spoken for the West, may I add my own experience of wilderness men and
say that the North, also, is unacquainted with Manhattan chivalry.


LAW AND ORDER ENFORCED

Furthermore, while upon this subject, I wish to add to my own protest
against the novelists' wild dreams of outlawry in the Canadian
wilderness, a quotation from E. Ward Smith's "Chronicles of the
Klondyke." Mr. Smith--as you no doubt remember--was the first city
clerk, treasurer, assessor, and tax collector of Dawson City; and this
is what he says:

"I want to say at the very outset that the Yukon was, in my opinion at
least, one of the most orderly corners of the earth. Even in the early
days of the boom, when miners and adventurers of all nationalities
poured in, the scales of justice were held firmly and rigidly. The
spell of the Mounted Police hung over the snow-bound land and checked
the evil-doer. It may sound ridiculous when I assert that the
Yukon--that gathering spot of so much of the scum of the earth--was
better policed than Winnipeg, or Toronto, or Halifax; but,
nevertheless, I believe it to be a fact.

"Of course, crimes were committed, some of which were never solved.
Doubtless, also many deeds of violence occurred whose authors never
came to light. But, on the whole, life and property were surprisingly
secure. One day I visited the cabin of my friend Lippy, who made a
million or so upon El Dorado. The door was partly open, so, on
receiving no response to my knock, I walked in. The cabin was empty.
On the table was a five-gallon pail heaped high with glittering nuggets