The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 30, 1897, Page 2

4 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1897. te Senator Range and son those who Sundav. of Washington were among ich they go is not a | g post. There a log-house in which ives, and another little ch a missionary lives, and there are four other log houses ! rt of ;an Ind village. he regjon is bare of timber, 2 he surrounding country is flat and bl the A point on the Yukon. The near- lement is Circle City, eighty miles p the river, butitis rated ace by tt rible Yukon rinth of islands among which lians get ‘lost, and to pass ich, with experienced guides, e pine days of toil from dawn till K e e e e e e e e ok e e e e e e ek e e e e e ke Aok e e ok Ak kA A ok e y provisions to Circle City will be very expensiy It will not be done y dispensing ent, that the t. Those whohave no means to buy provisions atthe high figures asked will, so far as present arrangements go, where they are, at is, that parties may be scat- river .where timi to build A a steamboz t Dawson the arrival of seven more mounted po ice within the week, f P Waish, denotes to meet anticipated Here are g a little city | ple of indiv s without ties. without Is that | rvation during the the pon his own d what he g at This applies. in tion the knowl ist upon rema ple who are str her nt upon t y with and t g toge all g he g ct no sympatt unprepared to mee to the conditions of darkness, d hunger that confront them. Dawson has b ces, war t that per- continent. the s uffs on the southern sid ir progress , that of proper, and_from the water front far 1 side. The water front is deeply | vith the tents of late arrivals, and r more than the number of the The great rush now is to get housed against the coming of the- lasting co in the weather these past few | been a end to the great who are still out in it. Most of erected are substantially | d can made warm. r, are built by inexperi- tter than the in e little b in the ground Their . inhabi r. A very at w in tents will be com- m through the winter, Il be added to daily ows the boats those who be at that late may to toss a copper to see which the worst Iu e been happening in rapid sequence since my dispatch of Septem- ber 28 with the news of the failure of the steamer Hamilton and the steam barge e to get over the. bar w Yukon. Every man who he of provisions set a watch and every ‘man who had not be- gan an anxious and often desperate quest. It was then that the price of flour leaped from €650 to $100. The two company stores were besie; The managers of them repeated over and over again the statement that they not only had nothing in the provision line to sell, but that the failure of the boats to get up would pre- vent their fillinz many of the orders for which they already had received pay.- A feeling of panic spread through the whole district. 1 arrived Saturday night. On the day following: the stores were closed. The local heads of the companies were inaccessible. Then, Sunday night, Captain Hanson of the Alaska Com- mercial Company arrived, reporting also that the steamers could not come, The cpening of the stores on Monday was attended with lively interest. That morning the great rush for boats with which to go below-took place, and the owners of the little steamer Koukuk were alled-upon to crowd that bit of a worn- out vessel beyond its limit carrying a del- egation up the river. The engine of that vessel, by the way, was fitted with a wooden- piston-rod, which broke before they were fairly started, and a landing s effected at-the Indian village south of town, where a new rod was whittled out.and the steamer proceeded on its way the next day. Thirty miles up the river it got stuck in the ice and the passengers have since returned. A meeting attended by some 500 of the destitute was held near the sawmillin the darkness of Monday night. Sergeant- Major Davis of the mounted police re- ported to the managers of the companies’ stores the next day that he had been notified by ‘the leaders of that meeting that it had been resolved to attack the h their upo | same Monday | children stores, take the provisions and make an equal division of what they found. The message to him had advised him Be Found f NEW YORK, Nov. officially to confirm tie report. requi on for assistance. ::tt*ttkt*t*tkttttfit**kitf*tt*t**tti*tt**t**t*fittt o stand aloof during this proceeding, and and his fourteen men would be pro- vided for, otherwise they would interfere at their own risk. Dav fered his men for the protection of the stores, the man- agers of which also organized their own forces, equipped them with Winchesters and placed them on guard. It is under- stood that those who took part in the meeting were chi2fly of the unprovisioned rifr as the miners generally repudi- ated it. Two attempts at breaking into private es within town were discovered that ght. The thief in one case bon, but fled and made his es- In the other he was required to hands at the point of arifle ed to the barracks of the mounted police. A nu of robberies were reported from ! mber situation there Tuesday bbery rampant and men on guard at the companies’ ting a threatened attack. At 100’clock that night the whistle of wmill at the end of d shrill. It was followed by a heer. The gambling games stopped nd the saloons emptied themselves of ccupants. What it meant was n. Away down the river was a ynger lizht, and as the crowd watched acloud of sparks rose above it. There a cry of ‘‘Steamboat.” It was one e long overdue steamboats, ail hope the coming of which had been given Probably the fall of manna had of the same effect upon the of lIsrael. The gloom The people of the town gorged the boat landing, and fringed the bluff above the river, cheering like schoolboys or ma- niacs at the boat’s steady approach. An immense bonfire was lighted near the wharf, and a brass band marched up and down the water front signifying its joy inthe uncertain notes of a waltz. A steam- boat meant at that moment all the steam- boats, for what one might do all might do, and the thr of starvation, the suspension of work at the mines, the P something S the gulches and the | Sy | make another trv, did so, succeeded, and | | HRKIAKKIK KA EREA AKX IAAKEERAIXARAKAEAKARRAK X IR AKRRK XK "CANADIAN ROYALTIES MAY BE CUT DOWN. In the Meantime Some Relief Must or Starvation. 29.—A special While nothing is said ofticially of the Government’s intentions in regard to amendments to the obnoxious mining laws, it is an open secret that within a few days William Ogilvie, the Yukon explorer, now preparing his report upon the gold flelds, will recommend reductions in the royalties. iffton Sifton, Canadian Minister of the Interior, has not made any re- port as to the desperate condition of affairs said 1o prevail at Dawson City. Mr. Sifton is now in Manitoba, on his way back from Alaska. Minister, on being shown a dispatch about the closing of mines in the Klon- dike on account of excessive royaliy, assurcd me that he had heard nothing 1t is reported by mounted police offic'als here that there is every proba- bility of supplies being teamed into the mining district this winter. Against this, however, must be set the fact that the last half-dozen tons of provisions red for Administrator Walsh’s party, now on its way to Dawson, were v got over the trail to Lake Bennett after a hard struggle. Indeed, the arding of such police supplies as were sent in last fall, and they did not amount to many tons in all, cost tne Government §35,000. little can be hoped for by the hungry miners in the way of Government | where the needs were greater because the lifted. | literal death sentence of the town was | suspznded. Bets were made a3 to the name of the | vessel or the company it belonged to. It was twenty minutes from the time she was sighted until she effected a landing | and developed into the Porteus B. Weare, the North American Trading and Trans- portation Company boat, the boat that two months before stuck on the bar going down and caused the Portland’s passen- gers that delay which resu getting here atall. The Weare had now redeemed berse. She had been brought up by Captain Selim Weare, himself one of the directors of the company, who was probably responsible for t'e vessel getting through. She tried the channelsat which the Hamilton had failed, and found them impas=able. Weare consuited the Indians at Fort Yukon and they told him that tne water was as high as usual at this season, but that the channelis had changed, as they often do. *“When they do,” said the In- dians, ‘‘the water always forces a way somewhere else, making another chan- nei.” Mr. Weare told one of the most ex- perienced Indians to goand find the other channel. Finding it, he might name his own figure for the service. The Indian found the channel aud the boat came through, The enthusiasm with which she was hailed at Dawson, however, lasted only | until ste was well tied up to the wharf. | She was then immediately boarded by a | crowd of miners, who made a rapid in- spection of her cargo. It was very disap- pointing. The Weare was expected, if she came, to bring about 500 tons of pro- visions. She broughtabout 180. She had got over the bar with 210, but the miners at Circle City held her up with rifles and took from her about thirty tons. So her arrival not only did not materially relieve the situation, but her officers held out little hope of any other steamer get- ting here. The steamers had unloaded and gone back to St. Michael, save the Bella of the Alaska Commercial Com- pany’s fleet, and she was not due at the time the Weare left Yuken. The Weare was unloaded as quickly as possible, the work being carriel on all night with the bope that she might be able to make an- otber trip to Yukon and return before the ice came. She left the afternoon of the day following her arrival, and she carried passengers packed into her as thickly as they could be placed. Among them was Jonquin Miller, who went with the hope of gettiug out thet way. Two women were passengers, also, {0 winter at Yukon or Circte City, 300 miles nearer to the provision cache. The Weare brought but few passengers. She refused to bring any from Fort Yu- kon or below, but a few of the goid-seek- ers from the Portland came througir as deckhands. Ehe picked uy a few qthers who were slowly laboring up the stream in poiing-boats. On the afternoon following the day of the departure of the Weare there was an- other cry of “Steamboat!” in the street, and in less than an hour afterwara the Bella, an Alaska Commercial Company boat with Captain Dixon in command, tied up at the wharf. She brought thirty- five passengers and but sixty tons of pro- visions. Her arrivael was even more dis- appointing therefore than had been that of the Weare. It was very cold the aiternoon of her d in their not | stranded there | | terfere. | | | taken. Captain Ray of the Un State town sounded | ptain Ray o United ates | sucks that had been stored there previ- | as deckhands to secure the transporta- | next day, doomed to remain at desolate * g2 24 to the Herald from Ottawa savs: The Deputy At that rate very e e e e e ek e Aok o ok ek sk ok e e i e e e e e e i e ok e g ok e e e ok e e ok ke *x * K arrival, and the wheel and lower decks | were covered with ice. A number of her passengers had no provisions. 1t was apything but a cheerful party. They bad been compelled to do all the work neces- sary to bring the vessel here, inciuding the chiopping of wood for her furnaces. The Bella’s business is not to carry freight or passengers, but to tow barges | upon which the freight is transported. She was unable to bring the barges over the bar, and the passengers transferred from the barges 10 her decks th2 ninety tons of freight she carriea. They were | given this as an alternative for remaining Yukon all winter, as her entire crew of | Indians deserted her there. When they had completed the work, an attempt was made to get over the bar, but itfailed. Captain Dixon anrounced that he would unload, placing the provisions | in the cache and return to St. Michael. When ne had relieved the boat of some of its weight, however, he concluded to| came through with such of his working | passengers as were on board. | At Circle City the Beila was held up in exactly the fashion that the \veare bad been, and about thirty tons of provisions | Army was on board, and when the miners stated their intention to Captain Dixon that officer turned the matter over to him, having first explained that the Bella was carrying provisions to a district much far- ther removed from tue supply center, population was greater. Captain Ray asked the miners what 'y desired or intended to do. They re- liel that they intendel to treat the | | Bella as they had treated the Weare. Thev \ | | said they depended for provisions wholly upon the iransportation companies; there were 130 men at work in the gulches trib- utary to Circle C.ty who knew nothing of the-scarcity of provisions and who would | shortly come to town for their winter's | supp ly Not finding it, they would be compelled to give up their claims. They said further that it did not seem right to them that an American vessel shoutd pass ihrough an American city where food was wanted and carry it into a foreign country, especially as Circle City people stood ready to pay for what they got. Captain Ray told them he was unable at any rate to prevent them carrying out their purpose, and so long as they were moderate and took only what they actu- ally needed be would not attempt to in- The men thereupon went to work and continued at work until tney had | taken thirty tons of provisions. They | afterward returned a quantity of flour, which was discovered to be not the flour they haa taken away but some damaged ousl 1e Bella and her barzes had been the star of hope 10 & great many in Dawson, 50 ceriain were they that, despite every report, they would get here. The Beila had come without her barges, bringing a trifle of flour and bacon, and almost pas- sengers enough to consume that trifie. This was the last straw. That same a:ter- noon the foliowing notice was posted con- spicuously about the town: Notice is hereby given that ll persons who are not sufliclent'y provided with goods for the coming winter will be taken out free of | charge on the steamer Bella, which will leave | to-morrow at noon. :hey should report at the Alaska Commercinl Company’s store to-mor- row morning at 8 o'clock and tign an ngree- went as to their transportation. They are ad- vised to take suflicient with them to last them 10 Circle City, as no meals can be served on tne steamer. Sufficient supplies can be ob- tnined at Circle City to last to Fort Yukon. The Canadian authorities have arranged with the Alaska Commercial Company to furnish free transportation. C. CONSTANTINE, i Inspector N. W. M. Police. Beveral of those who bad come up on the Bella, who bad paid their fare as first- class passengers, who had in their eager- ness 10 come on offered o and did work tion, returned on her when she left that Fort Yukon all this winter. Tue departure of the Bella was perhaps a more pathetic incident than was that of the barges full of wretched people that have left since. Sne is a miserable boat, not designed for passengers. She was crowded, however, from hurricane deck to boiler-room. Forlorn people with, de- spite the warning in the notice, no pro- visions whatever, and with only a couple of blankets as against the weather, filed down her gangplank. The ice almost blocked the river and sheathed her lower deck. The erowd on shore speculated as to whether she would be able to get away from her moor- ings. They knew that she had been frozan to the sbore and to the bottom of the river 2uring the brief stop at Forty- mile on the way up, and thatshe had only gotten away alter several hours of contriv- ing. Her paddle wheel was broken by the ice, and altogether boat ana passengers divided the sympathies of the crowd. When she cast off the crowd on shore tried to give them a cheer, but failed. The nose of the boat turned into the icy current and the wheel stopped. Bomething had | gone wrong. Perhaps the wheel w irozen or the jice interfered, but the steamer floated down the river apparently helplecs for two miles and almost got out of view around the turn before the whyel got into action and the boat was under control. Nothing since has been heard of the party. Tne weather has been cold and clear, the thermometer ranging to 14 deg. below since September 27 until within the last few days. Ice bezan flowing on the 27th and continued to increase, coming out of | to Circle City and at Circle City would re | into it | was simply an open affair as unprovided ! pound of beans and $4 as his outfit. i inhospitable land. ! one of them was found to contain a quan- | 800 at Rampart City and Manook Creek, the new diggings of the lower river. the :mall streams, until October 9, when the river began to close and the agitation to go down theriver, which had been in- terrupted since it became so dangerous, was renewed. A mass-meeting was held in the opera-house on Saturday night, at which Captain Hanson clearly stated the full gravity of the situation here. He said that an army cfficer detailed to reoresent the Government of the United Btates in just such emergencies stood ready at Fort Yukon to act. He said the situation had passed beyond where any one or two commercial compa- nies could offer to handle it. It wasone for the Government itself to rise to. 1f the men nere had not provisions they were simply following starvation to re: main, for, he said, there were not pro- visions to be bad. He offered to provide | a barge or barges for any number of men | who might wish to take advantage of | them without charge. They would be given enough here to save them until they reacned Forty-mile or Fort Cudahy. Therethey would be provisioned for the trip ceive enough to carry them to Fort Yu- | kon. A meeting was held the following afternoon (Sunday) in front of the com- pany store in which the same arguments | were gone over to a larze crowd. The | barge was got ready, and at 4 o’clock that Sunday afternoon twenty forlorn men got They had a little tin stove, and some of them had blankets. The barge with shelter as a skiff. Several bad no provisions. One man announced to the | crowd, which stood out in the ice to see them of?, that he had two flapjacks and a It was an inatanes of fhe mviscosospton of | many people of what they bad to meet when they joined the stumpede into this The barge cast off, Captein Hanson and others bade the party godspeed, said they were brave men and really earning the congratulations of the community, which was indeed true, and with an Indian, pro-, vided by the Commercial Company, at the pilot-car, the disconsolate party drifted away with the stream, still in the direc tion of the north pole, and the same day | fully as many as they numbered took | their places here, arrivals from up the river. During the run of ice the signs of dis- tress on the river have been constant. On | October 6 (Monday) a boat from up the | river was crushed while attempting to make a landing nere, and six men were carried with it under the ice and lost, no vestige of them or their boat or their | effecis being recovered. It was growing dzrk at the time. James Courtney,a butcher, expecting a raft of meat, had | with some others gone outon tbe ice to | watch for it. He saw the boat coming, and to him a man in it callei cheerily, | ing him to take a line which he was | paring to throw. The men seemed in fine humor at having reached the end of | | their long and trying journey. to them to be careful, as their boat was tnproaching the edge of | the shore ice, with an immense lotof | floating ice pressing upon it. | The men answered, ““All right; take the | line.” | Asoneof them lifted hisarm to swing | it the boat struck the edge of the shore | ice and instantly forced under it by the ice behina, The six men withouta cry, s quickly was it done, were carried | with it, the ice closed over, crushed them, threw some pieces of wood on the sheet of smooth ice at the f2et of the appalied men standing over and passed on. Courtney was intending to send some men up the river to look after his overdue raft of meat and to bring it down in case it had notstarted for lack of assistance. The shock he suffered at the sight of the loss of the men changed his purpose. He | built fires on the sbore and kepl them burning all night to aid the other men in case they came to make a landing. The nextday he sent a man up the river to ad- | vise those in charge, in case the raft was tied up, not to untie it or vring it down until he was sure they could effect a | landing. A raft that got in the daylight saw wrecks of many boats up theriver. From fragments of the boats that are seen floating down the river, they say at least half a dozen parties have gone by | within the two weeks of the run of ice in boats and on raits, unable to make the | landing. The ice extends for a third the width of the river, and the current just at this place is extremely swift. Yesterday, with the river clear, two | barges came down with no occupants. | They were recovere ! by men in skiffs, and Courtney called tity of provisions. These things but lightly indicate the distrese, suffering and loss of life that is besetting the men who are still struggling | to join the houseless and unprovisioneda erowd in this eity. With regard to the number of people now in the country, that 1s, along the Yukon, a comparison of estimates made by the heads of two transportation com- panies would put the figure at about 7000 OI these over 5000 are thought to be here and dependent upon the city. It is esti- mated that about 1000 peovle wiil winter at Fort Yukon ana Circle City and about There is reported to be a thousand tons of vprovisions at Fort Yukon, with a quantity also at Fort Hamlin, a new cache near the Manook diggings, so that the people on the river below here are in no danger even of stint, although if all the provisions there stored together with all the peonle brought were here there wouid still, [ am sure, be a scarcity. Of the 835 people who started for Daw- son from San Francisco and sound peints, by way of St. Michael, by the steamers Portland, Excelsior, Cleveland, Bertha, National, Scuth Coast, Humboldt and Mary W, only torty-six have reached lere. Beven got to Circle City, tvo of them be- ing passengers oi tae Portlund, four of the Excelsior and one of the Cleveland. Of ] the number who reached Dawson four | were of the Portland, thirty-five of the Ex- celsior, ten of the Cieveland, onv of the South Coast, one of the Humbclit. Five | of the seven men from the cutter Bear got here. The story of ihe struggls and disap. pointment of tha passengers of these ocean steamers to get up the river is even l more painful in the firs% reza=d, and sweeping in the latter is the story of those | who came over the passes and ‘own the river. The ¢ urageous and energetic men who started by the Juneau route even a’ter the sailing date of the Exee‘rior at | people from the upper country. | Ryan. D. Waterman, | Bell, George San Francisco, July 28, reached here be- fore the passengers on that steamer had left St. Michaels. After the Porxlnl‘}d, with her 163 passengers, and the Excelsior with her 113, came the Cleveland with 176, the Boertha with 13, the National City with 60, the South Coast with 45 and the Humboldt with 265. " Some of these returned to thes'artine points without leaving the vessels, but the great mujority started up the river by one meaus or another and most of them got as far as Fort Yukon, where they met what was deemed th» impassable barrier. | 1 have no means of knowing what became | of them except through the reports of the few of their fellow-passengers who came up on the Bella. I have almost acom- plete register of the passengers from the Excelsior and something of those on the Portlan). A number of the Excelsior passengers came up to Fort Yukon on the Alice. She failed tn pass the bar and re- turned to St. Michael. A few went back with her, while others camped at F rt Yukon, determined to pass the winter there rather than turn, and hoping that some later boat might be successful. gers of the Hamilton were also camped there, quite a village was created, and many staked out lots with the idea that they might become valuable should there be concentration there of the foodless Among these dauntless people were four women, Mrs. Bessie Thomas of San Francisco be- ing one of them and Mrs. Johns of Salt Lake City another. The other two were from Seattle. When the Weare attempted the bar at Yukon, ber captain refused yositively to take on any passengers. He did, however, sllow a few of the campers to work their way up, and very eagerly they accepted the opportunity. Newberry, the news- paper artist, reached here in that way. When the Weare was held up at Circle | City, and the miners were overhauling the cargo, one of the Seattle women was discovered stowed away. She was put | ashore av Circle City, but when the boat left that city, she was again discovered to be on board, and was brought through. Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Johns subsequently reached here on the Bella, Passengers on the Excelsior from San Francisco, besides those named who have reached Dawson, are: A. A. Mar- tin, R. 8. Henth, F. Jaccard, L. Jac- card, V. A. Jaceard, W. M. Rank, Lew B. Clark, H. Heitselman, J. V. Kee- ley, Robert Peterson, H. J. Crit- tenden, J. C. Lee, A. Bistorius, J. E. Doherty, J. L. Shroeder, G. Gartson, O. ¥. Anderson, L Hange, H.J. Carleton, T. H. Peterson, Gecrge Knuisen, W. R. Parker, A. P. Hoffschneider, E. H. Hoffschneider, J. D. McGillivray, G. V. Gray, J. Mit- chell, A. C. Tracy, . A. Raney, F. O'Don- nell, J. Ciarkin and Mrs, E. Kimball. Of the others the foilowing stopped at Mancok or Rampart City: C. H. Jones ana wife, L. M. Purcell, H. Sideboitom, Stanley J. Fay, Ernest Claxton, W. A. G. McMillen, M. P. Cole Jr., A. C. Butcher, A. M. Pope, W. J. Foley, George Thisby, B.S. Goodhue, | W. B. Moore, W, G. Moore, W. B. Ed- D. F. Baxter, A. J. Beecher, W. T. . Coleman, W. H. Moore, D. J. Tobin, E. R. Allison,. T. H. Moran, Captain J. Morgan, Norman Brough. The following stovped at Circle City: W. A. Ray, L. F. Baker, J. B. Clark and H. J. Griffin. The fotlowing are reported to be at Fort Yukor A. T. Hatch; Mrs. W. B. Bom- pous, wife of the Bishop of Selkirk, sta- tioned at Forty-mile; Mrs. A. F. Moulton warl | and Miss B. Allen. N. C. Farnum and James Adams are somewhere on the river with the little steamer May West, built by the Richard- son Company at St. Michael. A number of the passengers of the Excelsior bought provisions there and shipped them with the West, which was then about to start up the river. Farnum remained to come up with the boat, and Aaams, who is the man most interested of all of them, came on the Alice to Fort Yukon. As the West was due, he returned down the river to look after her. Charles I. Rist is at Navikakak, as are also C. J. Brumley, F. R. Grosscup and | H. Marshall. The following returned to San Fran- cisco: M. F. Brown, C. O. Johnson, S. Peters, E. Peters, C. H. Gale, H. Ricker, P. C. Campbeli, William Cleve, H. Jacobs, N. C. Glenn, Miss K. Pilkington. Among those who shipped provi-ions on the May West was George F. Bemis of Sanger. He got te Dawson on the Bella, but was compelled to return to Fort Yukon, biding the arrival of the West and his provisions. Of the passengers on the Humboldt those who have arrived here are: A,J. Bowne and Alfred Trecidgo, mining ex- perts; H. Ulrich, H.J. Murphine ani L Fulda. Captain C. H. Ray of the United States army came up on the Bella aud stopped at Circle City. Waile at Fort Yukon he conducted the raising of the American flag with some little ceremony. Sam Weils was the only one ot the pas- sengers on the Soutbwest who arrived. He came as cook on the Belln. Frank Schow of the National City also got in by the Bella. Mrs. Taylor was the only passenger on the Portland who came through by boat. The Weare and the Bella both picked up a number who were toiling up the river in poling boats. One of tke most distressing features at- tending t.e failure of the boats to get their passengers through is that of the wives of men aiready here. After travel- ing nearly 5000 miles to join their hus- bands and getting to within & few hun- dred miles of their destination some of them, in despair, turned back over the long and, at this seazon, perilous journey by sea. Others are camping alcng the river, hoping that some chance may ena- ble them to get up by boat or are waiting for their husbands to ceme to them over the ice. A daughter of Captain Healy of the N. A. 1. and . Company was 3 passenger on the Portland and resched Fort Yukon on the river boat Hamilten, Thisiv true 1 iso of Mrs. J. D. Barnes and her Jittle daugh- ter. Mrs. Barnes went from here to San Francisco a year agy for medical treai- ment end, her health recovered, she sailed | | 2 the Portiand to rejoia her husband, ons of the successiul mine owners of ihe K'ondiks, She reached bort Yukon also ¢+ the Mamilten ané roturned down tne river wity that boat until they met the ¥ ila cuming up. §" 1 transferved (o thas boa‘, intending to nake auotkor effort with her to get to Dawson. Captsin Dixon, however, ad- As a number of the passen- ! vised her to lose no opporlunity to get back to the Sound or to San Francisco, as the risk of failure to get tnrough was t00 great. They met the Alice going down aad Mrs. Darnes transferred again and went out. Thé Bella got through, and one of the first men to board her was J. D Barnes. He has since adjusted his busi- ness affairs, bought a team ofdugs..nnd_m prepering to go over the trail to his wife the moment the ice.on the river wiil bear him. 3 | Looking from this picture of confusion | and distress to the other—that of the gold | field and its richness—there is little that is new to be said. Confilence 1 the rich- ness of the fi Id and its wide extent is | | nnbouaded. The scarcity of provisions | has put a full stop to prospecting for the time being, but it is accepted by all th}t that alone has prevented other discoveries being made. The concentration of food supplies at Fort Yukon and Fort Hamlin will have the effect of sending the miners back to Birch Creek and otner giggings| above Circle City and will greatly facili- tate the boom at Maook. % | The Circle City diggings have been practically abandoned for a year, although they were, previously to the Klondike dis- coveries, the richest in the Territory. ‘They will, no doubt,” recover themselves | this winter and Circle, the silent cify, will pe itself again. Here in Dawson the latest word to con- jure with 13 Deadwood Creek. The stam- pede to Deadwood took place on the night | of Septeinber 22, just three days before I arrived here. Those who took part in it | breathe fast when they recall and try to | describe it. Deadwood Creek is but three | miles down the river from Dawson, and empties into the Yukon from the other side. About sixty men secured the tip or took part in the race becanse they saw others making the mysterious run, Landed at | the mouth of the creek, the struggle to | | reach and stake close to the discovery was desperate, and the weak were thrown | bodily from the trail and into the gulch | by the stronger who overtook them. Oth- | ers, at the same time, ran through the woods away from the trail or attempted short cuts over the hills. Measurements | were made and stakes driven in a panicof | excitement. Claim-owners declare to-day that the run was well worth while, They say that 25 cents per pan is found in gravel near the grassroots. Noue of them show any disposition to sell, but declare an intention to work the ground and wait for bedrock. | The strike among the miners on | Bonanza and EL Dorado is to-night re- | ported to be spreading, and work has practically been suspended over both creeks, Men going up the trail are met | by miners posted along it and warned not | to work for less than $1 50 per hour. One | man who had gone to work at $1 was vis- ited by a committee who told him he would continue to do so at his peril. He | came out. | This is something of the condition here | at the beginning of winter and toward the end of ihe great s:ampede of 1897. The ! whole story of that stampede is one of loss, disaster and disappointment, - 1t has cost very much more than the sum of all that has been taken out of the mines. The | at the top. ty _und Circle City, by which would be a round trip each month. Tue carriers, with dog sleds and Indian ;d_r;ver?, were to be accompanied by the Canadian mounted police. The Canadian Government Wwuas to superintend the service, althourh the expense was to be shared by the Unitel Srtates, Sinc: the letter.ot Correspondent Wall was written we havelearned that one reund trip was mads in Ccteber and another in Novem: ber. As faras the five tons oi mail at Vie. toria is concerned we kuow nothing, for that is a Canadian postoffice, over which we have no control.” STEAM SLEDS FOR THE ARCTIC REGION, there Mr. Robarts Thinks He Wil Get Provisions Into Dawson Clty. TACOMA, Wasi., Nov. 20.—A supy of food will reach Dawson not later than January. For three years Inventor George Roberts of this city has been working ona steam ice sled capable of hauling heavy Joads during the winter monthsin the Yukon country. His plans were nearly perfect when - the Klondike excitement brokeout last July. He formed acompany of Tacoma, Victoria and Montreal men, who have advanced $15,000 to carry out his plans. Six men bave been at work since July with the result that one steam mountain sled and ten steam ice sleds are now nearihg completion. Next week the mountain sled and three ice sleds will b> forwarded to Dyea. One ice sled will be | located permanently on Dyea River, and a mountain sled will be put in operation over Chilcoot Pas:. Late in Decemver Roberts expects to leave Lake Linderman with two ice sleds and thirty tons of provisions for the first trip to Dawson. He has contracted to de liver one sled load, fifteen tons of el meat, at Dawson in January. On Robe return nine steds will be operated between Lake Linderman and Dawson as one train, each ice sled pulling three ‘tiailers. This train will carry 200 tons. Itisintended to make the round trip in tifteen days. The ice sled will be 20 feet long and 7 feet wide with runners made of three-inch hollow tubing. They will be equipped wit.. twoengines, propelled and connected like marine engines, having ball bearings and oscillating joints, A stern wheel | four feet in diameter will be fitted with sharp projecting pikes to penetrate the smooth ice. Roberts says his machines can make from twenty-five to thirtv-tive miles per hour. The fuel used will be wood, to be cut by & steam saw carried along. One sled will carry a rotary snow plow. Roberts’ mountatn sled will carry three tons to the summit of Chilcoot Pass each trip. It will have a boiler and engine of nine horsepower, the bailer on a pivot. With steam capstans and clutch pulleys, | thesled wilt pull- itself over Chilcoot by means of a steel cablesecurely anchored Sued for Breach of Contract. The Jobnson-Locke Mercantile Company commenced suit yesterday against the J. K. Armsby Company to recover £1440 damages for alleged breach of contractin tne matter of delivering goods. NEW TO-DAY. clearing of the river has given opportu- nity to a few courageous and experienced | men to at least attempt to get out by going | up to the Peliy River in small boats and there taking the Daiton trail. Jack Dal- | ton, for whom the trail was named, leaves | to-day with a small party. { | MAIL SERVICE | FOR KLONDIKE. | The Postmaster-General Offars an { Exp'anation for ths Deiay. ° \ WASHINGTON, Nov. 29.—THE CArwn | correspondent saw the Postmaster-Gen- | eral to-day concerning the report to THE | Carn by Sam Wall that no mail had been | received at Dawson City since last Jane. Tne Postmaster-General said the expla- nation was easy. “The new Alaskan mai! | service,”” he said, ‘‘did not commence un- | til October 1. On that date we commenced | a service between Skagu and Dawson | TREME BARG without notice. FOR - We sell either 10 ibs best Flnke Tapio 20 1bs Boston Buking 5 1bs Choice New Stem 5 1bs =ood, clean Fami. b box Fine Laundr ibs best Sweet Potato 36 Hotel Candles. 12 pkgs N. K. 7 cans Favo: We can reduce the cost of livi any family We seil either /1 1b good Nutmegs. 1 kit Family White Fis 18 1bs Western Refinery 7 ibs Arbucki 8 1bs Ca iforn 4 dozen Bakin 1 FOR o0 We s:11 either Cheddn Jregon 1 Sard w C: 50 1bs Family Flou:—Cal These prices are likely to be withdrawn at any time 10 birs Cudahy “Diamond C” Soap. 1 ib Fine Sweet Uncolor . Fairbanks’ Goldene. rit: Lye, none better, FOR 4 1bs Lion Roast Coffee. 4 1bs good Green Coff -e. 2.ga). cun Cooking Syrup. 6 ibs best Zante Currants, 17 ibs New Crop Cuoice CENTS 17 1bs New Crop Delicio These are samples of our prices. Hundreds more equally low. s Roast C Eggs, sele-ted grade ines (Le Brun). Immense Cash purchases enable us to do this. WE MAKE MEN Healthy, strong and vigorous by our new and wouderful cure. Stubborn chronic diseases of | the heart, brain and nerves that have bafii:d physicians for years, and which, in fact, are incurable by the use of either drugs or eleciric- ity elone, speedily and complately yield 1o the combined influence of -electricity and medi- cine, the two great agents whleh form our ELECTRO- NE MEDICAL BURE FOR ALL DISEASES. IT- COSTS YOU NOTHING Write, | maglcal and infallible To consult us personally or by mail “if youcannot call. Address: I STATE ELECTRO-MEDICAL INSTITUTE Cor. Market, Powell and Eddy Sts.,. - Entrance, No. 3 Eddy St,, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL NDOUS AINS. (4 ® & ® = ® -] [ = ® ] 9 b v c ns (white). less i iy Ri es. ng for fully 20 cents on the dollar, Prunes. us Pears, h, Mackerel or Salmon. Drv Granulated Sugar. ee (Ariosia) eese, sharp. r( B. B. Potatoes. weet ar Corn, lifornia’s Favorite brand. CASH STORE, 25-27 Market St., San Fran TELEPHONE, MAIN 1340. The store that deals honestly with all the people. Bring thisad wi. h you. CO. All car lines terminate hera The most certain and comfortable cathartic in cases of constipation and sluggisi liver er piles, L] 4 9 >