460 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



weekly. Some of these journals, which in typographical detail 

 stand fully equal to many of the foremost journals of the United 

 States, are devoted largely to a vilification of the Yukon govern- 

 ment, and secondarily to the nonpartisan interests of the commu- 

 nity. But little space is given over to murders and daring deeds 

 of robbery, since occurrences of this kind, thanks to the continued 

 vigilance and efficiency of the Northwest Mounted Police, are all 

 but unknown, and the safety of possessions is as well established 

 as that of the person. The shooting of an actress by her lover, 

 followed by the suicide of the murderer, furnished the sensation 

 for the year; but previous suicides, also in the ranks of the theat- 

 rical profession, had already paved a way to this form of excitement. 



Two or more lines of telephone unite Dawson with the nearer 

 mining region, and a partial city service has also been established. 

 The city remains as yet without an electric-light plant, but it is 

 by no means unlikely that before the present season has passed the 

 darkness of the winter night will be lifted by the arc light, and 

 much of the oppressiveness of the closed season thereby removed. 

 After two winters of experience, the Dawsonites continue to think 

 lightly of the " terrors " of the cold, and to but few apparently is 

 the extreme of temperature a deterrent to exercise. Sleighing 

 continues to be a pastime, with the temperature marking 40° to 

 50° below zero, but only with this season does it enter into the 

 category of a fashionable recreation. Hitherto dog-sled teams per- 

 formed the full service of winter travel, and divided with skating 

 and " ski "-ing the winter exercise; but this year the snow cause- 

 ways will be lively with the jingling of cutter bells and the rapid 

 pacing of the horse. 



One can not help remarking thie vast improvement in the gen- 

 eral tone of Dawson society, if by that term we may include all 

 that constitutes the population of the city. More particularly is 

 this marked in the case of women, among whom it is no longer a 

 rarity to meet with strict refinement and culture. Musical soirees 

 regioter among the events of the week, and literary recitals are not 

 exceptional. The male portion of the population has also under- 

 gone a refining process through the departure of hundreds or even 

 thousands of " bums," who only too late for their comfort discov- 

 ered that their presence was neither a necessity to Dawson nor a 

 mainspring to the extraction of gold from the soil. By their de- 

 parture the city has probably suffered a decrease in its population 

 of some three thousand to four thousand, but has more than re- 

 ceived compensation in that stability of purpose which such elimi- 

 nation always insures. As a city of about thirteen thousand in- 

 habitants, it enters upon its history in the year 1900 with principles 



