Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 83, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 April 1910 — COLDEST CITY ON EARTH. [ARTICLE]

COLDEST CITY ON EARTH.

How People Live In Winter la FarT theet Siberia. The coldest inhabited place in the world is undoubtedly Verkhoyansk, in northeastern Siberia, with a mean annual temperature of less than 8 degrees above zero, Fahrenheit, and a winter minimum of 85 below. Verkhoyansk is in north latitude 67 degrees, on the great arctic plain, scarcely more than 150 feet above the level of the sea. Probably there would be no town there if it were not necessary to Russian government purposes to have an administrative center for a region where many thrifty Yakuts, the fur-trading “Jews of Siberia.” carry on their operations. All its inhabitants, save a few offlcials and other Russians, are Yakuts, This does not prevent its being a place of some Importance, for the Yakuts are the most progressive people in northern Siberia, excelling the Russians 1 themselves in enterprise and adaptability to Siberian conditions of existence. The average temperature of the winter in Veryhoyansk Is 53 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit The rivers freeze to the bottom and the small trees have been known to snap and split from the force of the frost Yet, with all this, Verkhoyansk is, it is claimed, not a disagreeable place of residence, and is preferred by the Russian officials to many more southern and warmer posts. Its atmosphere in winter Is always clear, and for the little time that the sun is above the horizon its beams are unobstructed. The air is still, too; no blizzards or drifting snowstorms make life a burden to the inhabitants. The Siberian dress completes the comfort of the citizens of this arctic city. It consists of two suits of fur. an outer and an inner suit. The inner suit is wiMh fur side inward, the other fur side outward. With his hood down, and-Just though space left to see out of and to breathe through the VerkhArnnffkitr is vastly mom in a temperature of 80 below than many an American, in his cloth overcoat, in a temperature of 5 above sera The winter, indeed, is more enjoyable than the summer, which is hotter than might be expected. The average temperature of July in Verkhoyansk is 59 above aero, and very hot days are. now, uncommon. The earth becomes (ffeen and vegetation thrives, though m»ly the surface of the ground Is thawed. At Yakutsk, which is farther* south than Verkhoyansk, but not much warmer In winter, the mercury rises in July to 100 degrees.— Harper’s Weekly. If all the inventive genius wasted practical lines, an extension would have to be buHf’bif the patent office.