The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 30, 1897, Page 1

VOLUME LXXXIL B ol RS SAN FRANCISCO, MO DAY MORNING, A UGUST 30, 1897. PRICE FIVE CENTS. FROM THE NORTHERN FIELDS OF ICE AND GOLD “CALL” CORRESPONDENTS SEND STORIES OF THE MINERS EXPERIENCES Prospect of a Shortage Among Fortune-Hunters in the of Provisions Yukon Country. FEVER AND FAMINE MAY PREVAIL AT FESTIVE DAWSON CITY. However, From Many Localities Come Stoties of Rich Diggings, but the Chief Drawback Is in Reaching Them and Secur- ing Sufficient Food After Arrival, ch interest centers in the gold regions of the Klondike it is a pleasure to be able to the excellence of THE CALL’S news service covering that distant field. No information can be brought out by returned prospectors, by transportation companies, by investigating scien~‘ At| point at which such news could arrive have been stationed alert and able men, experienced corre- nd | n vessels and not be promptly secured before the readers of this paper. whom news-getting is a profession, and by whom good work is considered a mattar of | pride. Other men pass on to the Klondike itself. THE CALL is determined that its news shall not only curate, and aims to tell the truth, whether it be of fortunes found or of golden dreams dis- v but of suffering along the bleak and dreary trails or of sudden wealth. » morning THE CALL presented, as is its mission, all the news. It did not have a picture izzled beard in the act of being toyed with by Arctic zephyrs. It did not even have a por- | > poet hunting game that was not there, and pausing in his mad chase long enough to give a amera a chance at him. The search for gold is a matter of hard fact, and the practical | > one that readers desire to find available when they open the morning paper. Rushing | ere mcrtals fear to tread”’ is a dangerous business, and there are thousands who are not rushing | s how fares it with the venturesome. The fate and prospects of those who have gone ters of first importance. The news thus far, colored by tales of marvelous discovery, has in it a somber note of warning and Everybody with knowledze of conditions along the route emphasizes the danger of start- folly of reserving enough of the latter to buy a return tick s late date and the almost criminal ing in at any time without an ample stock of pro- eL itrails are steadily growing worse and the charges for carrying freight mounting to the impossible has unstinted funds. According to all accounts the traveler The idea that nuggets await any eager hand that may reach for them has also faded away before reality. In truth there are many men on the Klondike who were there lis marvelous strike, yet who are still poor, existing largely on the inspiration of hope. ondent definitely states, it would be as easy for a poor man to ‘‘get in’’ on Wall street as > now, whatever m evelop in the Northwest will be set forth in THE CALL, whose purpose it is to And from that inhospitable land, now feeling the touch of approaching winter, y ws at any cost. there must come thrilling stories, stories perhaps of quickly made millionaires, perhaps of tragedy, hard- sh leath GREAT CRUSH | aaots pactr e s gl o | s i e ON THE YUKON « big advantae, for the Weare, the North | of the gold-uunters, who stand ready to American Transportat.on Company’s | forfeit their passage with the boats of the voat, is so long overdue that little doubt | Alaska Company, if only to gain a few remains that she has met with some ac- | days’ advantage in reaching the gold fields. cident, and is waiting somewhere on the The Hamilton is a thoroughly modern river for the assistance of the first boat | boat, with excellent appointments, but up. Her boilers were faulty and have | accommodations proper for but sixty-four CALL Reviews the Situa- LL probably given out, The Bella, the Alas- | passengers. Under the stress of the hour, | ka Commercial Comiany’s boat, is due| nowever, she will take over a hundred. tion at St Michael. ; iere on the 18th, barring accidents, and | and passengers will be as thick upon her 4 —_— now it will take her two orthree days | as upon a streetcar going to a ball game, .5 of Starvation and Fever at | 2fter that to complete a transier of her The weather is serene and beautiful, orrespondent Wall of THE | carzo. 8o, with the most favorable con- | the sun and moon shini: : 2 ng at the same Dawson Cause Some Gold- | ditions, we bave a pause here 1or len | time, the barbor perfectly calm and a:l days, unless we desert our ship. conditions favor a speedy trip, once the Seekers to Wait. start is made. There is concentrated here, in this little There is lying in the barbor a brand new boat, dropped off the ways only yes- ST. MICHAEL, Arasga. Aug. 11 (via | terday, and wearing a halo of bright flags | trading post, near the Arctic circle, all the to Seattle, Aue. 29) that flutter against as fair a sky as ever | thrill of excitement that has carried these with 113 fortune-|lert a reputation to italy. The boat is| people out of civilization. Since arriving ved bere this even- | the Charles H. Hamilton, 300 tons, the | here the passengers of both ships have Pc d, that le parts mac.e by Moran Bros. Seattle and | been mingled and swapped air castles, as 1zet Sonnd a week earlier, stillin the her passengers on board. No at has arrived down the river since she ropped anchor, and it now becomes an | put together here. She belongs to the op- position compzny, and so muck diligence 1% being exercised toward putting her into commission that she is expected to be \teresling question as to which of the | ready tosail up the river with the Por:- companies trading 1in this covntry | iand’s p ers in four days. There are shull get its passengers up the river first. | les- than a b red of these, and if she Did it Jie wholly with the boats now in | fulfil s this promise the cozen newspaper | it were, and together have visitea the camp of a company of twenty miners who came down on the river boat J. J. Healy | and are waiting to go touth with the Port- land. All of them are of the Iucky num- | ber, and are going out to dazzle their friends and relatives with the glitter of their sudden riches. There i3 said to be “NOTHING TO WARRANT THE RUSH.” VICTORIA, B. C., Aug. 209.—J. Peterson, an Alaskan trader, who left Dawson City on July 22 with his partner, Bradbury Cole, arrived here on the steamer Islander this morning, they having come out ver the Dalton trail. Peterson says there are certainly rich diggings in the Yukon country, but nothing to warrant the rush that is taking place. ported rich strike has been made, is all staked off, but miners did not record claims, the ground not being Henderson Creek, three miles below Stewart River, where the 1sidered rich enough. : i Before Peterson knew that the Portland had arrived he said she would bring between $150,000 and \1200,000. On the 1st of August 150 men had passed Fort Selkirk on their way to the mines. These are the men who left the coast cities before the excitement commenced, and of the men who left since only fifty have crossed the pass. Trails are getting worse every day and it is hard to say which is best. k is blocked with horses and in attempting to pass many horses have been thrown over precipices . Half a dozen men came down on the Islander who have given up hope of getting to the lakes. B. Franklin. A. Curtis. A. A Booth. J. J. Corey. W. A. Steel. J. C. Pringle. Staff Correspondents of “ The Call” Who Went Out on the Tng Sea Lion and Secured the News Brought Down by the Steamer Portland. about $200,000 in this party, but they de- { purchase price of a claim. | ing for this money with tne intention of cline to give inaividuai fige There are probabiv only eighteen in the party, for one of them is & detective who went into the country after a man charged with murder, and another is his prisoner. The deteciive is another and quite inter- esting story. All of the miners speak of the country as being exceeding!v rich in the yellow metal, but they at the same | time never cease to warn those who goin against the certain hardships and possible dangers they must encounter. In-this they are joined by all tho:a here- abouts who have been.in dud.are familiar with the country, including the Federal officials and the officers of the commercial | companies themselves. The warning of these latter is not exactly against going into the country, inasmuch as they have brought the peopie thus far, but they say plainly that the companies cannot guar- antee a plentiful supply of provisions. They declare this to be impossible, inas- much as there is no tellivg how many peo- ple are coming in over the pass with in- sufficient provisions for the winter. Thkes: warnings bave had a very ap- preciabie effect upon the enthusiasm of many, and the pass:ngers of the Excel- sior haa & meeiing this evening and dis- cussed the situation in much soberness. It was decided 10 appoint a committee to wait upon Louis Sloss Jr. of the Alaska Commere.al Compan when he shall bave arrived as expected on the down boat, and demand of him that every pas- senger shall be aliowed to purchase and carry with bim on that boat to Dawson a year's supplies. There is not an over- confidence that this point can be made, and if it should faii it is notatall im- probable that some will turn back. And tuere seem 10 be excellent reasons for the rrowing fee ing of timidily. As far as can be learned irom the careful fig- uring of 1o h companies there are but 4000 tons of provisions up the river that is in stock anywhere to be purcha<ed. Itis estimated by the officials here that there were 1500 men on the Upper Yukou last winter, and there was a scarcily of food toward spring. This year the rush into the country has not been met by propor- tionate shipments ot provisions. The provisions in store by 1he two com- panies, it is estimated, are not more than enough for the people who have come into the country by the company’s steamers in aadition to t. ose whoare already there. Colonel Erwin Anders, Deputy Collector of the Port, who has bcen in Alaska sey- enteen years, says that he never knew a winter that there was not a scarcity of provisions. and he predicts for this season great prvition and suffering. Superin- iendent Lyng of the Alaska Commercial Company says that e has advices by the last boat thau there are 1000 idle men at Dawson at this time. This statement is in a measure corroborate | by the purty of miners here who came down on the boat. They say that great numbers of those who go inte the country have the very vaguest notions of tue conditions they are to encounter; that they come with the belief that they are to shovel up golu from the earth in any quarter; that they come with scarcaly food enough to carry them in, and that mee'ing with disap- pointment they gravitate to town and are living upon tha bounty of those who have met with success. Fortunately there are plenty of successful men now, money flows easily and hard times are not felt. That these conditions can be maintained all winter they say there is no reason to doubt. They counsel to keep out of the country this winter. On the other hand they exnress the be- lief that there are other Bonanzas and o:her El Dorados in the great wilderness that have not been discovered, and with ‘One or two exceptions—and these because of sickness—they declare their intention to return in the spring. They report con- siderable sickness in the vicinity of Daw- son during the summer, with several deaths. Tlere is quite an epidemic of tvphoid fever there mow—no less than thirty cases when they left—and several had died of it. Among these were Charles and Robert Carlson, who together had taken oat $25,- 000. A man named Belcher d.ed a few days before they left with $25000 under his pillow and $25,000 more due as the He was wait- coming out with the others. Another named Felch died from heart disease on the night following the day on which he had settled up all his business preparatory | to coming out with $17,000. The city of | Dawson, they say, is on low zround, stretching along the banks of an eddy in the river, and is quite unhealtny. Its growth up stream is checked by the miners’ claims along the Klondike, at the mouth of which it sits, and its extension down the stream does not help matters. Mred W. Cobb, one of the returning } miners, in discussing tue situation to-day, said: *“For months we camped at the mouth of Bonanza Creek, watching for a chance to get a twenty-foot traction of the grousd. There were hundreds who ranged over the territory eager to get a lay; that is, to work on shares, or to pick up a frac- tion through any failure or indisposition of those who bad them. “That find hes been entirely exhausted and those coming now will have to dis- cover and somewhere else. I believe 1t can be found, for the country is evidently fuil of it. Thereare anumber of creeks fur- ther up the Kiondike than those of the Discovery, which have scarcely been pros- pected, and they ought to yield as hand- somely as the El Dorado. The search for “Too Much’ gold creek stiil goes on. We don’t believe it has been discovered; one time it is reported to be a famous yield and again it is said to be of no value. There are many who take no stock in the story at all, because there is reaily no de- { pendence to be placed in the word of the Indians whatever. It is true that they nave always said there was gold up the Klondike, but very lit!le attention was paid to it. There is nothing for the new- comer but togo in and hunt for new fields | and to jump lively when he hears of a good stiike being made in a new district. These are coming in all the time. There | were three or four new strikes reported | just before we came away. “I may also say that the provisions that were taken in by steamer just before we came out were bought up about as fast as they could be landed, and to me 1t looks as if there were going to be some hungry peoplein there this winter. I be- lieve the best seivice that a newspaper could render just now to the excited peo- pleis to warn them to keep away this winter unless they can take grub enough in there to last until the river opens again.”’ While all this alarm is being expressed with regard to possible starvation, it isa fact that the commercial companies have taken great precaution that there shall be | nostint of whisky. It will not go up the river, however. The miners at Dawson, alarmed at the situation, held a meeting | just beiore the Healey came down, and passed a resolution to the eifect that in case there was any shortage of provisions they would forcibly take possession of tie whisky that had taken the place on boats that should have been given to provi- sions, and would pour it into the river. Warning was sent down that provisions | aud not whisky were wanted up the river. As a resait the whisky had already been placed on a barge for the up trip. Colonel Erwin Andes, Deputy Coilector here, has been sevenie-n years in Alaska and Le is of the opinion that there will be great distress up tbe river this winter. He says the steamboat companies will never be able to carry in enough supplies if the rush into the country continues. The river is open but tour months ot the year and it would be impossibie for them to get up the 2000 miles of channel ana out again often enongh in more time to convey provisions for a big population. He says the country can never reach any degree of development until a railroad is built. The boats cannot make more than threa trips 1n a season. The river, how- ever, is open some considerable time be- fore the ice breaks up in the harbor here. So a boat is sent up the river just before it closes and is allowed to winter there. ‘When the ice begins to run 1n the spring she begins her first run up with spring supplies. The boat has more than once been caught in the ice on the third trip and in such instances the distress has been severe. Last year there was consid- erable thieving going on, but Mr. Ogilvie savs it was winked at to some degree as it was known to be provoked by necessity. It may be well urnderstood that the ex- citement that holds possession of the States south 1s not absent from the ports along the outer fringe of the great gold country. It nas its evidence everywhere 1n desertions from ships and resignations of officers, who join in the ceneral stam- pede to Alaska. Just the day previous to the arrival of the Portland three men de- serted from the revenue cutter Perry, one being the bugler named Frszier, another the quartermaster aud the third a mess boy. They broke into the pilot’s room and stole a sextant, compass and chart. They stole a large open whaleboat and broke into the storeroom of the company and stole the new set of sails. They stole a barrel of fish from the wharf and a quantity of clothes and stores from the ship and were gzone several hours before the liberties they had taken were dis- covered. The Perry immediately steamed to sea after them and sent her steam launch to circle the islands and penetrate the small coves on the way. Both re- turced to Dutch Harbor without having discovered a trace of the runaways. Word was sent here to keep a lookout for them, but it i« not thought they will attempt to enter here. They will probably make an attempt to enter the river throuzh its| southern entrance and then to the sia-| tions of the r.ver boats, where they will| take paseage up. Here at St. Michael a peculiar case of desertion has taken place, including the captain as well as the crew. The littie schooner Salmon of Victoria, Captain Peier Nelson, Mate Chustopher Lee and three men put 1n here two weeks ago. Deputy Coilector Andrews boarded her and found her papers defective. She had cieared for the Mackenzie River with her | merchandise, but had not reached or gone | to that port. Bhe was seiz*d pending an | investigation. Officers and (rew, however, took the fever while in port, and all took passage on the last up-river boat for Daw- son, leaving their vessel to the Govern- ment officers. The revenue cutter Bear is expected 1n from: the south every day now, as she is overdue, aud the matter will be reported to her. In the mean time the rush to the gold fields has almost given to the little trading and fishing sta- tions at this place and at Unalaska the | importance that they seem to have upon the map. The North American Transportation and Trading Company has built a small town bere of itself a quarter of a mile further along in the bay than the town of St. Michael, which they call Fort Get There. A few months ago it consisted of a store and warehouse, now there is a big build- ing used for a ho'ei, two additional ware- houses,with the foundation of still another with a capacity of 800 tons just laid. To the two river steamers, the J.J. Healy, launched last fall, and the P, B.| Weare, there has just been added the ! Charles Hamilton, a handsome 300-ion | sternwheel, launched on the 10th inst. | The Alaska Commercial Company is aiso buitding here a new warehouse and a small new steamer to be used in towing about the bay or the river. Besides thes~ buiding activities. trade has been boom- | ing; the flood of go d-nunters roming out i and oing in have almost cleared the shelves of the two stores, and the Indians or Eskimos are working as steadily as their indolent natures will adm‘t to meet the demand for ifurs. The wealthy out- going miners have paid such figures for turs and curiosities as to have ruined the Indians for all time as easy traders or men of normal purposes. The alert and diligent gambler is not missing any iricks during tbis haymak- ing time. Warned tbat miners toaded with new gold were coming out of the Yukon by every steamer, a party of sure- thing men came up on the Portland from Seattle with a roulette wheel and other paraphernalia. They bought round-trip tickets and are going back on the same vessel with the party of miners and their gold dust. The game running on the way up was comparatively a small one. While <he has lain in the harbor many of the miners have visited the boat and have already put their new good. luck to the test of the wheel, and every one of them declares that it is all right, and they have nearly broken the bank more than once. It will be interesting to note how it holds out when they go into Seattle. All the miners refer to Dawson as a ““hot town,” referring chiefly to gambling and whisky elements. Ogilvie, the Police Commissioner, agrees with them in this also. He says that a good many of the miners blow in their money over the bar or in dissipation with women as rapidly as they dig it out of the earth. One saloon has a bell swung over the door ouiside for the convenience of those liberal .individuals who may wish to *gin up the whole town.”” Any person so dis- | posed has but to pull the 1ope and the | whole population responds. This has been quite a common trick during these recent rapid days. The houses became so noisy that the authorities had to interfere and put restraints upon them. About halt 2 dozen of the gold-hunters who left San Francisco less than a month ago with so much eagerness to reach the diggings bave decided that they had bet- ter wait until next spring. They are Nor- wegians, and among the hardiest, physi- cally, in the party. They have found em- ployment here and will remain for the winter. The tales of starvation, past and prospective, and of the prevalence of the typboid fever at Dawson, brought about the changein their plans. S. W, WaLL. —_—— MISFORTUNES OF MINERS Provisions Made Scarce at Dawson by the Delay of the Weara. | Forest Fires Have Also Destroyed Much Timber and Wood Will Be Hard to Get. _There is a fascinae tion about a vigorous, healthy woman, which touches every heart. Physical weakness is a great drawback to a woman’s social suc- cess. As she loses healthy plumpness she loses attractive- ness. A woman had even better be too stout than too thin; but either extreme shows a lack of healtliy conditien. If you are not physically up to the mark, appetite uncertain, digestion poor and a general sense of weakuess and incapacity, you will find the robust health and cnergy you need in Dr. Pierce’s Golden Medical Discovery. It remews the blood with the vital life-giving red corpuscles which drive out all morbid elements, and create new tissue, hard muscular flesh and active nerve force.” It gives color to the checks and firmness to the form, without adding one ounce of flabby fat above the normal standard of health. Taken altemately with Dr. Pierce’s Favorite Prescription for distinctively femi- nine troubles, it constitutes a scientific and marvelously successful course of treatment for delicate women. Mrs. Ella Howell, of Derby, Yerry Co., Ind., ‘writes: ‘‘In the year of 154 I was taken with stomach trouble—nervous dyspepsia. There was a coldness in my stomach, and a weight which seemed like a rock. Everything that I ate gave me great pain ; I had a bearing down sensatio: was swelled across my stomach; had a rid, around my right side, and in a short time I was bloated. I was treated by three of our best phy- sicians but got mo refief. Then Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery was recommended to me ang I got it, and commenced the use of it. I began to see a 'change for the hetter. Iwas so weak I could not walk across the room without assistance. I took Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery and_his ‘ Favorite Prescription’ and one bottie of the ‘Pleasant Pellets’ I began to improve very fast after the use of a few bottles. ‘The physicians who attended me said I had *dropsy’ and that my disease was leading into pulmonary consumption. I had quite a cough, and the liome physicians gave me up to die. T thank God that my cure is permanent. I do not feel any symptoms of my old disease. I cannot _praise Dr. Pierce and his remedies oo highly. Riie medicines come the nearest to ‘ rasing the dead,’ of any I have ever known about. They are worth their weight in gold.” _ Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Pellets regulate the liver, stomach and bowels,