a great many more people here in the summer than in the winter, 
also he had been told by the Swede that the office was run solely 
for the benefit of our P. P. business. As this is a 4th. class office 
and the p. M.'s salary is simply his cancellations, it is not a 
money making institution for tin nept., and on the face of it it 
looks as if I were running the office for my benefit, though after 
the first $50.00 I simply get a constantly decreasing percentage. 
Anyhow fust as -"ere starting in > n our fall work I had a notice 
from the Dept., ordering me to turn over my property to the nearest 
P. M. and close the office during the six months, Oct. 1, to Aprl. 
It - r as a pretty hard blow, and Oscar, when he found that his pay 
check was stopped as well troubles, was far from cheerful. Eut I 
wrote a protest and showed that we did a great deal more business 
during the winter than in summer and sent it in, and also sent word 
to one of our customers in Seattle who drew up another and sent a 
man round who got the signatures of nearly every man and firm in 
town which does any business with the Lake, and before the date 
of closing came round I was ordered to keep the office open as usual. 
This has been a very hard winter- Hot much snow or any 
bad storms, but snow on the ground since Thanksgiving, and a great 
deal of cold weather, below freezing, which we do not often get. 
The lowest we have had is 18, 14J-degrees below freezing, but the 
Lake is partially frozen and the mail steamer has not been able 
to make the end of her route on the Canal for a week past. We have 
had a large flock of Waxwings here for a month, and there have been 
thousands in Seattle, also rabins, and I have had one here, and 
one Brewer blackbird has spent most of the winter with us. A few 
! 
days ago I found where a cougar had crossed one of the fields with¬ 
in about 200 yds. of the barn. I have never known one to come down 
on the fields before. 
