The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 19, 1898, Page 3

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1898 FAMINE SAM WALL DESCRIBES THE MISERY Two Thousand People May Soon Face Hunger. On the Way to the Klon- dike Men Are Stranded Along the River. Captain Ray Tells of the Situa- tion That Promises to Be- come Perilous. MINERS IN DESPERATION. Promptness and Firmness of Two Army Officers Prevent Lawless- nessand Impending Starvation. BY SAM W. WALL. CIRCLE CITY, January 13 (to Dyea pecial courier and by steamship to tle, March 17).—There are a num- s who came in this year, , Whe re wintering will. The following 11 of New York; ew Jer Pat ewart of Marks, Thom Gi pie, of Mon- ont, H. Carroll, Ben a, P. Habernall of asco of “Idaho, Salle, Colorado; Captain George and Thomas Marshall of Mas Dr Watkins, H. M ville, Haute’ souri; s Troo- Craig, Jam Craig, Al Clarence haffer, Colorado; e were passengers on the Excel- sior from San John Field, “harles Sylterig, George Knutson, Si- cel Johnson, F. Jaccord, b ¢ , all of Thomas of Idaho, Fred Brooks. wing have left Circle and e probably ved by th i 1 of Ber sco, W. Captain C. E. Ed Lung of Ta- n Moore of Francisco, Juneau. r Harris, formerly of Oak- , and lately connected with ka Commercial re, died December 21, and his remains we; ed December 23. The holding up of the steamers Weare and Bel at Circle City on :ir way up the river, the taking com- i of those boats by the crowd on return down at Forty Mile and Circle City, the armed attack on the cache of the American Commercial Company at this place, the f le re- lease of a prisoner at Circle City, to- gether with reports of other raids said to be in ¢ plation, have convinced Captain Ray unk ome force suf- ient to maintain order on river this rear witness extravag lawlessness that table to the Gov- eves that there is a nt upon making a ghwaymen do it. He is convinc the attack upon the Ameri Commercial Company's cache was not an impulse of con- gregated unfortunates, but was the development of a plan formed in Dawson, the weapons and ammunitions being secured there and at Circle City. That so many rifles should turn up in a crowd otherwise destitute he con- siders strong evidence in support of the information he has on that point. He is also warned and believes that the boats that thi summer may be ex- pected to carry out great weights of gold stand in imminent danger of be- ing held up and looted. Had the at- tack upon the cache here been succ: "H Captain Ray believes that s milar moves would have been made at Daw- son and Circle Ci To meet and prevent any such at- tempt in the future he thinks the Gov- ernment should stablish military posts along the river with an army of- in command having the right and power to act. A civil government in a_country like this where the popula- tion is composed almost entirely of so- journers rather than residents he be- lieves would be impotent. With re- gard to the action that should be taken by the Government to advance and maintain American interests Captain Ray is anxious to lay before the President a plan for the establish- ment of a mail route from Cooks In- let to the mouth of the Tanana. He believes that a post route would in one season demonstrate to private capital the feasability of a railroad, the estab- lishment of which would solve the whole problem. It would insure cheap- er provisions besides communication with the outside. ‘With these would come cheaper labor, the opening up of the Tanana country, thought to be the richest in this rich region, and the establishment of a sup- ply center at the Tanana accessible from the outside all the year round, thus dispelling forever the fear of hun- ger that has always hung over this en- tire northern country. It is to press these matters upon the attention of the Government that Captain Ray is so anxious te reach Washington this win- ter. Mopumental blundering seems to have marked the course of the com- panies’ agents with regard to the man- zement of the hoats, and great loss nd disappointment has resulted inso- much that both companies are under suspicion of having acted in bad faith with their patrons and to have con- nived at the failure of the boats to get through the flats last fall. Having reached Dawson with almost no provisions, boats started down the river crowded with men. Those on the Weare were employed with the de- large elem clean up ¢ engers of the little steamer St.| are in winter: quarters: C. R. , John D. Barmorly, C. H. Har- -d T. Barry, | Ken- | Company’s | AN D SCURVY ALONG THE YUKON A BARROOM SCENE IN SKAGUAY. Fort Yukon and returning to Dawson. Those on the Bella were given free because passage to Yukon. Neither, of the ice, got further than Circle. The extra crew on the Weare, believing that the boat could be put through if the commanders so desired, threatened to take pos n of it. I have in r dispatches reported what took place following this until the | men embarked from Circle City in | small boats to make their way amid | the floating ice to Fort Yukon. I to- | day heard from Captain Ray the in- | terrupted story in these words. He said: | “I was on the Bella, attempting to reach Dawson, and had gotten as far as Forty Mile, when the Weare came }dm\’n the river. The floating ice warned me that the river would not long re- main open, and as my post was on this ide of the line I shifted over to the | Weare. I found her Joaded with men | who were promised an outfit and $5 a day the trip. When we got to Circle City, after making a landing at about 11 o’clock, these men insisted that | the boat should be pushed through. “aptain Marimer gave them no definite | answer. In the afternoon, as the boat still lay there, they began to get impatient and angry. The captain till refused to give the order to move. The weather grew colder and a little | later he pulled her up in the slough. | The men held a-meeting that after- | the men did not assume any deter- | mined attitude till the next day, when some of them came to clared they had been ashore without [anything to eat and that they had de- F. | termined ‘to take the steamer to Fort Yukon and to take provisions out of the company’s store, if necessary. “I went out to see how many rifles I could find to co-operate with Miners’ Association against them. That afternoon the men came to 3 and stated they would drop aggressive measures if I would help them out of their predicament. I investigated and | founa that the company owed the men certain concessions. I refused to in- terfere as to their claims, but said I | would see that they got food and | shelter. I went to King and he ac- to that extent, and that night I saw the men housed in a dismantled res- taurant and a mess started. That was | the 3d of October and all remained se- rene until the 10th, when the river cleared of ice. The men held a meet- ing and resolved that the boat sho be taken to Fcrt Yukon. The Weare was now fast in the shore ice. Cap- tain Marimer, in my presence, agreed, if the boat was cut out of the ice and he then considered it safe, he would go. He worked all that day and the next cutting a channel for the boat through the ice to the open water. “At noon of the 1ith the men in charge of the work came to me and said that Captain Marimer did not in- tend to keep his word, as the engineer were not in shape. I went and that what they said was true. I told | them I did not believe the steamer could get down; that they must not | make trouble and that I would resist | any attempt at force. I said that if | | they acted at once I thought they | could get there in small boats. Cap- tain Geiger had agreed to see that they got small boats, and I said I would see that they secured food. They accepted, and a barge and three mall boats started the next morning at 8 o'clock. After they had got under way, knowing the bitterness they felt toward the company, I grew anxious about the safety of the caches here. 1 had no opportunity to send word to Lieutenant Richardson in charge here and determined to start myself. “A party of miners happening to land |at that time I embarked with them at 10 o’clock. We drifted all that day and arranged to run all night. At about 0 the Indian pilot, Paul, called us, ying he thought the river was freez- ing. I came out from under the shel- ter and heard the peculiar sound of ice in motion. I called all hands and told the men the river was gorging below. I tried to get the boat headed |up stream or across to reach thel shore, but before we could turn her we were forced into the jam. We could not see the shore and the ice was pil- ing up on both sides and it was with the greatest labor that we kept her from being forced under. Gradually the ice formed about us and we were in a pack. “The ice was too soft to bear our weight, but at 11 o’clock we were still fast. The sky cleared and the mer- cury dropped to 10 degrees below zero. At daylight we found ourselves off the right bank of an island, and after sev- eral attempts with a setting pole, we got ashore. We transferred all of our baggage and provisions, supposing we had reached the mainland. I cut across through the woods, however, and discovered an open lead of water on the other side. I saw figures on the shore and in the ice, the boats of the Weare that had left an hour ahead of us.- I signaled, they got a boat loose, rowed over and ferried us to shore. “Both parties then got together, and asked me to take charge and tell them \what to do. With the crew of the Weare, my boat’s people and a nuiber of cthers, who had come along, there were about eighty men in the camp. I had the provisions rounded up, and found there about four days’ rations for all. We -were about sixty miles “rom Fort Yukon. I pointed out to the pzo- ple that they couldn’t get back to Cir- cle, as we were on the wrong side of saw noon and Captain Martmer and Mr. King, the company's agent, came to | me, both a little nervous. However, | me and de- | knowledged the justice of their claim | | had received no word and the engines | | 1y destitute. | enly thing to do was to cache the extra prcperty, take blankets and provisions and fcllow the trail of Indian Paul, whom I had dispatched with a message to Lieutenznt Richardson as soon as I Janded. untii they got there. They made prep- arations at once, and at daylight thirty moved out. At noon the camp was clear. With my party 1 had three days' short allowance of provisions. During that day twenty-five or thirty more people came dropping in. As all seemed helpless and bewildered, I con- cluded to hang on there as long as pos- sible to keep them from stopping and dying on the trail. Fortunately, on the 14th a miner, Mike Malloy, came along with extra provisions in his pack, and supplied me with flour and bacon to last for a week with a fair margin for destitutes. By the 15th I had 250 peo- ple on the trail between: the Jam and Fort Yukon. On the morning of the 2d two men, Joe Carroll and Fred rash, came into camp. They had been traveling all night to get to me. They had been started by Lieutenant Rich- ardson after Paul’s arrival with tobog- gans and dogs, but had been compelled to leave the toboggan thirty-five miles away, finding open water in the river and dense underbrush on land. We started next morning for Fort Yukon with these two hauling provisions and blankets on a small sled. ten miles that day, there being no trail. That night Paul came into camp with the toboggan. “We reached the post on the 25th and found that the people ahead of us had been from five to seven days in coming through. Many had been three and four days without food. They had wandered away from the north bank | out among the islands, and when they got to Fort Yukon found themselves on the other side of the river with open water between. Lieutenant Rich- ardson had discovered them through glasses and had them ferried across, housed them in tents and had been feeding them, pending my arrival. They had been holding meetings night and day after getting settled, invited the | lieutenant to be present, reviewed the situation of their employment, and | when I arrived they asked my advice, | going over the whole ground again. In the meeting when the lieutenant was | present a motion was made to demand outfits and take them if necessary. This was not put, however. I made a prop- osition that I would issue thirty days’ provisions to any who were wiiling to g0 to work cutting wood for the steam- boats, for which they would be paid $5 a cord, the issue of provisions to be gratis. They very generally accepted | the conditions. Some_ had already gone to work putting up buildings. On the | 29th it was reported to me that there | was a combination up at the Alaska | Commercial Company’s cache, three and one-half miles above, that had or- ganized and armed for the avowed pur— | pose of selzing the cache. That after- | noon I went up with Lieutenant Rich- | agdson. Harry Davis, the agent, said the men had been holding meetings in | the neighborhood for several days: | that they had sent a committee to him demanding seven months’' outfits, de- | claring they had seventy®five men | armed, and if he did not grant it they | would take it by force. A committee | was waiting on Davis when I arrived, They demanded of him seven months provisions and clothes for nine months, and said they would give their notes for the amount at one year. Davis de- clined. T asked if any were absolutew One of the seven said he was. “I explained that I would give or on the store to feed those gwhn \Sg;.: destitute. As both companies offered work at good wages I believed they should accept it rather than pursue the course they were doing. If there were any bona fide miners there who were destitute T would endeavor to secure them food on credit and would recom- mend that the Government secure the bill. I came away without any definite answer from them, but leaving Lieu- tenant Richardson at the cache. That night_about 19:30 o’'clock I received a note from him saying he believed they intended to attac.. the cache the next morning. I wrote a proclamation tak- ingr possession of the caches in the name of the United States for thd pro- tection of the citizens in Northern Alaska, and warning all persons against trespassing. I sent word to have one posted on the door of the cache and another on a tree in their camp, and early next morning I started up to the cache. About twenty-five men who had volunteered accompanied me un- armed, as I deemed it wise not to make any demonstration of force. When I had arrived within half a mile of the cache and near a thicket of birch a man by the name of Noblett came out and met me and said that the miners wished me to come to their camp and talk the matter over. This I declined to do, He then came out plainly and said it.would be safer for me to go to camp, as if I attempted to go to the cache I would be fired upon. ‘“While talking to me I noticed him raise his hand as if giving a signal, and between twenty-five and thirty men | armed with rifles appeared i~ the edge | of the timber and covered myself and | party. Noblett then said they had | possession of the cache. As I had left Lieutenant Richardson there and as I had heard no firing, I told him he was a lar. I told him he could fire, as I was going to the cache just the same. He then asked me if I was willing to make the same proposition I had made the day before, and I told him I would make no more propositions. He then asked me if I would wait a few mo- ments until he could talk with his men. I saw him go to consult with some men in the timber about seventy-five yards the river, and that we could not get to Yulkon shait of four days, and that the clared purpose of unloading quickly at away. In a few minutes he came back I v zrned them to Keep going | We made | position to my going on. At the same time he called in the firing party. At the cache I found between seventy-five and one hundred men, some of them | very much excited. I learned from them that Noblett his people had | been stopping destitutes coming down | the trail and representing that the com- | panies would not sell on credit and that they would not issue to destitutes. I at once made an order to issue ten days’ rations and notified an that the companies were offering work at fair gainst molesting. at ings and warned all “When I arrived in front of the entire mob at bay. I learned from with a Winchester building, keeping th It was a sight to s | evening previous, and said the men wished to see him. Richardson replied that he had no new terms to offer, and would not go. Noblett then said that the men wished to take charge of him for his protection; that they intended to seize the cache, and no force could stop them, but they did not wish to in- jure him if it could be avoided. Rich- | ardson acknowledged their considera- tion, but said that if they wanted him | they must come and get him. Richard- | son made some provision to meet an attack. .He sent a man in the early morning with a message to warn me of their intention to capture me and hold me as hostage, on information which he had learned from man named Sheridan, who overheard it discussed. The messenger .was fired upon twice | by sentries and captured. | they had been holding as prisoners in i&helr camp half a dozen men whom sent me. | have sent to Washington. | "I appointed a committee to hear the applicants for outfits, but soon discovered they were issuing to all comers, and so dismissed it and heard the applicants myself. I have fur- | nished relief for about people and | drawn drafts on the Government for | about $30,000. Upward of 150 men are cutting wood along the river and there are about twenty indigent sick in the hospital. The others have gone pros- pecting or have found employment in the Birch Creek mines about Circle City. Over two hundred purchased | supplies to last until July. I found | that thirty or forty of the band that organized to rob afterward developed ample means to pay for their outfits, and we required them to do so. I have reliable information that the scheme of the hold up was developed on the steamer Bella. They secured arms by buying or borrowing along the river. starving people, but of robbery, they knowing the great demand there would be for food. They also desired to get possession of the large quantity of li- quor that was landed there. Since then there has been little or no friction. I believe it will all result in great good. About 15,000 cords of wood will be cut, and men are scattered over the coun- cover rich new mines. “Had I sat here supinely and al- lowed the men to take the upper cache order would be gone, and the result would be that a great number of idle men would be congregated here and I would have found myself fighting for my own cache. I was informed that both Captain Hansen and Captain Healy at Dawson were urging men to come here, offering free boats, and representing that there were between 1600 and 2000 tons of provisions stored here. The fact is there were less than 300 tons in both caches, exclusive of whisky, two hundred tons of this be- ing in the A. C. C.’s cache. I tried to communicate with the local heads of both companies to have them co-op- erate with me and to send only the destitute here. “Word reached me from Minook that an organized effort would be made there by a band of lawless people to capture the boats coming up with pro- vigions and going down with gold dust. A meeting was held there to discuss the capture of the Bella, com- ing up, but I understand that General Carr and ex-Governor McGraw talked them out of it. I am told that Captain Healy threatens to cut Circle City off his list of trading posts because of the way they treated his boats this fall. He ordered his boats not to stop there, but as it is a port of entry they have to do so. “There are now about 1300 people on the river between the Nozekakut and the boundary line. There will be 2000 before June, when the river opens, all without provisions. The boats will ob- ject to landing, as they will be eager to get through to Dawson. If these people are stranded here they will par- alyze the upper country. T have no power to protect the people; what T should have is power to disarm every irresponsible person. These companies should be made to treat the people fairly and the people must be made to leave the property of the companies alone. Capital-properly invested should be protected.” — Brazil Will Not Sell. Copyrighted, 18%, by James Gordon Bennett RIO JANEIRO, March 18—Tne Italian Minister is negotiating a commercial treaty with Brazil. The Government has refused the pro‘plo:luon to purchase the and said he would make no further op- ‘battle-ship Aquidaban made by the Unit- ed States,” wages, and all must g0 to work who | had no money. To miners who were without money, food or credit I would authorize the issue of five months’ pro- visions. I placed flags over the build- the cache I found Lieutenant Richardson patrolling | him that Noblett had visited him the | ‘T also found they had arrested going toward Fort Yukon to prevent any message being One of these was a kodak fiend, who took a couple of snap shots of the crowd, the negatives of which I It was not a case of destitution or of | try prospecting and are liable to dis- | CANADIANS STEAL MORE TERRITORY Trouble Brewing on the Borders of Alaska. Dominion Officials Ad- vance Farther on Our Soil. Now. Collecting Duties Near the Summait of the Two Passes. Is CONFLICT IMMINENT. Governor Brady About to Depart for Washington to See the President. Special Dispatch to The Call. JUNEAU, Alaska, March 14 (by steamship Queen to Seattle, March 18). —After dinner this evening I had a long interview with Governor John G. Bra- dy, and before that a talk with Col- lector of Customs J. W. Ivey. Things are going to “pop” in Alaska before long. The fuses of several official se- crets are about to be ignited. When | they go off there will be a sensation | and a scurrying to cover. | Alaska is on the verge of radical | changes, which will affect not only the people of the district, but which prom- ise also to be of international interest and importance. I remarked to Gover- | nor Brady that the day before yester- | day I had seen the British Union Jack flaunting its colors on the summit of Chilkoot Pass, while crowds of Klon- dikers passed below it in their hurried march to the Klondike. The Canadians | moved up there some two weeks ago | from Lake Bennett, and have since been collecting duty on the spot, about twenty rods from the summit of the Yukon side. At first there was much indignation expressed at Dyea, but the feeling has now calmed down, and duty | is being paid by Klondikers without | protest. A few American flags may be | seen at Sheep Camp, raised as if in de- | fiance to the Canadians, and seemingly to imply that, though they have come so far, they must come no further. Governor Brady said: | “I am going up to Dyea and Skaguay in a few days with Collector Ivey. I am going to make a special inspection of the situation on the passes, on the trails and in those towns. The Canad- | ians have been nudging closer to the summit gradually. I khow that their | flag there is offensive to many men. At first the Canadian authorities were sta- tioned at Lake LeBarge, next they | moved up to Lake Bennett and now they have pitched their tents and the | British flag at the summit. 1 have no power to take any kind of action. If I had my own way, I would be inclined | to set up a stake ten marine leagues from the coast and have them kept be- yond that. | “Iintend to make & journey to Wash- | ington, D. C., in a few weeks. 1 pre- sume I shall be consulted by the Pres- ident about this gradual nudging us off the log, but I shall make no recommen- dations formally. We are in strained relations with Spain. I do not feel like | troubling the administration with this | matter; besides that, we want the | friendship of England at this time. I | am going to Washington to be ready | for use in connection with legislation for Alaska.” | The stationing of a United States | Deputy Collector of Customs, backed | up by a force of Deputy United States | Marshals, at Lake Bennett, in terri- tory which the location of the Cana- dian customs post and the flying of | the British flag on the Chilkoot sum- | miy shows is now claimed as Cana- dian ground, is expected here to pre- | cipitate complications, the .result of | which it is not possible to foresee or | predict. It is difficult to see how a conflict of some sort can be avoided. On this point Governor Brady declined to express himself. Collector Ivey, fresh from Washing- | ton, is clothed with new powers and | backed by the administration. He is in the saddle and has the reins in his hand. He sprung the first of a series of sensations in Juneau to-day. He ordered the three breweries to close and keep closed to-night. Then a re- port spread that all the saloons in Ju- neau, Dyea, Skaguay, Wrangel, Sitka and elsewhere In Alaska were to be closed. Saloon keepers hurriedly hid surplus whisky, beer and other intox- jeating beverages to prevent their be- ing seized. Collector Ivey said: “The matter of brewing beer and also the sale of spirituous liquors in ‘Alaska has been under consideration by the department at Washington for three months. I have instructions to stop the breweries and top prevent them making any more beer in the fu- ture.” “Will you close the saloons in the district?” “I am not prepared to say as to that at present. The execution of the law rests with the United States Marshal. 1 will say, however, that I intend to enforce the law from this on to the ex- tent of my abllity, as I have tried to do since T have been in office. On my recent trip south I seized " and took with me more liquor than has been seized since 1867. I can say nothing as yet in regard to martial law at Ska- guay and Dyea, but I will station dep- uties at Lake Bennett.” o In the afternoon Collector Ivey went over to Douglas City, on Douglas Isl- and, across the channel from Juneau, and closed the breweries there. This morning’s boats took the news up to Dyea and Skaguay, where there are three breweries and saioons almost every other door, and by this time con- sternation reigns there. Governor Brady said in regard to the | new determined enforcement of the li- quor law: “You can depend on it that whisky in Alaska will be $20 and up- ward per gallon in a short time. There has been too much smuggling. I do not speak for Mr. Ivey, but I under- stand he has authority to employ a large number of additional deputies. “He will also have a steamboat at his disposal and other facilities which no collector has ever had before in Alaska. When we get to Skaguay and Dyea we will have a consultation with the military authorities there, and .when we return to Sitka we will have a conference with the United States Marshal and with the United States 4 District Attorney. If necessary I pre- sume,” said Governor Brady, smiling, “the Government can spare a ship or two from the Bering Sea fleet to help us enforce the law in Alaska.” Captain Belcher, in command of the WALSH CREEK DIGGINGS RIVAL THE KLONDIKE Rush to Dawson Diverted by the Stampede to the New EIl Dorado. spring. The excitement is intense. them. grounds. self has a claim. also made a location for himself. near Lake Lebarge. rock not yet in sight. Dorado creeks of the Klondike. has been found. at Dyea yesterday from Dawson. Pacific Coast Steamship Company, me by Mr. Miller. smaller scale, has Been found. selves to death. looked on the way to Dawson. interior country. “struck” on the Lewis River. Big and Little Salmon rivers. ©OPEEEEPEPREPPPPPOPEPEPPPNEPPPOOPOPPPPPPOEPPPPOPPEEEPPPOPPPOPVPOOPEPOPOPPEPEPPPNPPPEPEEOORPEPEPEOE post on the Chilkoot summit, told me that he was ordered there by a supe- rior officer whom he declined to name. He said he had always understood that the Lynn Canal side of the summit was disputed territory, and not the Yukon side. He said the Americans paid their duty cheerfully and were well behaved. There are many Klondikers who have not enough money to pay the duty on their outfits. They are forced to pack or perform other labor on trails in or- der to make emough money to pay it. Enforcement of the collection of duty at the summits ghuts them out from working at Lake Linderman and Lake Bennett, where later there will doubt- less be much work to do in the way of boat building. Those who pay duty are obliged to spend from two to six weeks at the lakes preparing boats, and during that time they con- sume food on which duty has been paid, whereas if the duty were collect- ed at Lake Lebarge, or some other point beyond, instead of the summit, the cost of living would be much less. This is complained of as a hardship. Duty is also collected on horses, dogs and oxen used in packing to the lakes. The duty on firearms is so high that hundreds of fine shotguns, rifles and revolvers are for sale along the trails and in Dyea, Skaguay and Sheep Camp at less than their cost. HAL HOFFMAN. RICH FINDS MACE ON THE AMERICAN SIDE. Little Minook Creek Proving a Bo- nanza for Those Possess- ing Claims. SEATTLE, March 18.—Letters received to-day from various persons at Rampart City, Alaska, established beyond a doubt that rich finds are belng made on the American side of the line. About De- cember 1 the Little Minook Creek find was reported, followed by the Hunterand Hoosler finds. But little work has been done on the last two. Gratifying results are reported from Little Minook, where large nuggets and rich pans have been taken out. Nuggets worth $17, $85 and $136 and several small- er ones have been found on William Mc- Lain's claim, No. 9, above Discovery. This claim turns out from 40 cents to $1 65 to the pan. An exceptional pan on No. 9 reached §$16. §2 nugget was found on No. 8 claim. No. 6 is turning out from 30 cents to $1 30 per pan. 1 these results continue Little Minook will show up as a wonderfully rich creek. Claim owners on Hunter and Hoosier believe that these creeks will show up as rich as Little Minook. The three are in the same neighborhood and all flow into the Big Minook. All the claims on the three cxeeks named are located. A number of aller streams flowing into them, and known as the “pups,” are also located. - Other prominent streams within a ra- JUNEAU, Alaska, March 14 (by steamship Queen, Seattle, March 18.—Rumors of the recent discovery of extraordinarily rich ground be- tween the Big Salmon and Little Salmon rivers have been fully con- firmed. A stampede has begun from the trails leading from Dyea and Skaguay, almost equal to the first sudden rush to It is impossible to place a correct estimate on the number of men who compose the rush, as scores are leaving every day. When I was at Dyea and Skaguay yesterday I learned that many are going in with a very light quantity of provisions and slipping through the Canadian customs and police lines at night, taking the risk of running through all the stations on the lakes and Lewis River in a similar manner or climbing the mountains around The distance from Dyea to the new diggings is only about 250 miles, or about one-third of the way to Dawson. About four miles below the Big Salmon is a bay or arm of the river. from the course of travel on the Lewis River. until recently, when, instead of being a blind bay, a creek was found running into it at the upper end. The discovery was made by several Klondikers from Wisconsin, who were frozen in and forced to winter near the Big Salmon. Their names are not known. during the long,“lonesome winter months in the vicinity, more to kill time than with the hope of finding rich paying dirt, and they are now thanking their stars that the winter stopped their journey to Dawson. They made the first locations and the news soon spread. are a short distance up the creek from the bay. The Canadian police stationed at Lake Lebarge were next on the Locations were made and the creek named Walsh Creek after Major Walsh, the head of the Canadian police in the interior. is called Governor of the British Northwest Territory. It was taken for him by his private secretary, A. S. Kerry of the Kerry Lumber Company of Seattle has a sawmill He got in to Dyea from Lake Lebarge on Tues- day night, coming through without delay. Mr. Kerry had a talk with Major Walsh about the new discovery. 1 careful man, and Mr. Kerry says he would not have said what he did unless he knew it to be the truth. Major Walsh said that from four to seven feet below the surface the gravel went $1 50 to the pan, with bed- Streaks of pay dirt are found on the surface. One dollar and fifty centg to the pan is a wonderfully rich prospect, comparing very favorably with the best claims on Bonanza and El Major Walsh thinks another Klondike H. 1. Miller of Seattle Is one of a party of Klondikers which arrived It made the trip out in nineteen and one-half days’ actual traveling time. carrier for The Call, carrying dispatches from Mr. Sam Wall, The Call's special correspondent at Dawson. He and every other party confirmed the report of rich finds on Walsh Creek. Mr. Miller described the location of the creek for me. have passed it on their way to Dawson, overlooking a fortune. A letter was received here to-day by E. H. Miller, cashier of the from W. K. Mead, ex-United States Marshal of Arizona, who is at Lake Bennett. Mr. Mead said he had talked with Canadian police- men and others who had made locations on Walsh Creek, and his fig- ures in regard to the depth and the average per pan are the same as those mentioned by Major Walsh to Mr. Kerry—$1 50 to the pan from four to seven feet below the surface. among the winter campers and this season’s early spring arrivals at Lake Bennett, who will be on the ground next after the police. general belief in the interior is that a second Kiondike, Other creeks are said to run into the Lewis River in that vicinity and from the same range of mountains. close to the summits of the Dyea and Skaguay trails are crazy to get them over to Bennett and start for the new diggings. packing and sledding their goods tarough Dyea Canyon as late as mid- night, and they had been working since daylight in the morning. They hardly took time during the day to eat. It is safe to say that no more side creeks will be over- The amount of a day's output of $1 50 dirt depends on the kind of dirt it is and the facilities for working. or bowlders to move the total would be less than in easy gravel, but the amount will run from $100 to $150 a day. on Walsh Creek people here who L:ave never had the Yukon fever hefore have found it irresistible and are preparing to A second creek which shows up well It will afford many of the Klondikers now struggling to get over the Dyea and Skaguay trails an opportunity to get their hand in working gravel before they get to Dawson. name of the creek is Lake, and it comes into the Lewis River about twelve miles below the Big Salmon River on the side opposite from the A man named McConnelly is the locator. He claims to have washed out $2 from three pans of dirt. and another man of his party went over to Lake Creek on the way out and examined the creek. Mr. Miller said both Walsh and Lake creeks looked well on the surface, but, frcm the character of the gravel of Lake Creek, he thought that McConnelly had exaggerated the amount of gold in the three pans, but he said it looked like pay dirt. This has caused a second rush, or, rather, increased the stampede from the trails down the Lewis River to the two new creeks. Dawson early last The end of it is not in sight It was never explored They prospected Their stakes He ‘The major him- who Major Walsh is a_copservative, Mr. Miller came out as special man of the Thousands The letter was shown The first rush was from The but on a [olorororcloroxcIoroXolofoXotofofofolofolotoJolcIoloololooloofotoYofofololofofolofololotooroloXCoYoXofoXcYoToLoIOIOXOIOROIC)] Men who have their outfits ) I saw men © They were working them- If there are many large rocks Since this latest strike PEEECEEOEE “hit the trail” for the as a prospect has been The H. I. Miller HAL HOFFMAN. @ ® @ @ © @ ® ® @ © ® @ (O] O] ® ® é@©®©©®©@@®@@®®@®@@@@®@®@®@®@®©©@©©@ dius of fifteen miles of Rampart City are: Alder, Chapman, Russian, Gold Pan, Chicago and Herr creeks. Every woman at Rampart has located several claims and will hold them for male rel- atives, who will arrive in the spring. Erm i RAILWAYS TO RESORT TO_ARBITRATION. Hope to Bring About a Quick Ending of the Present War of Rates. NEW YORK, March 18.—At a meeting of the passenger traffic agents of the railroads to try to end the rate war be- tween American and Canadian roads the committee of four presented a resolution providing that an arbitrator be appointed on -or before March 23, who shall decide on the points in contention. All the roads agreed except the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific, whose agents will report to their superfor oficers. g L PIONEER HENRY LONG ACCIDENTALLY KILLED. RIVERSIDE, March 18—Henry Long, an old pioneer of this State and a resident | of this city for sixteea years, was in- stantly killed to-day. Long was at work on the side of a building when he slipped off ‘a ladder and fell a distance of thrity feet, crushing his skull. Long was a eJaloneer of Placer County, and represented that county in the Legis- lature which sent ex-Governor Booth to the Senate. In that campaign he took a prominent part. Long first arrived on this coast in a sailing vessel in He returned in 1846, and was one of the first to come overland when gold was dis- covered in 1849.° He assisted in putting up the first mill on the Comstock when that camp was in its zenith. He has been a prominent Odd Fellow for many years, iyl oy SECRETARY GAGE SPEAKS AT CLEVELAND. CLEVELAND, March 18.—Secretary of the Treasury Gage delivered an address L.is evening before the Chamber of Com- merce on the financial question. ‘Lhis was in acceptance of an invitation extended several weeks ago by tne chamber. The Secretary was met y the officers of the chamber upon his arrival in the city and escorted to the hotel. At 6 o'clock they had ainner together, and then they pro- ceeded to the chamber, which was badly crowded. No one but members were ad- mitted. After the address the Secretary was entertained at the Union Club. — . ‘Wants the Grand Court. ‘WOODLAND, March 18.—At a meeting of Court Star No. 10, Foresters of Amer- ica, held on Thursday evening, it was decided to at once begin a vigorous fight to have Woodland designated as %unx place of the Grand Court in