The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 11, 1897, Page 1

N “VOLUME LXXXIL—NO. 72. PRICE FIVE CENTS MAY CLASH WITH THE CANADIANS Miners on the Way to Daw- son in No Mood to Pay Heavy Duties. PROSPECTS OF TROUBLE OBl THE TRAILS. Gold-Seekers Fn Route to the Klondike Thteaten to Offer Resistance If They Are Held Up by Customs Officers. JUNEAU, Arvasga, Au ship Isiander via Victoria, B. C., Aug. 10).—There is mugh of several kinds of trouble ahead on the trail to Dawson | City. It looks as though the Canadian customs als will have an opportunity back to their Government that 1o report le to collect customs duties rcements. All the incom- are incensed at the ac- Canadian authorities at a in levying a duty on suppiies they taking into the mines. ‘I'he rougher element among them is in- temperate In its language and has made the customs officers, but forcibly inspectors who came n the steamship Islander yesterday threats ignore veaceably if possi sary. The several ur have stationied themselves at Lake Ben- | net, where boats are built and launched for the 600-mile float down the Lewis and Yukon The trails from the Dyea and White passes converge at this lake and it will be possible to intercept at the lake or below itat the Cariboo crossing all the merchandise going into Dawson overland. vers. The lake and portages are in British ter- ritory. Men who came up in the steerage of the steamer City of Topeka yesterday made threats that they would not submit to the exacting of a high duty, and it an attempt were made to impose such a duty, the inspectors might collect it if they could. A man named Olson from Tacoma expressed himself to this effect and claimed to be speaking for others. The best information to be had here is that the Canadian duty ranges from 20 to 30 per centon the stuff that will be taken into the Klondike region, though it is under- stood that a reasonable miners’ outfit will be admitted free. The gold-hunters think they should not be required to pay more than 10 per cent. | If from 10 to 30 per cent is demanded, a sertous defiance of the C; ment is expected to ha net. It is not bloodshed. The customs orticers would be poweriess in the facs of such superior numbers. The miners say that the fee of $15 per clam and the royalty of 10 per cent on the output of small and 20 per cent on the output of large cla enough for the Governmeut to demand. fince the announcement has reached here that the Government intenas to re- serve to itself each alternate mining claim the feeling of every man who has out- fitted himself has risen against the ap. thorities. Har HoFrMax T s oo SERIOUS SITUATION. The Route to the Gold Fl:zlds May Be Strewn With the Bones of Fortune-Hunters. JUNEAU, Avrasga, Aug. 3 (by steamer Islander via Victoria, B. C., Aug. 10).—At Dyea and Skagaway, five miles apart, at the head of Lynn Caual, 100 miles northwest of here, the situation has be- 2nadian Govern- en at Lake Ben- probable there c ms is f neces- wouid be | . 3 (by steam- ) come most serious, owing to the immense rush of gold-hunters. These are the last salt water ports and the points of debarkation for the moun- tain trails and puasses. The number of Indian and white packers and horses is | totally inadequate to move the vasc quan- tities of freight over the mountains, and a blockade that 1s daily assuming more aidable proportions has resalied. Tons of supplies are piled high on the beach, and they will Jike!y remain there for an indefinite length of time. Every incoming steamer dumps scores of excited gold-seekers and tons of freigh on the beach. The confusion is indeserib- able. Muchof the freight is dumped on a long sandspit at Dyea at low tide, as thare are no wharfs at that pluce. Before the supplies can be sorted, claimed and re- moved the tide has risen and ruined or car- | ried entirely away a large quantity of sup- | piies. | An illustration of the confusion in dis- | charging cargoes und getting goods ashore i< found in tue statement that lumber cut and kilndried for making boats at Lake Bennett Las been pitched imto the angry | s2a and washed asuore to be p cked up by the Indians. A bundle of clothing, con- | taining $400 belonging to a miner, was ashed off the sandspit by the tide and lost. | Somany tents are pitched around the | head of Lvnn Canal that the scene is like that of an army encamped. By far the largest portion of the supplies must be packed over the passes by tueir owners if | they are pucked at all. Only about 150 Indians, fifty white men and ten horses are now packing over the | Dyea trail. It is zood to be an Indian now | at Dyea. He is making at least $10 a day. | Helets the palefuces in search of gold | bid against each other for his services as a packer and calmly takes up the burden of | tne highest bidder. His :quaw and his chiidren also carry heavy packs up the steep mountain trail. The miners in the last week have bid against each other with such determination that the price per pound has risen from 10 cents to 20 cents. Lo is filling his blanket with gold, while the excited whites have got it yet to find. White men are abandoning less profitable employment in Juneau and going in small numbers to Dyea, where they can | make from $5 10§10 per day according to the.r sirength and endurance, None but | the nardiest can pack supplies over the | trails, | The white man, with his ten horses, is | making $100 a day. It is estimated that there will be fifty additional white pack- ers and foriy more horses on the trail in a week or ten days, but, on the other hand, the rush keepsup and the end is not in sight. The end is too far away to see. It is pack in New York, Cnicago and San Francisco and has not started vet. Every man who has set foot in Juneaa, Dyea or Skagaway has friends back East who are | coming. The situation cri involves a delay most ; cal for those going into the frozen | territory beyond the mountains. Spring ii!nfickle thing there. She is likely to leave her a¢mirers in the lurch any day. The rivers will then freeze and overland travel to Dawson must stop, except at the greatest peril, till spring smiles again. The Yukon and Lewis have been known to freeze by the middle of August, but while this is an exception it is more than ] a possibility. CANADIANS BREATHE DEFIANCE. TORONTO, ONTARIO, Aug. 10.—A good deal of interest is being taken in Canada in the manner in which the American press and peo- ple receive the new mining laws passed by the Government for the Klondike district. ““It is hardly necessary,” says the Toronto World, “to reply to the threats of Americans in the matter.”” It adds: “The Government of Canada has already made its reply, and that reply is based on action, not on words. A large force of mounted police and two Maxim guns are now on their way to Klondike, and if the miners whom the United States journals are inciting to revolt only make an attempt they will perhaps meet with a reception warmer than anticipated. ¢‘Surely it is time the people of this country, and especially the party in power, began to consider the relations of Canada with the States from an entirely new standpoint. Hitherto the Liberal party has regarded this people as a friendly neighbor, from whom Canadians might expect fair treatment, at least while our habit has been to yield to them over mueh and rather to supplicate such treatment from them than demand it as a right,” r— Into Dixon’s Entrancz From Sitka. THE STEAMSEIP NEXICO, Sunk by Striking West Devil’s Rock on August 5 While Going The Passengers and Crew Were Rowed in Boats to Metiakahtla, Where They Were Picked Up by the Steamer City of Topeka. TUnless an unexpectedly large number of horses and packers arrive soon, many men will camp on the route to the Yukon and eat their supplies in idleness through the long winter. Gold-seekers are doing their best to pack their supplies, but 1t is tedi- ous and laborious work. Even if the blockade is raised there must be great de- lay. Many men are starting for the Yukon with inadequate su;plies and little or no money. It takes gold to bunt goid. One can hardiy make a necessary step on the journey here without it costing $10 for each step. There is a great scramble for timber at | L1ke Bennett with wnich to build boats. A little sawmill there is capable of an output of 800 feet of lumber per day. Ten dollars per 100 was fir-t asked, then | $20 for lumber. The wh psaw-of the gold- | secker is heard througbout the woods. Owing to the great rush there must be more delay at the lakes. Prospectors in the valley of the Yukon have returned here from Dyea and will the Klondike. But not so the tencerfoot. He is swarming for the summitin many instances with an outfit unsuitable in kind and quantity. He is leaving here every day with pretty red, frail, two- wheeled carts and wheelbarrows piled high with much superfluous ouifit expect- ing to push them over the mouniains. His vehicle will smasn and his supplies lie scattered and broken before he is out three hours from Dyea. But von can’t make bim believe it. He is so excited he can’t or won’t listen to reason. His one idea is gold ana he is going after it with sacks and carts to bring it in. As these outfits pass throngh the streets from wharf to whart old prosj ectors laugh. Several photographers here are making a little Kiondike for themselves photo- graphing this kind of prospector in his new Yukon uniform. vears ago and a Yukon prospector twenty years ago. Heis now in advancing vears and one of the proprietors of a hotel here. He returned from Dyea to-day and was asked what he thouegiit of the situation. He has been to the Yukon many times by that route. He said: “I ordered a lot of supyplies some weeks ago and intend to send them to Dawson as soon as they come. I st&il not try to mcve them till next spring. Some of these people are crazy. That is what 1 think of the situation.” “Of the hundreds of men going into the Klondike how many will return with as much as §5000?” he was asked. ‘‘About one in forty. The rest will come back broke,” he said. The new Skaguay trail is open at this time only to White Pass. Many, ignorant of this fact, are going in that way, the trail being more gentle in its slope both ways from the summit than the Dyea Pass, but twice as lone to Lake Bennett. The result will be that th+ gold-seekers will be compelled to cut the trail through fo the lake, greatly to tne profit of its S8kaguay projector, *‘Ola Bill"” Moore, a veteran of the Cassiar, or remain on the trail indefinitely. Tlre reports brought down by the last steamship, the Queen, to the effect that the trail is open and being used, are en- tirely untrue. The Queen landed her 250 Klondike pas- senger. at Skaguay, and 150 of them have since hired smali boats and gone to Dyea to take that trail. The general prospect as vietved from the border of the land of gold at this time is that the route to the Yukon will be strewn with human bones as well as blasted hopes. The Klondike craze is having a disas- trous effect on the industries of Alaska. The great salmon cannery at Chilkat has been compelled to close down, from lack of fishermen, in ihe middle of a very fine season. Nearly every white man in the cannery has deserted and started for Dawson City. Manager Murray tried to get men to take the vacant places, but soon gave up the attempt. Men are insulted now when asked to work for a cannery. The Klondike fever is ata very high pitch in Alaska as well as elsewhere. The Chilkat cannery 18 controiled by the Alaska Packers’ Asso- ciation, which operates neariy all the can- neries on the coast. Employes are leaving the other can- neries for the Klondike. The probability is that work at nearly all of them will be abandoned soon owing principally to a lack of fishermen. At Douglas City, across the channel, about fitty men have given notice to quit work next pay day. They are employed in the big Treadwell gold mine ana mills. Others are leaving without notice and heading for the Klondike. Every shift one or more men are missed. It is feared so many will desert that the mines and mills cannot be worked. The fever has also seized the men in the mines and stampmiils at Brner Bay. A large number have thrown up their jobs there and started for the Klondike. Juneau is about halfdepopulated, and the wait till spring before atiempting to make | Morr.s Orton wasa Montana miner ten | | Nearty 3000 people have this year gone to | | spring. could. Prosnectors are coming in here from Sitka, Unalaska and Cooks Inlet. HavL HoFrFMAN. e THEY FACE FAMINE. One Thousand Poorly Equipped Men Camped at White Horse Pass. DYEA, Auasga, Aug. 4, via BSeattle, Wash., Aug. 10.—The British steamers Islander and Gees have arrived with about 500 prospectors, which increases the num- ber on the Dyea and Skagaway trails to tully 1500. At Skagaway, which is generally known as the Whit: Horse Pass, about two-thirds of the rold-seekers are camped, and the little vulley is full of white tents, and at | night the camp fires look like so many twinkling stars in the heavens above. Late reports, which I credit, have come in to the effect that the Skagaway route is open to the lakes and that it is about forty-five miles long. It is of a zigzag cour-e over the mountains and the road is very soft. There are some 200 or 300 horses on the trail and they will svon tramp its road in s deplorable condition. The prob- ability of one man in ten reaching the Klondike is remote. 0O!d Alaska prospectors, some of whom have winterea in the Yukon and know what to expect, are becoming frightened and turning back; not that they fear the hur Iships, but that theyare apprehensive of a famine on account of so many men rushing beadlong to tue mines without enough provisions to last them two months. Five men from Juneau, when they re- alized the condition of affairs, quickly sold their ouifits and will wait for the Three of them bave spent years of their lives in the Yukon ana they say that {t will be impossible to feed the great mass of destitute people who will winter in the mines. They ‘'size up’” the situation thus: the Kiondike over this route, and almost an equal number went around by St Michaels, This crowd, with the 6000 or | 8000 that were and will remain there, will increase the number to about 12,000 in- habitants. Oneof the steamers, the Arctic, was lost, and the old timers aver that it will be im- pessible for the remainder of the feet to | carry enough provisions up the river to feed that many people. iInstances are witnessed here every day where men throw away their provisions, except forty or fifty pounds, and start for the El Do- rado. If the reports are true that such classes are being shipped down the river from the mines the situation may not be so bad. 5 The rush is made up of all kinds of peo- ple. To-day I saw ex-Superior Judge Qs- born of Seattle start off up tne trail with a fifty-pound sack of flour strapped to his back and leading a razor-backed cayuse that was staggering along with a couple of hundred pounds of bacon. Yesterday the Judge aud three or four Indians, with lines over their shouiders, were hauling a canoe up the Dyea River. Itis indeed surprising, not to say dis- tressing, to abserve the large number of young men and boys, none of whom are remotely equipped for the undertaking, who are pushing into the gold fields. They go about the camp armed like small- sized arsenals. An amusing incident occurred up the canyon last night when two young lads from Seattle, one of whom was a clerk in the First National Bank and the other Charles Heick, who was staked by the proprietor of the Ranier Grand, had some trouble about six slices of bacon with the Indians. Heick drew a large-sized revolver ana was taking a bead on a Chilcoot, when he was seized by another Indian and his arms and ammunition taken away. To add insnlt to injury the lndians returned to Dyea and swore out a complaint be- fore Commissioner Smith for the arrest of Heick. The latter was fined $60. first trial in Dyea. These two boys have raisea the cost of packing from 17 to 20 cents a pound. The Indians and white packers realize that they are ‘*easv,” and are taking their money away from ther. The romance of the trip to the Klondike was taken out of Joaquin Miller before he reached Lake Lindeman. The poet started off with flying colors, with his “abbreviated bill of fare,” as he called his forty pounds of grub and clothing. Before he had reached Sheep Camp, at the foot of the mountain range, he had engaged a packer to carry his pack. The trip up to the summit was an awful tax on his physical strength and he was terribly exhausted. At tbe end of the third day he reached the first lake with a slightly sprained ankle. There he en- gaged passage on a barge that was taking a few beud of cattle down the river to the Klondike. The road bet That was the n here and Sheep Camp other balf would go to Dawson City if it [ is in & bad condition.J§The mud is nearly } kneedeep and itis bad emough for pack animals instead o men heavily laden with supplies. The trail from Sheep Camp is very steep and one must chiimb from bowlder to bowlder, sometimes on all- fours. In the winter traveling is much better. One man with a Jizht running sleigh can easily haul 1000 nounds over the ice and snow up 'he canyon, across the moantain and down the incline to Lake Bennett. The best season to go to the Yukon is in March or April. Itis surprising to see how well Indian dogs like to work. They joyfully dance about when the packs are about to be broken. There is one fine animal here that netted the owner last winter $1100 by hauling sleighs loaded with miners’ sup- plies to the lakes. As soon as winter commences horses become vaiueless and are killed and fed to the dog-, and the canines are in prime condition when spring comes. An Indian’s word is absolutely worth- less. They will make a solemn contract one hour and cancel it the next for no ap- | parent cause. They often agree to carry supplies for certain considerations and at stated times, but obiigations of that char- acter are valueless, Many of the Chilkats end Sitkas have mingled in with the Chitkoots here, until the tribes are pretty well mixed. How- ever, they are nuited in the one proposi- tion of forcing the Sticks, or interior Indians, to remain over on their side of tne range of mountuins and not visit the coast for trading purposes. Most of the younger generation ars well educated and can read and write good English. They have been and are now being edu- cated in the missions, The Indian chiefsd o not exercise much control over their subjects in the way of collecting tithing. One or two of the chiefs still have a few slaves which they hold in bondage and derive some revenue by packing supplies for miners. Since arriving at Dyea and Skagaway 1 have leirned considerable about packing goods for the Yukon. Both provisions and ciothing should be put up in 50, 100 and 150 pound cauvas or rubber bag-. Bottled and canned goods should be packed in the center of dried fruit or bun- dies of clothing, so that the sharp edges will not cut the backs of the Indians. They will not carry boxes, and every pound of weight shouid be saved. Flour and bacon are easily handled. Small packages are carried by Indian boys and girls or with trained dogs. The distance to Lake Lindeman is twenty- eight miles. The first day the Indians carry to Sheep Camp and camp for the nignt. The next day they go up the mountain tothe summit, which is 3800 feet above the sea level, and cross to Lake Lindeman and then return to Sheep Camp that night. Early in the morning of the third day they return to Dyea for a rest. They make two round trips a week. It is indeed surprising to witness the strength and endurance ot these Chilcoot Indians. One man carries 260 pounas over a trail that few white men care to walk empty-handed. There is a young boy here about 15 years old who takes a pack weighing 175 pounds. The women are good carriers. Bome people have peculiar ideas about what to take to the Klondike. . One man from Puget Sound is taking a bicycle over the Skagaway trail. He loads it down with about 400 pounds of freight and is pushing it along over the trail. In four days he had made about five miles. Another man is trying to take a big feather bed and two large pillows. A new scheme of taking cattle to the Klondike is being tried. They are being driven across the mountains tn the lakes, and there put on bargesand shipped down the river 1o Klondike. If the scheme is a success it will be pos- sible to take catile to the Klondike from Puget Sound in twenty-tive days. In all probability several hundred sheep will be taker to the mines in the same manner, WiLriam J. Jones. ——— EXODUS FROM SEATTLE. Men of All Rank Joining in the Rush for the Kiondlke Gold Flelds. SEATTLE, WasH., Aug. 10.—The fever- ish interest manifest in golden tributaries of the Yukon River knows no abatement this week. In fact, the excitemen: was never at greater height nor the exodus of fortune-hunters so large as at present. It is estimated that fully 800 people wiil have left Seattle during six days precea- ing Saturday next. % To-night the steamer Elsa Anderson got off for St. Michae!s with nearly a hun- dred passengers and 400 tons of freight. Accompanying her 1s the tug Holyoke, towing the sc ooner Bryant with twenty- five passengers and 100 tons of freight, the old Russian gunboat Polutkofsky, made into a barge, and the steamer Mer- win, to which will be transferred ireight and passengers at St. Michaels. To-morrow the steamer Utopia, which STRIKES A ROCK AND IS SUNK Loss of the Big Steamship Mexico During a Dense Fog. DISASTER OCCURS WHILE IN DIXON'S ENTRANCE. Passengers and Crew Saved by the Coolness of the Officers and Taken Safely in the Small Boats to Metlakahtla. VICTORIA, B. C., Aug. 10.—The City of Topeka, which ar- rived from the North this evening, reports that the steamer Mexico, on August 5, while going into Dixon’s entrance from Sitka, during a heavy fog, at full speed, struck on West Devil’s Rock. After two hours the steamer sank in 500 feet of water, stern first. The captain exhibited great coolness and with the officers did everything that was possible. The passengers and crew were saved, with their hand-baggage, in small boats. total loss. After rowing till midnight they arrived at Metlakahtla. The time the ship struck was 4 in the morning. The ship is a The passengers and crew are on the City of Topeka. The Al-Ki, calling at Metiakahtla, found the passepgers and crew there and reported the fact to the Topeka at Dyea. The Topeka called on her way south and took all the passengers and crew. Further particulars of the Mexico show that the steamer was on the way out from Sitka when the disaster occurred. Pilot Cornell was in charge, and when she struck, the sea was smooth and the water clear for a mile ahead. She drove full speed on the rock and pzssed over it, driving per- haps a quarter of a mile ahead before she could be brought round. She was evidently doomed, and boats were hurriedly prepared and launched. In less than half an hour all the passengers were pro- vided for this, and only time enough remained to get some of the lighter baggage and the bags with the letter mail. The Mexico had 133 passengers, including many Christian En- deavorers. made a memorable trip to Cooks Inlet early last fall, will set sail for Skaguay. She will carry about 150 passengers, 100 horses and 150 tons of freight. The big steamer Mexico is expected in from Dyea at almost any hour. She is now several days overdue and is booked to leave again to-morrow. She will no doubt be in and out again before the end of the week, tak- ing 250 passengers, a number of horses and several hundred tons of freight. On Friday the steamer Humbold! is ex- vected in from San Francisco and will take on a couple of hundred passengers and freight for St. Michaels. A number of passengers that are outfitted at Seattie will also ieave to-morrow on the steamship Bristol, which sails from Victoria for Dyea with 110 passengers. On Saturday the steamer Farallon and ship Klondike will leave Seattle for Dyea and Skaguay with passengers and freight. ¥ The passengers who will devart on these various vesseis come largely from coast towns, but nearly every State Union is represented. The information received that Seattle’s Mayor, W. D. Wood, wonld leave S8an Franecisco to-day on the stenmer Humboldt has caused con- siderable flurry in this city. Speculation is rife as to the intention of the Mayor with reference to resigning rffice, to which he was elected to serve until March next. The Humboldt is expected to reach here Friday, and after taking passengers and freight aboard will con'inue the following day to 8t. Michaels. Mayor Wood is the head of the Seattle and Yukon Commer- cial Company and will proceed to Dawson City. He will only be in Seattle for a day, and even his closest friends do not know whether he hopes to retain his honorary title. This can be done with the consent of the City Council in granting bhim periodical leaves of absence. In that event, the president of the Council, J. E. Crichton, now acring Muyor, wonld continue in that capacity. Heis in tavor with that element which desires a “*wide open” policy. Business men generally believe that during the present Klondike excitement and cons quent influx of strangers, a more liberal policy should prevail. This view is also indorsed by Chief of Police Reed, and it will no doubt prevail. The most startling surprices continue as to the personnel of the men who are allured from this city by visions of golden nuggets in the now far-iamed Klondike territory. The announcement was made to-day that R. C. Washburn, managing editor of the Post-Intelligencer, had re- signed his position to go north on the Humboldt Saturday. He will be suc- ceeded by John W, Pratt,who will assume the duties until September 1. On that day the paper will change ownership. The deal has practically been consum- mated and payments made. The new owners are presumably East- erners, represented by the Piper Brothers of Portland. The consideration is $100,000 for a majority of the stock. Mr. Wasi- burn hus been connected with the paper for several years. In 1893 he served asa member of the House of Renresentatives and in March last completed a term of two sessions as State Secretary. He was in the | formerly on Governor McGraw’s staff and w#as oneof the trusted allies of the old McGraw regime that so long successfully manipulated Republican politics of this State. A printing outfit was shipped last night on the Polly. It will be taken to Dawson City, where Jack Carr’s newspaper enter- prise, the Klondike Nugget, wili be launched. Among the recent important incorpora- tions in Eeattle is the Alaska Northwest Development Company. Itisthe purpose in the spring to send prospectors to the Yukon to prospect placers and quartz claims. The company starts to work at once building a biz dredger after a new system. This dredzer will be built in Seattle and taken up in sections in the spring. It wiil cost between $25,000 and $40,000. The prospectors will be outfitted for three years and only experienced men will be sent. Considerable interest was manifested all day in the expected departure of the steamer Eiiza Anderson, which left to- nizht at 9 o’clock for St. Michaels. This vessel was originally put in service in January, 1859, and owing to her extreme old age serious apprehension has bzen felt as to her ability to buffet ihe sea waves. In 1890 she was rebuilt and recently her hull was put in good condition, the ma- chinery given a thorough overhauling and a number of improvements made. The Anderson’s arrangements are some- what novel. She had about eighty-five passengers, but carried no freight other than the personal luggage of the passen- gers. She was consorted by the tug Rich- ard Holyoke, which will tow the steam- ers Polly and W. K. Merwin and schooner W. J. Bryan. The latter carries 208 pas- sengers, while the Polly will carry the bulk of the freight. The Merwin was boxed up and goes empty, it being the intention to u-e her as a river boat on the Yukon. The Anderson will remain in the north all winter. Her passengers and freight will be transferred at St. Michaels to the Merwin and a barge. The latier is car- ried on the Pollv and is ready to put together. The current reports of th= un- safe condition of the Anderson did not in Continued on Second Page. Has No Equal Hood’s Sarsaparilia Gives Appetite and Relieves Indigestion. “When I need a medicine to tone up my system and ;urily my blood I take Hood’s Sarsaparilla and I find it the best medicine Ican take. It gives me a po)d appetite and relieves indigestion.” Mgs M. 8. Lowk, Michigan Bar, California. . Hood’s 52 00 parilla Is the best—in fact-th True Blood Purifier. nstipation. cents.