The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 18, 1897, Page 1

T VOLUME FRANCISC O, WEDNESDAY FEW WILL | GET THROUGH T There Is No Abatement in the Big Blockade at Dyea. GREAT JAM ALSO REPORTED AT SKAG Steamers Arriving From the North Bring Additional Stories of Gold-Hunters Who Cannot Reach the Klondike. VICTORIA, B. C., Aug. 17.— The steamer Al-Ki, several days June au, | calling at| irly morn- sound at | news of | that the jam little of abatement until spring. ported to be of little route. ht the body of Seattle, while attempti T broug Fowler of who | i vay on the gth inst. Patterson discredited that the Portland has inside passage. a is reported irowned to as unchanged, with the general| opinion that but few will get| through to the Klondike this fall. The number of miners at Ska- | guay is increasing. Fifteen ves- Skaguay and Dyea were by the AI-Ki on her way ueen arrived from o’clock to-night. rQ 1 officers repeat the hard-luck Dyea, reporting that selling their outfits at a ir of making any spring. ners are amer Danube arrived at Comox d brings advices | from Dyea up to gust 10. The | trail is completely biocked up and | B:itish Col ia miners have or- | nized and are building a new | across White Pass to the| The Danube met all the north- bound steamers, but saw nothing | of the Portland, which was yester- day reported to be at Comox. | | | | aboard at 1 o’cleck. | upon affairs | tcok the steamer in charge on a libel by HIS FALL UAY. the Despair of the DELAYED IN DEPARTURE. Passengers on the Humboldt Take Action ani May Sue the Com- pany for Damages. SEATTLE, WasH., Aug. 17.—The most xciting of all the Alaskan exodus scenes witnessed this aiternoon at the Ar- ngton dock, where the steamer | Humboldt lies. Since yes morning | irious hours have been set for the depar- ture of this steamer for St. Michael, but a combination of circumstances have com- bined to detain ber. Last night 1t was announced that she would positively eave at 9 o’clock this morning. Shortly after that hour it was given out that she would cast off lines at 2 o’clock this after- 100n, and nassengers were cautioned to go Shortly after the noon hour it was evi ient that all the freight could not be taken aboard, as her accommedation were then tesied to the utmost and th United States local inspectors prohibited any further loading. Twenty tons or more of flour, sleds, shoveis, stoves and provisions were still on the dock, and it was whispered about that it was the intention to 2o without it The 220 passengers than bezan to ger ex- cited and.soon the hundreds of interested spectators also engaged in an animated discussion of the situation. Men spoke out in open meeting, and soon everywhere could be heard the ex- cited words of an angry crowd. Things were taking on a serious aspect when Ar- thur E. Seymour of Boston mounted an elevation and called upon all the passen- gers to join in takine concerted action in an effort toright the difficuity. His idea pievailed, and soon an organization was formed and a committes oi tweive ap- pointed to interview Mayor W. D. Wood, manager of the Seaitleand Yukon Com- mercial Company, which has the Hum- boldt under lease. The committee found Mr. Wood, and he w 1auced to expla his position to the assemblage on the dcck He siated that he could take no more freight on board, but that 1t was his inten- ion to arrange with the Bristol or some other steamer intending to sail within a few days to transportail the passengers and freight to St. Michael. The men demanded of him that he take from the Humboldt some of the pro- visions that the company had laid in a n Francisco for their own speculatio:. This Mr. Wood said was at the bottom ! the hold and was scarcely more than they might need for their own men during the nier. The controversy was waxing Warm when a temporary quietus was put by the arrnival of United States Deputy Marshal McLaughalin, who John Gallatin of Spokane. It appears tnat while the excitement ran high Mr. Gallatin went to the Federal court and swore out an action that wilt | AN OLD PROSPECTOR’S PAC K TRAIN ON COFFEE CREEK. The aristocratic prospector is the one who can load up from one to three packmules with his outfit and a month’s sup- ply of provisions and alone or with company follow dim trails or thread tLe pathless woods on the mountainsides. De- lightful camping spots over which city folks wou!d go wild are always near. Gun and fishhooks are always handy. tie up the steamer at leastuntil to-morrow morning. The libellant aileges that he paid $400 cash, which entitled him 1o 150 pounds of baggage and 1000 pounds of freight. He says that the boat could take but balf of his freight and baggage, Mzyor Wood alleging that the steamer cannot carry it all. He alleges that he demanded the return of his money, which was re- fusea. He asks the return of his money and $400 damages in addition. Toe mutter will come before the court at 10 o’clock to-morrow, and if the iibel holds there will be a dozen or more to fol- low. The matter may be aajusted, how ever, so that the steamer can get away to- MOrrow. The passengers are angry because their- goods are being left behind, while they pelieve the company is taking up tons of merchandise to carry on a .mercantile siness this fail and winter on the Yukon. Another story is that a stock of liquors is on board. It is also reported that the Humbo!dt people have asked that the Bristol,* which leaves on "the 234, take twenty-five tons of ireight for thie Hum- boldt passengers, and that this accommo- on 1s refused by the Bristol, for the ason that she has now more freight of her own than she can carry. The passengers allege that the company has contracted for a consideration of $300 to transport them ‘to Dawson City via St. Michael, and up the Yukon River upon the steamship Humboldt asar as St. Michael, and thence by steam barge or barge under tow, with subsistence for said passenger for the entire trip, subject to the limitation that after entering and beginning the ascent of the Yukon River not exceeding thirty days’ subsistence is to be furnished, said passenger to furnish 1is own bedding for the entire trip. Wor any excess of time over thirty days onsumed upon the Yukon, not arising from necligence of the company, said passenger is to pay the company at the rate of $2 perday for subsistence.”” The contract further reads that ‘“‘the company will also, in accordance with all he above provisions, transport witn said as-enger and his 150 pounds of baggage \dditional goods or supplies (not unlaw- ul, dangerous or excessive in bulk) to the xtent of not more than 1000 pounds (un- es otherwise agreed) at the rate of 10 ents per pound, payable in advance. The company shall not be iiable for loss ir injury of such goods or supplies unless risinz from lts neg'igence.”’ Among the Humbold’s passengers are + number of women, two of the voungest being Mra. Gerald Rooney and Mrs. Alice Livingstone, of New York City. Mrs. Rooney is going north with her husband, an electrical engineer who has had ex- perience in the woods of Michigan. Mrs. Continued on Third Page. B T e A USUAL MORNING SCENE IN REDDING. This picture shows the Weaverville and Redding stage loaded with vassengers and supplies for Coffee Creek. - This stage contains ten inside passengers and four outside passengers besides the driver., Call” by R. B. Middlemiss of Redding. Photograpbed especially for “The SUENES OF FORTY-NINE REPEATED Gold-Seekers Continue| the March to Old Trinity. THOUSANDS ARE NOW ON THE WAY. Fresh Reports of Some Daz- zling Discoveries Being Duly Circulated. PCCKETS T}iAT CONTAIN SMALL FORTUNES. It Is Estimated at Least Four Mll-i ions Will Be Taken From the Cof- fee Creek Region This Year. REDDING, CaL, Aug. 17.—This has been a red-fetter day in the Coffee Creek gold excitement, and at least 100 more en- thusiastic wealth-seekers have been added to the list of departures from this city. The rush still continues, and from all appearances to-dav there will be many a prospector whose enthusiasm will be dampened on his arrival at Trinity Cen- ter to find hotel accommodations a thing impossible to secure and supplies for man and beast entirely exhausted. There are fully 1000 strangers in the little mountain town of Trinity Center to- day, Everything eatable has disappeared, and people are coaverting porches, roois, old wagons and every available space into stopping quarters. Hay and grain is worth its weight 1n goli, and hereafter unless those entering the goldfields take sufficient horsefeed with them their ani- mals will suffer very materially. And that is not all. The meager sup- ply of provisions kept by the small country stores has entirely given out, and prices for what remains in stock are rising at a greatrate. That heretofore quiet and peaceful mountain town is now a bustling, humming eamp of no less than 2000 souls, and the' life and activity mani- fest is twrily wonderful. In fac', it is alarming to the old settlers, who for years past have been content to live quietly and peacefuliy in their rustic homes, unmo- | lested by denizens of the outside world, | and even when taking-out of the bowels of the earth small-sized fortunes have sought no publicity or notoriety. Just how the mmcoming horde is to find accommodations is a puzzle to the aver- age Coffee Creeker, but as a rule the | miners of that section are unselfish, The latchstring of their cabins always bangs on the outside, and strangers are welcome 10 walk in and partake of the simple store of provisions they usually keep on' hand. The rashto the new fie!ds has been con- siant, wagon-load after wagon-load of prospectors and supplies having left this city until to-night. It is indeed comical to view the various combinations that leave this city. First there will be a stage coach loaded down with men who bear every resemblance of ty pical minars; next will follow a surrey, perhaps, filled with dapper sort of fellows, with tennis coats, blazing shirt fronts and straw hats, anc then a genuine old-time prairie schooner, loaded down with a whole fam- ily ana drawus bv mules, will form a pro- cession truly amusing. The Redding -and Weaverville Stage Company sent out extra coaches heavily loaced to-day and have' orders for more seats than they can possibly vrovide for to-morrow. - Last nignt’s stage arrived late, and on account of the heavy load go- ing outand roughness of - the ‘road every seat on the inside of the coach was smashed and an axle sprng to the extentu that a new coach had to be put in service this morning. The capacity of each of the coaches on this line is supposed to be eight passengers; but that number is now doubled atevery trip. A little incident occurred this morning that came near upsetting the plans of a rather fashionable party of would-be prospectors who had chartered one of the Weaverville stages. The stage had been filled with baggage and some sixteen pas- sengers, when a fractious-looking donkey, to be used asa pack animal, was hitched on behind, the purpose being to lead the ani- mal behind the stage as far as Trinity Center, and from there put bim on a pack train. This particular donkey had seri- ous objections to being led, and he speed- ily made those objections known. Three or four vigorous jerks and kicks brought | the passengers to a realization of the fact 1 that the donkey did not appreciate the company he was with or was envious of the norses in lead ©of the siage. There wasa general scrambling off from that stage-coach and trunks, valises and bundles of blankets were sent in various directions. To compromise matters the donkey was released and swappec¢ for a docile looking horse and the party pro- ceeded north ward. Pack animals are commanding enor- mous prices. As high as $75 has been paid for a serubby, razor-back, six-bit mule, and the purchaser considered himself lucky to getitat that price. This after- noon two freight-wagons came in from Trinity Center after ioads of supplies. From the driver in charge of one o: the ouifits it was learned that new strikes are still being made. The entire county of Trinity is being prospected as it never was before and much rich ground is being un- covered. Ground that has heretofore been con- sidered utterly worthless for other than grazing purposes is being dug into and found to contain plenty of gold. Just be- yond the Nasb deep-gravel mine, near the Graves discovery, a rich gravel deposit was encountered yesterday that yiei ds $50 to the pan. The gravel lies as if in an old river or creek channel and is about ten feet below the surface. A claim of large proportions has been located by the dis- coverers and water from the Blytne ditc! will be bron ht into the property. A report that reached Redding to-nigh is to the effect that the rich pocket found by the half-breed, Dick, who was mur- dered about four years uago, an account of which appeared in yesterday’s CALL, has been reopened by two prospectors. This report, however, has not been verified, but it is reasonable to suppose that it is true from the fact that at least five differ- ent parties have been diligencly searching for this lost claim. News from the new diggings has been somewhat scarce to-day, but what has come in is of the most encouraging nature. New ledges of quar!z are being uncovered in several of the old mines and location notices are being recorded by the wholesale. Considerable of the land in Trinity in the gold beltis owned by the railroad company, but can be cbtained for $2 50 an acre. Many are avaiiing them- selves oi that opportunity and instead o: going to the fieids and locating claim< tl.ey are buying railroad lands, and by so doing are assured of a perfectly clear title to their property. Everything is running at full blast at Trinity Center.- Gambiing games of all kinds are being conducted, and many there, rather than endure the bard work necassary in prospecling, are taking thei chances of securing a fortune over the goming table. Men with cowboy hats, belts with revolvers and bowie-knives an« regular '49 ‘ong coats’’ are seen in nun:- bers on the streets. The signs *‘Keno to- night” are noticeable and the town pre- sents a genuine '49 appearance. Gold dust a®d nuggets are used as a medium «f exchange and the dust is delved out over the counters in spoonfuls instead of the regalar way of putting down silver or gold coin. . In 1896 the total value of gold sent from Trivity County to the United §'ates Mint was $1,29633) 30. The value of quick- silver sent -was $139,033, or 4205 flasks. Besides this there was a great deal of gold dust and nuggets that were disposed of to locai firms which will bring the total out- put up to $2,000,000. This year, from the present indicatians, this amount will be more than doubled. A 'wild report reached Redding late this evening to the effect that three pros- pectors—one named Gilmore, trom San Francisco—had encountered a fabulously rich deposit of pocket gravel in Canyon Creek, a tributary of Coffee Creek, yéster- THE SOA BARY The Startling : in Evidence at the Mission-. Street Factory. and Mysterious Manifestations Continue day. The rumor is to the effect that $23.000 was taken ont since Efaturday morning. Just how true this report is cannot now be szid, but the following let- ter received to-night from a man named Jackson to a friend in Hedding contained a slight verification of the report. The letter is dated Canyon Creek, August 16, and reads as follows: Dear Friend : Arrived et Trinity Center Fri- day, and found excitement at a high pitch. You canuot imagine how many people are here. They seem to rise up out of the zround and are coming from all directions in all sorts of vehicles. I saw Friday evening nineteen men perched on a lightspring wagon, and it jooked as if & feather placed on that wagon would surely have broken down the rig. tarted for Canyon Creek early Saturday and arrived there just in time to hear what at first I took to be an Indian outb-eak, but which I afterward found was shouts, caused by tke re- vorted find by a miper uan.ed Gilmoreofa rich pocket mear the banks of the creek, bout a hundred yards from our camp. Some of the gold was shown me, and my informant said Gilmore had an everlasting fortune and would soon outshine the Graves boys. The reports have to s certain extent been pictured a little too vividly, but let me tell you, there is gold here and plenty of 1t, but it takes hard labor to get it. 1 imagined I couid come up here and pick up nuggets anywhere, but I have been sadly mistaken in that respect. Whatgoid bas been fou.d has been worked for, and while one stands as good a chance of striking it asrich asanother there aro plenty of people going to leave this country with less capital than they came in wih, but with an experience that is worth someining. tis & great country, and there is no telling DETECTIVES ARE ALL PUZZLED Sleuths Admit That It Beyond Their Compre= hension, Is OF THE WARES. QUEER GYRATIO) Window-Panes Pierced by the Soft Material as if by Cannon Balls. ““L'here are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in Your philosophy.” Ever since Saul of Tarsus visited the witch of Endor, which is the earliest record of 1nvestigation into the occult realm, the human race has been awed by supernatural manifestations, aud every new exhibition of psychic force or sem- blance thereto arouses the cyriosity of all minds, whether they be skeptical or not. | The manifestations which have been oc- curring at the Yucca Root Soap Factory on Mission street sincejlast Friday are no exception to the rule, and whether these Exterior N S S of the Mission-St eet Soap Factory, Where the Strange Manifestations Took Place Yesterday. how many millious lie beneath the surface. 1 intend to stay with itand have a claim staked out and take out some gold, but I find up here he miners don’t cousider a pickup of $300 or $400 an item worth mentioning. Taoey wait until tney take out several thousand ina lump and then they make a noise about it. Provisions are getting scarce, and if you come up be sure and bring grub enough to last five or six months. Rich finds are being made in various sections of the distriet, and I have seen more goldesince I have been here than I have ever imagined would be my good fortune t0 gaze upon. Will let you know as soon as I dig out & few thousand, unless you are here by that time. This letter was accompanied by an order for grub and horse feed and al<o by a small package of gold dust, containing perhaps $150. i ON THE GOLDEN TRAIL. Picturesque Scenes as the Pros- pectors Proceed to the Cotfee Creek Reglon. CARRVILLE, CarL., Aug, 17.—A pictur- esque cavalcade passes into the most picturesque of the hills in which nature nas stored her gold. Up this old Oregon | -tage road, now httle used, the procession to Coffee Creek aaily grows. The goid hunters stop at the spring for a watering trough under the caks and pause to gos-ip on the wide verandas of Car:’s big lonely and restful roadside tavern. Tp here on the banks of the Trinity, a mile from the mouth of Coffee Creek, one Continued on Second Page. (T e T S S S Y ST Y TS SIS BT I T WHAT W. C. CURTIS THINKS OF IT. manifestations in India that stand the reason for it. E' E : agency.’’ ‘I have studied theosophy for years and have seen never seen any that were more pronounced. satisfied that there is no material agency here. psychic force thatis causing it, but I am at loss to under- It is impossible for the results to be produced by any person throwing the soap. Some of the manifestations are such as could not be produced by human man ifestations be the resul! of some un- known force or the clever work of some joker the interest of the public is daily in- tensified by the peculiar action of certain bars of soap, which, certainly, is not be- having itself just as well regulated soap should. Yesteraay morning the soap bezan to fly around the room with even greater force than on the day previous, when the detectives sent by the Chief of Police were compelled to admit themselves thoroughly puzzled. A shorttime after the two giris employed in wrapping soap in the pack- ing-room began to work between fitteen and twenty bars of soap flew up from the racks arranged along the wall, ana fell into the aisle between the racks. While the employes were occupied in gathering up this soap other bars were flying around, some striking the girls and one giving such a severe blow to Lillie Coombs that she cried out in pain. After the first | manifestation had ceased and the girls were again quietly at work a cake of soap went hurtling through the air from the front end of the room out through a pane of glass in the rear window, with suffi- | cient force to break a round hole without shattering t he glass. From 11 o’clock nntil 1 in the afternoon there was a cessation of tbe exhibition, with the exception of an occasional cake of soap flying across the room. At 1 o'clock a iarge quantity was again lifted in the air and deposited on the flyor, and immediately afterward another cake went with incredible velocity thrqu:h the air were more strange, but have 1 am perfectly It isa M}LWUMWD