THE ORPHANAGE NEWS LETTER.
Effects o! the I7', option
•is Seen at Present.
( ont /’h/i i/)
the rpp. site diteition and we would
mu h..ve suffered any ill effects from
it \t first it did noi seem possible
tor us to remain here, and we be^uti
t > pack up. pre paraiorv to i.joinj'else
whcie. but where eould we n< ?
Wherever w went, we could not lake
the buildings ami furnature, which
represent ye.ns of planning and hard
work ami the outlay of many thou
sands i•! dollars.
\s the day* parsed ronditions im
pioved; the water in the lakes began
to vicar, and we had good spring
water for drinking so we left off
p n king ami began uncovering gar
de,,s. repairing roofs and cleaning
house I he beds in the kitchen gar
den which weie uncovered and le
x »wed ire already fm tiishiug us with
radishes and lettuce, the finest ever.
I he potatoes have responded wonder
fully to the attention given them,
b.veu seeds sown in the ashes have
sprung up. Two small fields sowed
with oats look green and promising,
though it is not Jikely the oats will
grow more than a few inches high.
1 o be sure there are unpleasant
things to contend with. For instant
the trees still hold loads of ashes,
and when the wind blows, after a few
days in which there has been no rain,
lie dust is simply i hoking, and gets
into the houses in spite of closed
doors .ind windows. Alter a rain it
is not wise to step out of the beaten
track, elsu one will mire over their
»hoe tops. Tramping through the
woods for pleasure is out of question.
Indeed there is very little incentive
for such rambles as there are no wild
berries, an 1 very few wild flowers to
be withered this veai. (>n sunny days
the glare of the light refleeted from
the rh ilk like ground is very trying
to the eyes.
<>n the other hand; we never have
had smoother and better roads than
these ashes have made where they
are packed hard. Heretofore a bi
evele would have hieti utterly use
less, now one eould he used finely,
The ehildren ean go harefooted now
when it is warm enough without
miirli danger of getting bruises and
cuts.
\t Kodiak the damage to the
buildings w..s slight, considering the
high hills ,.t the back of the town,
and the consequent danger of land
slides of ashes. The Cannery build
ings sustained the greatest damage
from these causes, and at first it
looked as if they could not he put in
shape for use again, hut with the ex
cellent hydraulic pressure at hand
the ashes have been cleaned away
and everything is in first class eon
dition again.
At the Government Agricultural
I*! x peri merit Station at Culsinski
Hay, Mr. Hovvman and his family
baiely escaped with there lives. Af
ter the first landslide they fled to
the barn, taking only a lantren, blan
kets. a shovel, a lilt ie food and drink
ing tfater. Not many minutes later
there was another landslide which
completely ' lied the house with ash
es.
l-'ew of the people in Kodiak have
taken the trouble to clean the ashes
from their potato patches. On
Wood Island, with the exception of
the mission gardens, only one other
has been cleaned, and that belongs
to Jennie Ostrom an old lady over
sixty ye irsof age, who di 1 the work
heiselt. The people of Vfognak
were more enterprising. Iminedi
atly after the ashes had stopped fail
ing they joined together ami cleaned
all their potato gardens.