THE ORPHANAGE NEWS LETTER.
li^uttul time on deck, gathered
around v'.tpt. I'erry. who joined heart
‘ •’ll the < htidieu and nunm peo
p.c in siti-in^ Gospel hymns. In the
atternoon we were told that the
Id inter would ^otoSewat 1 in ehar^e
ot l.ieut. Se.tils, who would take
itiy cable messages and letters we
wished to send, and fot a time many
ot th people were busy writing.
About ^ 50 oue of the ships* boats
was put into veivive taking people
bit- U to Wood Is .ind. ()ur iauneh al
*>0 . listed in this woik C«.pt. Per
ry t‘d»l us oil caving, that in ease of
ny ditnyer. he would have the whis
tle • iiiwu four times, which wouitl
be the si^n... foi us to hasten to th
beaeh.
ii lsdithculi to find words to ade
«111.11c-1 v e \ press ihe pt aise due Cayt.
f’ct ry. his otfn eis and men for fur the
unselfish w„v in which they j;ave
up their quarters fur the use id the
la.iics of Kodiak and Wood Island,
• >im1 their utitinnu efforts to tn<*kc
everyone as comfort., hie as possible.
' c lain . v no one could have handled
!,« whine situation better than Cap.,
'•'y. aid through it all he has been
;crn,ii and jders.iiit, when there
•l,,vc '‘-a vexatious enough to spoil
:‘u temper o: m ordinary man.
1 he mountain which caused all
this trouble is Kilinai, 55 milts west
•d us on tire mainland. The native
v*! b-Kc of iv.itm.d is at the foot of
!*t immii it..in. I'lie blind bov who
•' w,:b us u 1 time came from
*lere At t he time of the ei uptiou
‘ ' thu people were away fishing,
'' ' * e- : < 1 ami brought to \
viie e they ire being cared
*' • 1 15 «»f thear. So far as can be
’•■ '■ 1 s \\cie lost. Katmai
xl "• d» d. oyed The ground is
' with pumice stones to a
iep: h of ^ ft.
Mnce the disaster the S. Reven
ne vtitteift Rear, McCullook and Ta
t ecu here. Army rations
h.iv** i>t*en i sued for the rudiment
He a: t* indebtel t<> C.ipl. Reynolds
«»i tin- ! uh< in a, who i> in command
' • the Cutters in these waters, for
in<1 iiy lourte les shown us.
No cnrifiMi have been eauicht in
*h« vr water.- >ime the eruption. As
these tish are a staple food of the na
tives. their absence has worked a
slight hardship, aside from that and
the fact that theii potato gardens
have been coveted up, the majority
of the people of the islard are no
worse off now then they were before.
With those owning cattle however it
is a serious disaster, ini the grazing
lands are covered up, and there is
no possibility id making dry hay (or
winter use.
To the mission this disaster has
c iused great loss We hail otii gai
dens, potatoes an 1 other crops .ill in.
■ piece ol stump ige had been cUmi
eil «iml planted also. Never in the
past four years has everything 1 eeu
so promising fora big eiop. N<-w it
is ail buried under nearly n foot of
well packed volcanic ashes We
had 22 head of stock, including S
fine calves, ( if that number i 2 have
been butchered, and one was lost
We have feed for the teniainder fo
some weeks, but there will probablv
l>e no grazing for them this summer
th t me.-.nsthat vie must buy teed fo.
this summer as well as for next win
ter.
We are trying to adjust ouiseIves
to these new conditions ll«,vi ini
coveied onions anu radishes, The .
see n to be uniujuied, other beds have
been replanted. If the two top lay
ers of ashes, measuring about »S inch
es, i an tie r■•moved from the potato
es soon enough, we still hope tor a
partial crop. That is tlie work just
now. It is too soon to say what this
covering of volcanic dust will do to:
the land. It niav prove a wamdeifib
help to vegetation, a oiessin^ ill des
anise. It will need to he very « well
etit to compensate our matrons fen
the extra w >1 k it is maki 11 >4 in house
cleaniug etc. No snotiei are the
rooms cleaned and in older than the
wind blows, and it is all to do ove
again.
Hearing that we were in *,reat 11 i
tress, Dr. New hall and his worker
of the Jesse J.ee Home, lTiah.sk.
sent usa message inviting us all to
come to them until we could tnnhi
other arrangements. W'e thank
these kind friends for this generous
otfer, and the many others who have
sent ns messages of sympathy, aud
offers of assistance. C». A. beaiu