The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 2, 1897, Page 1

VOLUME PRICE FIVE CENTS. HORRORS OF THE TRAILL TO DAWSON Hal Hoffman of “The Call” Staff Goes Through White Pass. MEETS THOUSANDS WHO ARE STRANDED. Starvation, Hardship, Accident and Death Confront the Weary Argonauts. Carcasses of Horses Line the Route. v Hal Hoffman of THE CALL staff has reached the Yukon headwaters over the Skaguay trail. To give the world the story of the true condition of that route, hich thousands have failed to traverse, he shoul- dered a pack and picked his way over the moun= n heights. than fifty men have crossed divide by the Skaguay trail, though over 3 1000 succeeded in getting across by way of Dyea man says the trip is one which one, having made would not attempt again for all the gold in Klondike: LAKE BENNETT, HEADWATERS OF THE YUKON. I Avasga, Aug. 18 (By Courier to Dyea, via S-attle, Wa<h) | For the purpose of inspecting-the comparative merits of the Skaguay and Dyea is and seeing whether that mysterious and unaccountable influence which has for weeks kept thousands of Kiondikersrooted to the spotat Skaguay ke men ina ince were not hidden in soms awful form_in the mountains, I shouldered a pick of aokets aud provisions the otherday at Skaguay, and bave since come over that To-morrow T'will start back over the Dyea trail: the la No man ler conditions now prevailing will undertake ‘that journey a second he goid in the Klondike. . The tale of the trail, as 1 found it, iz one of the imaginable labor, self-aenial, privation, starvation, hardship, borror; accident 1t must not be understood that such an experience awaits the Yakoner eral, for under ordinary circumstances it can be provided again at ‘have reached the lakes over the S or-all and death. . but the very guay trail have felt or seen all these ound no hideous or hypnotic image in the hills barring the way. The barrier of the trail is misrepresentation, natnre, the elements and the unexplained against nan has always had to fight. If not improved at considerabie expense the become impassable within a week. The average Klondiker has no more what he must go through on the trail than he has of the reception awaiting n on the next planet. He can see the mountains on the horizon and the planet in the sky, but the way her is hidden. rent thi heavier. The novelty of going to the Klondike quickly wears off. iea from traveling them witha burden on hisback that is hourly 10 cents now wishes he was back home with mamma. The first day out the argonaut drinks at each of the many rivalets that cross the trail like silvery threads to cool the fever within; the second day finds him stiff, sore and nearly exhausted, leaning against a rock: the third day he will either turn back or show the grit in him. Tke third day the wish may be in him that he might break & toe or even'a leg 50 he might have to return, but if he is of the stuff that make. successful gold-hunter the “‘sand in bis craw” keeps him strugeling along. Not even the pluckiest of. the plucky can reach Dawson under the present condi- tions. No matter how much ammunition of gold he may have brought along to hunt gold with, he must ca at a snail's pace. the Outfits are carried forward, fifty or a hundred pounds to the man, two, three or more miles and cached. The same toilsome journey is repeaied again and again, until the whole ontfit is advanced to the first cache. cache several miles ahead. Then it isrelayed again in the same manner to another: I met packers wbo bad been three weeks on the trail'and had not got a 1000-pound outfit to the summit. Those who have horses cannot use them to advantage, owing to the almost impassable condition of the trail. Twenty per cent of the outfits bronght by a hundred ships has not bzen carried six of the long forty-five miles over the Skaguay trail. And it will not be; either, this year. Itcould not be even if the exodus which now hangs fire at Skaguay, like a cartridge threatening to expiode, should start off. It is too late. The sheep at Skagnay havelost a year, and in the meantime must find what picking they can or go back to the States. They have plenty. of provisions, but a winter—six long months—will make a large hole in the supplies. Boats must be built, and now there is not time to build them. He who starts down the river later than September 10 is in great dangerof finaing himseli frozen in any morning, and that means a winter on the river.. Old Yukon prosvectors will not try it after that date. Four miles out of Skaguay the trail is like a country road. The Kisndiker thinks of the sunny side of Easy street, and smiles complacently.. There are more people and more funny things to be seen upon it than on the main street of a country town in fair times. There is a bridge now across the swift stream in which the voung man from Seat- tle was swept to his death with a pack upon his back, and then more country road. This road is muddy and boggy most of the distance and very nasty to trayel over. Then comes the first hard climb over tive first riage. Itis a scramble all the way up for horses and: men—one of the hottest battles of the trail. The path switchbacks up the mountsin side, 1t is made difficult by slippery places, boulders, stumps and mud holes. Fipm the bottom. it looks impossible for a horse with or withouta pack to climb where a man must pull himself up,” frequently dropping to his knees to prevent himself from falling. d g 1saw a horse carrying a 206-pound pack fully fifty feet off this trail. He never moved again; he broke hisneck. On Porcupine Rid e, the next hard climb, I siw a horse stumble from exhaustion, roil down the mountain and break a leg. He was shot. The last man who came into camp over this trail, a Mr. Hammel from New Whatcom, Wash., told me there were eight dead horses along the two ridges,;and that 1he siench was almost suffocating. There were no indians to take the horses away.. Not an Indian is to be found on the Skaguay trail, while hundreds of them are packing over. the- trail at Dvea. Of the Skaguay trail the Indians say: *“Heap long; ne good.” On the descent from Porcupine Ridee more dead horses may be seen. The foot- ing is very insecure.: A considerable siip and slide' means death. “Horses hive fallen from the trail and rolled down the side of the canyon until brought to a stop by a bowlder or stump or tree, breaking legsor necks. Bowe are left to lie with the packs on them. No other horses are to be had te carry farther the precious flour and the odorous bacon. : At the second bridge the trail shifts to the lefi-hand. side of the river and runs along the canyon up and down, with soft, loose footing for about one-mile. He has a dim idea of ravines and precipices, but that is altogether | The kind of young man | whom I heard at Juneau the other day seriously ask the postmaster if he could change | ry a pack himself if he would make progress, and that | A Meeting of Afridi Chiefs at Lalabeg, Near Fort Ali Musjid, Khyber Pass. [F.om the London Illustrated News.] Porcupine Creek is then crossed on a bridge, and a climbona rough trailover a rougher mountain begins, It extends ‘along thetop of the Box Canyon iora consid- erabla distance, and from one point of it one can look straight down the canyon of previous trails. One can see Skaguay Bay ten miles away. Thence the trail leads.down and across the Skaguay River to aford. The water runs between bowlders and over -huge rocks, swift'as a‘railroad train; falling dewn from fields of snow visible above. One must have a‘stout staff and jump from rock to |'rock to.cross this feaming torrent: % The attempt is very dangerous: To make a misstep means being swept down by | the irresistible waters, dashed unconscious against a rock and death by drowning. 1f |'a man were *‘iizht’” there would be only one chance in-a thousand that he would ever With a heavy pack strapped to his back he would have no chance. | =et'out alive. This roarigg ford is at the foot of the summit of the White Pass.. The climb to | tbe summit is not so steep ot hard or dangerous as the humps and ridees conqgaered. | The top of the summit is 2006 feet above the s=a and about one and one-half mil | Cionas float around, above and below the Kiondikers. -A dash of rain may be [flung in his face. “Mountains with jagged peaks tower, one. above. the other. The 'sotitade and deselation impress one heavily. | Upon the summit and bevond the trail improves wonderfully. There is mile after ‘mile oi rock, bare or coverel with moss.. The mountainsand the whole pros- | re rock. Afiera day’s traveling the fact becomes more patnful on such a hard ana jagged surfsce. - - G S - There is & zradual descent over -floors oftén smooth enough for a handball court, and past solitary. or clustered pinnacles of granite thousandsof feet higher than the spire.of any church of any eity. Off totheleft a mile is Summit Lake, lying ‘mirrorlike in a huge basin between three ranges of mo.ntains. The basin broadens iuto ‘a valley dotted with numerous Tlittle lakes of snow water, the first waters of the great Yukon. The valley broadens and the tops of the mountains become rounded. A tramp of five miles brings one down to the Beaver Meadows, where ducks, ptarmigan, mar- mots and other featiered game may be had. Beaver Meadows are about a mile long by a quarter of a mile wide, lying green between gray and barren hills. The trail on the summit is marked by monuments of rocks, but is so indistinct in places that flags show the way, Most of the trail from the meadows to the big lakes is comparatively indistinct. The only way to find thedirection is to keep a sharp eye out for the little monuments. | If an attempt is made to trave! the trail at night one is apt to lose it and wander off | into the mountains. | At the lower end of the meadows is a ford, before the climb up along ridge where the gold-seeker must put on rubber boots and wade up to his waist or Fhe trail skirts Miadle Lake and crosses the swift, begir divest himself of his trousers. dangerous outlet of that body of water into Shallow Laka. The outiet must be fordeda. 7Then for amile is alternate wading, to the cool relief of swollen feet, aiong the shores of Shallow Lake, and keeping on the bank. A black | flaz hgn on a sand ridge shows where to take up the trail again until the valley | broad ns and the timber becomes bigger and better. At Too-Cht crossroads the Canadian Government is buiilding a log house for a customs post, for it is now Canadian territory. The trail divides, one branch leads to Lake Too-Cui, from which point also the long float down the Yukon may be begun, and the main trail comes out at a portage between lakes Linderman and Bennett, | eignt miles away, over 4 rough, rocky and swampy country. From the summit Skaguay trail can be fairly cailed an excellent one to the lakes. The distance from Skaguay is variously estimated at from between forty and fifty miles. T shouldsplit thie difference and call it forty-five, Twenty-five men have succeeded in getting through to Lake Bennett. At 10 o’clock of the night of the day I reached the lakes Ames’ (the first) pack-train got through. Two borses were killed; the others were lacerated, galled, jaded, with hides and hair rubbed —off their backs, and reelitg from side to side. It took this pack train nearly five days to make thelakes.. Rice’sund a third pack train, which started from Skaguay ahead of Ames’, has not been hieard of since the second day out. A Yukoner who came through all right told me that half of Rice's train had resched the'summit with a 10ss of three horses, and that Captain **Long Shorty"” had sent part of it back to Skaguay afier more tood for man and beast. He said that oneof Rice’s horses had deliberately jumped from Porcupine Ridge, committing as plain a caseof suicide as he had ever seen or heard of. The beast was exhausted and apparently chose death to the torture of staggering on. : He walked to the side of the bridge, slowly plunged down into the raging torrent and was swept out of sight. & I saw pack-horses on the mountains near the foot of the summit wheel round arid round with the rapidity of a pup-.chasing his tail and fall in a heap with glazed eyes. The pack trains expec ed to get through in two days to the Iakes, and provisioned only for that length of time. Rice’s train carried” a' 101 of -provisions at 50 centsa pound for a squad of ten Canadian policemen under Fred Bevan of Victorla, B. C., which had gone on two'days ahiead. ' The police were waiting for the train'at the meadows without tent or a bite to eat. When I came along:in the evening they had nad. no food thatday. This situa- tion was due to the non-arrival of the pack train,; and is most likely to- be prolonged by the uncertainty of its ever getting through. ‘ The police had managed o solicit a littie’food the previous day from a packer. ‘Wien provisions:are carried in-as far as the summit and beyond, thay become more precious than gold. . Money will'not buy food. i it is'one place on earth where money is ntterly useless. ‘The only thing that will buy erub is grub. Unless these policemen were able to get food from Ames’ pack train, and the chances ere that they were not, tiey are at the present time in a pitia- ble condition and in danger of starvation. When I |eft the meadows:they were shooting at wild geese in the sky with their repeating r fles. Three of them slept with me'in'my tent: Mr. Godson, the chief of the customs forces, who had gone on atead of this squad and was then at Lake Tagish, was at this time with a companion alsc suffering 1or food. : He sent 8 letter back to Lieutenant Bevan by - packer returning light from the lakss, ordering Bevan. and ‘his squad to proceed at once to join him at Lake Tagish with wiatiood they might have with them. ot Faly ; It wasa hungry smile which-foillowed the reading of this letter. Relays of pncnfi were miles apart beyond the fost of. the summiit;-whereas -on the ‘first four miles of the trail.they coutd ‘have been tied together by a'string. Theft of food is being committed on the latier part of the trail. Somebody will Continuid on Second Page. ANDREWS REQUESTED 10 REMAIN Corporation of Brown University to Its President. |QUESTIONS AT ISSUE DISCUSSED. Kindly- Assurances That May Prevent the Resignation of the Doctor. THE VOTE IS PRACTICALLY UNANIMOUS. Taken After Speeches Had Been Made by Nearly Every Mem- ber Presen'. PROVIDENCE, R. L, Sept. 1.—The cor- poration of Brown University to-day voted, after a long meeting, to request President Andrews to withdraw his resig- nation as president of that institution. The request was embodied in a resolution containing the following to the president of Brown University: The corporation of Brown University has this day recelved with the greatest regret your resignation as president, and it most esrnestly requests that you withdraw it. Itconceives that it was written without full know!edge of the position of the corporation. With the earnest hope that a statement (0 you, bearing the formal sanction and approval of the goy- erning body of the university as a whole may bring us sgain in(o hearty accord, the corpo- ration desires to assure you that it in no way sought the severance of our official relations, which, as iar as it knows, have been most cor- dial trom the time of your acceptance of the presidency. The only vote and only expression hitherto made by the corporation bearing upon the question at issue was at the last June meeting, and consisted of ‘the appointment of a com- mittee to confer with you as to the interests of the university. The extent of authority thus given its committee wes that of conference, which it fuily believes you would unhesitat- ingly admit was a legitimate and friendly exercise of its privileges, reiating in the terms of the vote to the interests of the university, which you have closely at heart. 1t is periectly true that the vote in question was occasioned by the differing views enter- tained on the one hand by you and on the other hand by most, and. possibly &ll, ol the ‘members of the corporation as to the free and uniimijted coinage of silver by the United States, 80 far, atleast, as affecting the inter- este of the university, and ‘the fear that your views, publicly knewn or expressed, might perhaps in- some degree be assumed to be representative and not merely individual. It is not in our minds to prescribe:the path in which you should tread, or t6 administer to you any official rebuke, or to restrain your freedom -of opinion or ‘‘reasonable liberty of utterance,” but simply to intimate that it would be the part of wizdom for.you to take & less active part in exciting partisan discus- sions and apply your energies more exclu- sively to the college, G Having, as_ it believes, removed the misap- prehcnsions that éccur of individual views of this question representing those of.the corpor- ation and the university, for which misappre- hension you are not responsible, and ‘which it kunows you, too, would seek to dispel; the cor- poration, affirming its rightful authority to cunserve the interésts of the university at all times by every honorable means, and es- pecially desiring to avoid in the conduct of the university the imputation even'of the consideration of jarty questions cr of the dominance ot any: class, but thiat in the lan- gunge. of its charter, “in this liberal and catholic institution all members hereot shall enjoy tull, free, solute and uninterrunted 1iberty of conscience,” which includes freedom of thought and expression—it cannot feel that the divergence of views upon the silver ques- tion and of its effects upon the university be- tween you and the members of the corporation is an adequate cause of separation between us, _or the corporation is profoundly appreciative of the great services you have rendeied to the university and of your great sacrifices and love of it. It therefore renews its assurances of highest respect for you, and expresses the confident hope that you wiil Withdraw your resignation. The:vote on the subject was practically unanimous and taken afier speeches haa been made by nearly every member of the corporation. A he early part of the session was taken up mainlv with routine business. A letter from ex-Secretary of State Richard Olney, addressed to the faculty and bearing upon the controversy beiween the corporation and President Andrews was read. It is a8 follows: PosTox, Ma Aue. 5, 1897 Projessor Benjamin F. Clarke, J. . Franklin Jameson, Henry B. Gardner and others—GENTLE- MEN: 1 thank you heartily for a pamphiet eopy of a letier bearing your signatures and entitied “An open letier addre-sed to the cor- peoration of Brown University by members of the ‘faculty of tkat institution.” Nothing could be better in manner or metter. It pre- senis ‘lhe grave issucs raised by -the uu- fartunuie act o7 ‘i corporation wWith siuguiar lucid:ty and logicaliorce and deals with them in a témper and’ spirit which ‘are every wsy admirable. As youmay know, I‘donotagree with what I ‘understood to ‘he. Dr. Andrews’ views: Te- specting the free coinage of silver. I strongly deprecate the sction of the corporation, in- deed, upon the promise -that nothing eon'd give.currency and weignt in those views—just asHatning would give a greater impetus to the causeé of tariff reform than an attempt by the authorities o Harvard Colleze to discipline President Eliot for his well-known sentiment respecting iree trade. The true obj-ction, however, to the course ndrew pursued toward Dr. tion o1 Browa Univer. ts implied incul- cation of the doetrine that an itution of learning shou d, above all thiugs, get rich, and, therefore, should square its teachings and limit the ntterances of its faculty by the interests and sentiments of those who, for the time being, are the rich men of the com- The demoralizing snd degrading character of this ductrine your letter fully ex- by the corpora- | poses, and_thereby entitles you fo the grati- iude not on'y of American cilizens generally but of all weil-wishers to Brown University iu particular, 1 remain, with great respect, yours very truly, RICHARD OLNEY. In aidition to this matter the now fanious protest of tweaty-five of the facul- ty of Brown and a number of petitions, including one from college professors and puvlic men, asking for the retention of President Andrews, were aiso presented and considered. The last named petition ceclared that ““The future influence of the American universities and the interests of free tnought and free speech under a just sense of accountability would be promoted by such action on the part of the corpora- tion as might naturally lead to the with- drawal of the resignation of President Andrews.” Among the signers are Daniel C. Gil- man, president of Johns Hopkins Uni- versity; Charies Eliot, president of Har- vard; C. K. Adams, president of the Uni- versity of Wisconsin; beth Low, presi- dent of Columbia College; W. J. Sumner, professor of ' political economy, Yale; John Fiske, the historian; William Lioyd Garrison; J. T. Trowbridge, the anthor; Josiah: Quincy, Mayor of Boston, and Jemes R. Jewett, president of the University of Minnesota. The following elections were announced : Chancellor, Colonel William Goddard; treasurer, A. B. Chase. In the afternoon the consideration of the Andrews resignation was taken up. A letter to the corporation from Dr. An- drews was read ‘ezplaining his viewson the silver question and stating the posi- tion he had taken with reference to the request of the committee that was ap- pointed last June to conier with him. A number of short speeches were made on. both sides, and then Congressman Walker of Massachusetts: was recognized by the chairman. He made a speech ad- vocating the action that was subsequently taken. POISONED THe WELL. Insane Girl Causrs ihe Deaths of Three Members in One Family. LOUISVILLE, Ky., Sept. 1.—A special dispatch to the Evening Post from Padu- cah; Kv., says that thirteen members of the family and people living on the farm ot Henry Miller, near Metropolis, Ill, were poisoned: yesterday, and three are deaa. Itisthought thatat least eight of them will die. The names of none of the victims are given. A hired girl; who is insane, threw a package of rough on rats in the well. Her name could not be learned. She has not been arrested. — - Gillette In Leading Fole. NEW YORK, N. Y., Sept. L.—The "‘Se- cret Service’” company played to-night in the Empire Theater to & crowded and fashionable house. William Gillette ap- veared in the. leading role and received several enthusiastic recalls, FANATILS INFLAMING TRIBESMEN British Troops Prepar- ing for Aggressive Operations. MILITIA IS BECOMING DISAFFECTED. Haddah Mullah Gathering His Tribes for an Attack on Peshawur. OUTEREAK ON THE COAST OF MALABAR. Many New Signs of Uprising at Varlous Points Along the In~ dlan Frontler. LONDON, Exg., Sept. L—The news re- earding the Indian frontier troubles is in« definite and fragmentary, and itisdifficult to follow the varying movements of the British' forces, ~which are apparently dividea in consequence of the qnuickly changing - gatherings of the tribesmen. News has been received of fresh accessions to the forces of the insurgents and of the appearance of various fanatics, who are endeavoring to stir those tribesmen who are reluctant to join the revolt to attack the Briiish. There is every probability that an at- tack will be made by the British at some point within a few days. The attack nupon the British post at Gazarbund, Belooch- istan, is not of .great importance. The station at Gazarbund is a small one. ‘Word comes from Quetta, Beloochistan, to the effect that the militia there has become disaffected, but the rumor is not credited in Government circles. The Constantinople correspondent of the Telegraph says that, after careful in- quiries, he is convitced that the Sultan’s yersonal - iufluence among the Mussul- mans in Northwest India is non-existent. There is no doubt, the correspondent says, that' the suggestion that the Sultan insti- gated the trouble is flattering to his van- iy, but it’is quite clear that nothing can restore to the Sultan his preponderance in the Mussulman world. The Times this morning publishes a dis- patch from Cndara, saying it appears that Haddah Mullah has abanconed the idea of "attacking Khanda, and is gather- ing ‘his tribes for -an attack upon Peshawur.” All' the tribesin this district bave been quiet since its occupation. The Upper Swat country has hitherto been comparatively unknown. It has notbeen visited by organized troops since the time of Alexander tiie Great. The Swatis deem their country inacces- sible, the only entrance being by a narrow causeway tarely wide enough to admit one man at a time, flanked on one side by a raging torrent and on the other by precipitous cliffs fortified by stone breast- WOTKS. MADRAS, Ixpis, Sept 1L —An outbreak is reporied among the Moplahs or fanati- cal Mohammedans of the Malabar coast. It has not yet assumed serious propor- tions. This is a district of India in the Mad- ras Presidency and on the west coast of India, but the term Malabar Coast is also applied to the west coast of India in gen- eral. e ITHE WARLIKE AFRIDIS Type of Mativa Fighters With Which England Hax to Deal. The Afridis occupy the hillsides and up- iand valleys of the Tartara, Shetafi, Mala- gach and other eastern spurs of the Safid~ Kah Mountains extending from the Cabul River south for fifiy miles along the Brit- ish frontier, including the long narrow tongue of high ground lying between Peshawur on the north and Kahot on the south. Of all the wild, warlike tribes along the Afghan frontier they are the most numer- ous, with the exception of the Waziris, ana can readily muster from 28,000 to 30,- 000 fighting men. Mr. Markham describes. them as ‘‘tall, fine-locking, athletic high- landers, lean but muscular, with high nose and cheek oones aund fairish complex- ions.” Khyber Pass, which cuts through the Afridi country from the southeast to the northwest, carries the main road from the Punjab to Cabul, the capital of Afghan- istan. It has been formed by the cutting down through the slopes of the Tartara Mountain -range of two streams, which, rising near Lalabeg on the summit, flow down in opposite directions, one to Dakka on the Cabul ‘River and the other to Peshawur plain on the southeast, which it enters near Kadam, three miles from Fort Jamrud. Here the hills, coming together, form the India entrance to the pass, about 450 feet wide. Soon itnarrows to 190 feet and then to 100, and so on until near Fort Ali Musjid, eight miles from ‘the entrance, it is but 70 feet wide, and with almost pre- cipitous sides of several hundred feetin heizht. From here to Lalabes, on the summit some four miies turther, it gracgu- ally widens untilit a‘tains a width on the height of a mile and a balf. When the Punjab ‘was ‘annexed -to British India in 1849 tae Government agreed to allow the Airidis a subsioy of £570 per year in consideration, among other things, of their keeping Khyberana Kobat passes open to trade. Later this was incressed to £1370, but tolly contin- ned o be levied and murders committed. When they undertook the work them- selves by placing garrisons at Fort Mack- eson in the Kobat Pass and Forts Jamrad; Ali Musjid, Lundikotai and Dokka in Khyber Pass. These latter the hillsmen havenow cap- tured and burned and 1o again open the rosd to Cabul will requiresome other than - the native Indian troops.