumber
enough for a barch 6 ft. by 20. ft long and
lumber enough for a for (two words crossed out) 2 small Boats wich
wee build by the time the Ice went out of the
lake, then on the 31st of may wee sailed
for dawson on our way wee saw meney beau-
tiful scenerys the Lakes ware all smoth accept
lake tagist it was very ruff white horse
Rappets was a corker and lots of people
got thare goods weet and some lost them
entrerly but wee slipt trough all O,K,
well wee hat all kinds of ups and downs
going down the river till wee finely landet
at the mouth of Stuard River 70 miles abov
Dawson thare wee all agreet to disagree
and hat a general settlement and parted
myself and one of the Icelanders went up
Steward River and the other two went to Dawson
wee poolt up Steward about 80 miles by
that time I was convinced that Steward
River was No good so wee struck camp and
took out pan and shovel and got down to
a place which shode up reasonably well so wee
build a rocker out of some lumber which wee
taken along for that porper wee rocked for 12 days
then my partner would not rock eney longer
as wee hat only made 6 ounces and 3 Puud (word crossed out)
Peney weighs or about $100.00 or about $4 – a day
so him and seperated and I went in with
an old man so my partner went to dawson
and myself and the Old went to hunt for
a better bar wee dropd down the river trying
on all sides but could not find eneything
even as goos as what wee had left wee rocked
3 days at one place it only $3 per day and so wee
kept droping down till wee finely landet
in dawson on July 27th I then struck camp
all by myself and after resting a few days I
packed my bundle and started out to have
a general look at the great Bonanza
Eldorado sulpher Hanger and Damarnur
creeks I took grub enough to last 10 days and
such other things as I needed in all about 70 lbs.
and you can bet I was glat when I got back to
Dawson again on my way back I learnd
that thare was a Lay to be let on No 4 Belo
on Bananza so I hunted up the manager of the
claime Mr Armstrong the claime was
devidet in 10 Lays of 50 feet each and each
lay was let to 3 men but I was by mylself
so I hired two men to signe the lease with
me I gave them a sack of flour for thare
trouble then I movd my tent out on No 4
Bonanza about 14 mile from Dawson
then I got acquainted with 2 Sweets
who went in with me thay ware building
a caben clost to Dawson at that time and
could not move out on the clame for about
2 weeks so during that time I cut grass
with a butcherknive and made about
500 lbs of which I sold at 20 (cents sign) pr lb.
by that time it was about Sept 1st and
my partners ware at hand wee then cut logs
and build a caben then wee chopd about
60 cords of wood which wee hat to hawl
about a mile that took about 10 days
then wee went to digging wee started 5 holes
and after working about 2 weeks one of
my partners got the scurvy and laid up
for 5 weeks and after christmes I was all
broke up with Rumatis I felt all right
but culd not walk for 3 or 4 days sometimes
couldent poot on my pants by myself
but wee all seemed to keep in good spret
but along christmas wee began to strike
some pay in 3 of the. 5 holes wee then hat better
hope wee then went to the butcher and bough
a quarter of beef 173 lbs. at 65 (cents sign) pr. lb. and you
can bet that beef tasted good and knocked
scurvy clean out of my Partner.
wee burned out about 10,000 cubic ft. of
paydirt and when wee hat it all slured
up wee hat 183 ounces of gold half of it went
to the company and 10% to the Govenment that
left us about 45 persent or about $480.00
a peace. The wether is fine No raine and
onely about 2 ft. of snow after it turns cold
or after the first of November it hardly
ever above 20 belo. Zero and ranges from
20 to 50 belo but 50 belo is much more
agrable then Zero wether in Missouri Systems
wee never lost a day on acount of the wether
nor think about going to the house to warm
wee build our cabin in a hurry as it
was late when wee started but wee never
hat eneything to freere inside of the cabin
and wee hat a 30 found stove of 18 gage
sheetira and wee would let the fier go
out ameaditly after supperI slept comfort-
able under 1 Blanket all winter I allways
wore (word inserted) 2 pair of Overalls in cold wether in Missouri
but last winter I dinent ware but one
pare of overalls and a pair of hevy Wool draw
ers I hat a heavy Macanaw suit but
I never wore them you could buy a hevy
clondike suit for onehalf what it cost in the
stads a people hat more clothing than thay
needet but provisions war very high
Bacon was 40 to 50 (cents sign) potatoes 60 (cents sign) Sugar as
as $1.25 pr. lb. cornmeal 40 (cents sign) Oat meal 35 (cents sign)
flour and Beans was cheap never over 16 (cents sign)
per lb.
Dawson is a mushroom town and will be
forgotten in less then 5 years it hat about
10 000 in hapauns tents and all but thare
is not work for one 10th of the of the peopl
and thay must leaf thare.
On June 24th./99 I bought a ticket for st
mikles and as I moved on down the river
I found quite a change in climat often
Going 300 miles belo Dawson the country
(word torn off) unfir to live in when I left Dawson
every thing wass alive with wild flowers
and in the valeys and on the hillsides was
knew high but after landing at St michels
I saw nothing but snow and Ice with
A disagreable cold wind and from what I
Could learn thare is only about six weeks
Of sumer while in clondike thare is 5 months
of sumer I only stard 3 days at St Michels
and that was lany enough,
Well I must close as I am getting tired and
think you will get tired reading All of this
scribling I am still at Iran Mountain
but dont know how long I will stay will
let you know if I leaf hear The end
Fascinating things, letters were – and extremely long.
Wednesday morning began with burnt toast which Collette had forgotten about in the oven before beginning the morning tutoring session. Earlier, she and OLeif had dropped off the Honda for repairs and Mom was at the hospital with Mrs. McCrae who was having an ultrasound (as she had been sent to the hospital Saturday, feeling miserable). She would not find out what, exactly, was wrong until she received the results of the ultrasound several days later. In addition, Molly’s second oldest sister had to testify in court against a friend…
Collette had taken to wearing Joe’s red fuzzy hat and the knit rainbow hat which she had received from Diana for her seventeenth birthday (while waiting in line for the showing of the first “Lord of the Rings” with the English’s, Souths, Ernies, Oranges, Silverspoons, &tc.). Along with the hat, Diana had given her a small tulip-scented Yankee candle, and from the entire English family she had received a red photo album in which to record their trip to Hungary. And from OLeif, she had received a leather notebook (in which he had written her a sweet note), and a good heavy pen on which was printed an ancient map. But likely she had already recorded the account elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Carrie was at work again and Frances and Linnea played with Lincoln Logs downstairs while Joe listened to choir tapes, Mom napped, Rose searched for a new pug (which she would train and bring to the nursing home, provided Dad agreed), and Collette prepared a plate of nachos for lunch. Meanwhile, the crew at home was short one car as Dad had the mini-van for work, Mom would be taking the critters to both choirs and dropping Joe off at work two hours early where he would likely be reading “Huckleberry Finn” over a soda in the Target snack bar, and Carrie was still at work. Oh the luxury of having transportation, yet another blessing often gone unnoticed.
Frances showed Collette a pretzel duct-taped to the inside of his choir folder behind plastic, from last winter.
“A one-year old pretzel,” he said proudly, opening his folder in front of her.
“Impressive,” Collette chuckled.
The things those kids came up with…
Outside, the winds howled in the sunshine of a bitterly cold day. And Rose continued researching pugs, already making plans to purchase the lovable roll of fat, a reindeer jacket and Dickens’ Closet Upperclassman sweater for Christmas… Meanwhile, she continued to post “Lost Cat” ads on various lost animal websites, for poor old Shammer ‘k Bammer.
From Sassy Humble’s blog, Collette picked up an interesting bit of information:
“When I was homeschooled and 12 years old I used to ignore schoolwork, daydream and
draw maps of the orphanage I was going to run one day – this must be why I’m horrible at
math and almost every other subject. How I graduated college summa cum laude I will never know.”
She found the Humble girls to be very interesting, both Reformed, and Amy had always been head over heels for gymnastics, constantly quoting the dates of all junior championships, national championships, world championships, &tc., not to mention the Olympics!
“May our sleep be deep and soft, so our work be fresh and hard.”
– from “St. Patrick’s Hymn at Evening”