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ON BUFFALO MOUNTAIN
SNOW AND ICE
A PAYMASTER'S EXPERIENCES.
"They had to rise early and shovel the
snow from the tops of the tents to pre-
vent the tents collapsing with the weight
of the snow," remarked Mr. G. Clowser,
Paymaster of Works, of the Public
Works department; in describing his ex-
periences at Mount Buffalo.
Mr. Clowser visited Mount Buffalo on
Thursday to pay the 100 men engaged in
constructing the tourist tracks to the
mountain, and it was some of these men
who are camped at a place called The
Fount, to whom he referred as being en-
gaged in shovelling the snow.
"The men," continued Mr. Clowser,
"are supposed to be camped below the
snowline. If this place is below the
snow line, then my experience must be
exceptional. The temperature was down
to about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and it
was very cold, but, the view was glori-
ous yesterday morning. It commenced
to snow on Thursday afternoon, and ap-
parantly it continued all night. The
men's camp is amidst the trees, and the
exquisite beauty of the scene is in
describable. Mount Bogong, Mount
Wills, Mount Feathertop, and Mount
Koscuisko, the last-named away in the
distance, were all clad in mantles of
snow.
"I stayed on Thursday night at Car-
lisle's Hospice, which is higher up Mount
Buffalo than The Fount. We had to
place the whisky bottle which we had
with us down by the fire to take the chill
off the liquor before we touched it, for it
was half-frozen. It is not uncommon
thing for bottles of lager beer to become
quite frozen. When I went to got a
wash yesterday morning all the water in
the large jug was a block of ice."
"You can get sunshine, rain,fog, snow
all in one day this timeeof year at Buf-
falo. I am 15st. 6lb., and when I walked
on the ice pond—or skating rink which
Mr. Catani, our engineer, has prepared
near the hospice as an additional attrac-
tion to tourists, I made no impression on
it—so thick is the ice. On Thursday I
got a bad spill off my horse, but falling
in the snow, did not hurt myself. There's
no occasion to go further than Buffalo
to see all the beauties, and enjoy all the
sport and adventure associated with
snow. When the road is completed it
will be an ideal winter resort for tour-
ists."
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