The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 15, 1898, Page 1

i ETROPOLIS | OF KLONDIKE | FIRE-SWEPT M Vi Scores of Buildings Destroyed. NIGHT OF WILD EXCITEMENT | quick work of those which could not be easily razed with rope or axes. Caches were overturned and crushed, frame buildings hacked to pleces and reduced to splinters. Buildings on all sides were charred or scorched, where not protected by wet blankets or sheets. All kinds of clothing suspended from roofs and windows, it looked as though Dawson had only one wash day and that all the clothes had been hung out THE PH | DRUNKEN ORGIES WHILE THE | CONFLAGRATION RAGES. Thugs Ply the Torch in Different Parts of the City, Undoing the Work of a Volunteer Brigade. BY HAL HOFFMAN, Special Dispatch to The Call Nov. 10 (by, ity to Victo —Dawson City was &i- ved by Owing to the close of e Yukon and Lewis has only just reached comprising about INE Alaska, were burned. Fear, « consternation seized tr stood appalled or stz I while a few cool ! d the city. Never istration t s S 8 'S a man rgency. pplied the torch to spread t ation. cated men | aggered on the streets. | Lot's wif 10t look back upon more | imeless wantonness; no careless | upc the battlements and a vi , but when t and the fire ing orators and the flames. A , a most timely provi- s Dawson w ¢ three-quarters of a It distributed as is possible to itemize time Hotel, $40,000. | & McGrath, New Eng-| land oon, $44,000. 1 Postoffice building, Alex McDon- ald, is Hotel and saloon, $35,000. Empire Bakery, $40,000. | McPherson & Johnson’s store, $20,000. i Vancouver Hotel, $25,000. | John Sargent’s store, $3000. | Case & Gilsey’s new building, | $8000. Maison Tortoni, “Jack” Horn’s place, Nellie Lewis’ and several ildings and Hib- | ross Front street, $6000. E. A. Sutor, jeweler, and I. Flatow, tailor, in same building, $16,000 John McDonald, tailor, $6000. George Brewitt, tailor, $8000. Foley, butcher, $5000. | Seattle restaurant, $9C00. | teward Second street, upon the numer- S 5 10 st ;.. | OUx cabins occupied by women of the estaurants Sand ismall “stores’n | sy than an hour over forty sixteen small buildings, $29,000. Twelve small houses, finely fur- nished, and occupied by the demi- monde, the cabins being worth easily $1500 each, $18,000. Buildings damaged by fire or tear- | Ing down, $50,000. | Damage to goods in such build- | Ings, 850,000. Goods damaged by hasty removal | and stolen, $50,000. | Gold dust cached, mostly by indi- | viduals, in small lots, $85,000. Provisions cached, $15,000. | Total loss, $603,000. Max L: ille occupied the Green Tree saloon and hotel. He was one of the special ( ssloners to Ottowa nter present the iners for a reduc- e output. The James Hall, the day before who refused $25,000 for it the fire. ho occupied the . E. Peters, J. E. Drew, | butcher; B. and Candy Servanti & . Good, office; Frank Ha- : Dutcher & Carroll, Reed, office; Mrs. 1 Lich- | Hough, Jacksor jeweler; Le McRae, watch mak - ¢ | Was afire. 48 MOt | ters into sacks and carried them away. | Ten minutes from the moment it took fire the postoffice was falling in pleces. | kedpers who had buckets feared to loan | | to the river and soon all dc 7 5 \ el Z N, DAWSON CITY IN FLAMES. (From a description by Hal Hoffman.) ‘Willing hands tumbled lel-’ So rapidly did the fire spread that it then became apparent. that Dawson was doomed unless a miracle intervened ave it. However, citizens and sol- ers set their teeth and went to work do what they could. The crowd med panic-stricken and rooted to the pot. Second-hand dealers and other store- | Desperate methods were re- them d to. The determined few drew | revolv on the nearest merchant and | forced him to give up the buckets he | had. After that there were no more re- | fusals. ®hree lines of men were formed | criptions | vessels that would hold water were passing swiftly up one line full and down the other empty. Men mounted roofs and poured water n the fire till their smoking clothes rched the flesh and their faces were } d. There were some deeds of e L One man remained at his post till his eyebrows were singed; an- other fled only when his hair was ablaze. 1 Urged by the wind the roaring flames ched out their arms and encircled fine new Worden Hotel building. All this happened so quickly that only | a few armfuls of valuables had been | rried out. From this building the fire spread up the street and down the street and leaped across Paradise alley the bu four blocks were burning he same time. The whole block b ecn First and Second streets and | rst and Recond avenues was a seeth- ing furnace, the flames being sucked inware Wagons and carts rushed hither and thither taking goods to safe ac pla The thousands of buckets of lings in water passed rapidly along the lines made no more holes in the fire than a handful of shot cast into a river. There was a sputter and the holes disap- peared. Across Front street jumped the fire and almost at the same instant the shacks.and shell-like bufldings on the water front joined the general com- bustion. This is 2 part of the long section of water front which Alexander McDonald leases from the Government officials for $12,000 4 month. McDonald is generally credited - with making a monthly clean-up of from $12,000 to $15,000 in rents. Kilondike king will not now be so large for a while. PPOPOPEPPEPOOOOOOOO6 exhausted where they stood. Others | {mmediately stepped up to take their | places. Many men on the wide fringe of ice down at the river were frozen to their tracks by the water splashed and dropped on their feet from the huckets. The situation became some- what ludicrous when they had to be chopped out of the ice. ~Whisky was freely passed along the line to revive the drooping spirits of the workers, for | still the flames rolled on higher and | higher, and wider and wider grew the blackened track. Casks of liquor were rolled into the street and the heads | knocked in. Others beside the fire | workers got hold of the tin cups and so guzzled themselves that the number of drunken men and a few of the low- The rent roll of the | ® |® Meanwhile a number of water pass-|® ers in the lines up from the river. fell | office; not a dollar of insurance on a; | est class of women could be counted RICH PLACER DEPOSIT FOUND BY PROSPECTORS ON PORCUPINE CREEK Fortunate Discoverers of the Pay Dirt Exhibit in Juneau Pickle Bottles Filled With Coarse Gold and Small Nuggets. BY HAL HOFFMAN., Speclal Dispatch to The Call JUNEAU, Alaska, Nov. 10 (by steamship Cottage Cit~ to Seattle, Nov. 14).—Verily, thev don’t know yet what they've got in Alaska. Another placer deposit has been found, richer than the wildest dreams of the humble prospector who staked the Discovery. It is on Porcupine Creek, about thirty-five miles up the Chil- kat trail from Haines Mission. The mission, as it is called, in these parts, is on Lynn canal, between Juneau and Skaguay. Reports of strikes have been comin~ out of that section all summer, but they proved unfound- ed upon investigation. The last one received as little credence as its predecessors until yesterday, when S. ‘W. Mix and Ed Finley came down to Juneau on a small steamer and exhibited in pickle bottles of large size an amount of coarse gold and small nuggets ranging in size from small shot to lima beans, t» astonished the town. Atlin was for the time being forgotten and the new strike is the talk of all Juncau. Mr. Mix is a man of middle age, and an old California miner. He lived at Shasta, and his parents and wife now are there, or at Walla Walla, Wash., he does not know which. He has been in the interior prospect- ing for five m hs and unable to communicate with them all that time. He and Finley are partners and the discoverers of the ‘orcupine diggings. = Mix is at the Circle City Hotel. He said: “We went into that country last June and have since been prospecting in the mountains and among the creeks back of the mission. I do not know how long a stream Porcupine is, for we did not ro to its head. When we found the gold we stayed right there. This was about three weeks ago. When we had staked out claims for ourselves we sent word back to the mission and Pyramid Harbor and let our friends in on it. “We have taken out about $2000 in dust. The last day we worked we cleaned up $165 out of a twelve- foot sluice box. Finley and myself and another man have pooled out three claims and will work them to- gether next summer. I am satisfled that I have a ~ood thing and don’t want to sell. We were driven out by the snow. It has fallen there to a depth of over four feet a week and we could not work. One man re- mains on our clalms during the winter.” Mr. Mix said they would not take $200,000 for their three claims. The dust is the cleanest and purest yet found in Alaska or the British Northwest Territory. It outranks Dawson gold in that respect. Forty claims in all have been staked and recorded in the Porcupine district. The records are in Juneau. A small creek which has been named McKinley, a tributary of Porcupine, has been found almost as rich in gold. Edward Haeckley, a miner, formerly of Mendocino, Cal, is its discoverer. He took out a $13 25 nug- get, the largest one yet found in the district. - Lewis of Los Angeles, Cal, got in on the find earlv. He went south about ten days ago from Skaguay with about $1000 he had taken out of his ground, and is now saicd to be in Los Angeles. In fact, the discoverers seem to be almost entirely a California aggregation. Porcupine Creek empties into the Klahena River, which in turn flows into the Chilkat River, which dis- charges its waters into Pyramid Harbor. The trail to the diggings is the Dalton trail to the mouth .of the Klahena. It is a mile and a half across the peninsula from the mission to Pyramid Harbor. The Chilkats, the gamest, finest looking and most Intelligent Indians in Alaska, have several villages on Pyramid Harbor and up the river a short distance. It was a Chilkat who shot at “Jack” Dalton last summer and nearly killed him. About all the ground on Porcupine and McKinley creeks has been taken up, but Mix says there are other creeks in that section which he intended to prospect if he had not struck it on Porcupine. He went to bed tock for the gold he took out. Another creek was explored near McKinley. Nothing but galena rock, car- rying silver, was found on it, and for this reason it was named Bryan Creek. The miners give it the go-by. These new diggings are on American soil, the first of any consequence that have been discovered in Ameri- cdy territory since Gold Creek, back of Juneau, was worked out some years ago. The claims are, therefors, 1500 by 600 feet in dimensions, instead of 250 and 100 in British Northwest Territory and British Columbia, in whity Dawson and Atlin are, respectively, located. It has been freely predicted for a year or more that placer mines\would be found in American territory that might rival the Klondike creeks, and apparently here they are, thaugh, as a matter of fact, it is yet too soon for any one to say just how rich they are. A better idea of the awount of gold will be had at the end of next summer. Cabins will be bullt this winter at Porcupine by peoplévintending to open stores and saloons next spring. Sixty days after the water begins to run there will without déqht be a lively and good sized camp at or in the immediate vicinity of Porcupine. The Cittage City to-night brought down over $30,000 in gold, about $2000 of which belongs to A. S. Smith of Kent, Wash.,, who made that sum by taking in a large band of cattle to Dawson. Prominent and well- known Dawsonites on the ship are William McPhee, William Thompson, George Zoe and a man named Sonny, a miner who has a grip heavy with gold dust. loYololoXcXoeoXCXoRORCOROROROoXOo oo o oXoJoRORoROROROJOROROROJOJOJojoTofof oRoR oo oJoRORORORoROXOYO) ® @ @ @ [©] ® ® ©® ® [OXOJOOXOJOROROXORORORONORORONORORORORORONORORORORONOROJOROROXOROROXOROROXOXOXOYOROYOXO} {OXCXOXOJCXOJOYOROROROKOXO) Soon about 2000 thing. Police bugle calls sounded a fire| alarm on the frosty air at Dawson at 5:20 o'clock on the morning of October 14, Half-dressed mounted police, sol- diers of artillery and i v and_cit- | izens rushed to the Green Tree Hotel | end saloon on Front street, next to the postoffice, from the upper story win- a of ‘which flames were ieaping forth and lcking the eves. A light wind, steadily Increasing in volume, was blowing down the river to the north. Denstly. bullt Front street poured its population out of doors and windows in various degrees of dress. In twenty minutes the postoffice bunding by twos and threes. In addition to these were the usual large nuiber of males and females, who, routed out at the early hour, had not slept off the night’s debauch. ~Some, still drunk, had not gone to bed at all. These peo- ple got in the way of the fire fighters, in the way of those who were trying to save their property, laughed and joked at the flames and made a most shameless spectacle in the full glare of the calamity which was sweeping over the city. It became evident by this time to the fire fighters that the only way Daw- son might be saved was by tearing down and blowing up bulldings in the path of the flames. men were at this game of checkmate. Many, at first reluctant to purpose- ly destroy what had been builded up with so much labor and expense, stood by without showing any disposition to engage in the work. The police made a bluff. “Lend a hand there or I'll take you n. “Fall into line there, you.” There was a scramble to obey. Ropes were made fast to cornices, corners and roofs, and with a long pull, a strong pull, a pull altogether buildings came down like houses of cards. Dynamite and glant powder made together, steaming, not in the sun, but in the heat of a red catastrophe. Fire apparatus, comprising one Ah- rens and two- chemical engines, had arrived in Dawson some weeks before. It remained unpaid for and undelivered, lying on the ground in front of the North American Trading and Trans- portation Company’s store.. The chemi- eals were packed so that they could be quickly put together, but they had lit- tle or no effect on the raging flames. It was diftereat with the Ahrens, a large and powerful machine. The boxing was stripped off and the bearings cleaned of the protecting tallow and paint. Men Wwho knew all about fire engines and setting them up appeared as by magic. They. were soon hard at work getting the Ahrens ifito commission. This work was done by Charles Bush, for ten years a fireman and assistant chief of the Victoria Fire Department; ‘“Jack” Sears, formerly a member of the Seattle Fire Department; T. J. Lane, formerly of San Francisco; Willlam Kerr and Lon Griffin, all old firemen. At about 9 o'clock, or four hours after the fire started, the engine was set up, showing 120 pounds of steam. What a sight for sore eyes, half blinded by heat and smoke, for trembling property- down the street toward the- river. What a cheer went up. How hearts were gladdened, as one coming upon & cool brook in the desert is made glad. The lines of water passers dropped their buckets and cheered, too. It was salvation for Dawson, salvation on wheels. Long lines of hose were quickly stretched. Cheer after cheer greeted the appearance of the first stream of water as it shot from the nozzle, curv- ing as a rainbow of promise and fell like a punishing flail on the fire. Where that saving stream touched it left a trail of black ashes behind. Just then, too, wonderful to relate, the breath of heaven changed. Carth- age was destroyed, but the gods showed favor to the new city of the land of gold. The wind wheeled around and blew off shore toward the river, con- fining the fire to the original four blocks and fifty buildings. The fire giant was beaten back just as he was about to devour the Victoria Hotel and Alex. McDonald’s new $75,000 three- story building at the corner of First avenue and Second street. More of Mc- Donald’s luck! He lost $10,000 in the Postoffice building, but saved $75,000. In that block are the Alaska Commer- cial Company’s store, the North Ameri- can Trading and Transportation Com- pany’s store, other big supply stores, nearly all the big variety theaters, gambling houses and sporting resorts, untouched by the fire though directly in its path. Thus is a large section of Dawson In ashes, under an ashen sky; thus was the remainder saved. ‘When the giant fire showed signs of subjugation other fires broke out in different parts of the city. Incendiar- ists secretly set fire to several places. They were assisted by that class of people to whom the opportunity for pilfering was. too good to be lost—and Dawson has her full share of them from all parts of the earth. When it was seen that attempts were being made to burn down the entire town the indignation of the people was without bounds. Hanging would have been a death full of sunshipe and redolent of roses compared to the punishment in- flicted had theincendiaries been caught, for the crowd cried: “Pitch 'em into’ the fire!” “Burn ’'em at the stake!” and indulged in other expressions indicative of a kindred, pleasant shuffling off of this mortal coil. The Aurora Hotel, First avenue and Second street, was entered, a pile of shavings dumped into a corner of an upstairs room, kerosene poured over it and the mass ignited. Nellle Dudiey, a chambermaid, discovered the fire and it was extinguished before there was more serious damage than a hole in the carpet. About 9:30 o’clock another fire was discovered in the new police hospital, as yet unoccupied. A hole was burned in the roof and a part of the interior badly charred. At about 3 o’clock in the afternoon fire broke out in the Juliette, a place in the rear of the Northern Soloon. This was in the cen- ter of the block north of the burned dis- trict, toward which the wind was blow- ing directly In the path of the big fire and adjacent to the block occupied by the Alaska Commerciale Company. The flames were breaking through the roof when the Ahrens engine swooped down and drowned them out. A second time was the food supply of Dawson saved. With the big ware- house destroyed there would not be sufficlent provisions for the winter. ‘Widespread suffering from hunger and actual death would have been inevit- able, as it is not possible to take in food enough over the ice to feed so large a population. Hundreds would have started for the coast and died on the way. For two days the engine poured water on the extensive ruins, and, on ac- count of danger from incendiaries, steam was kept up for a week. The most favorable time for robbery was when the fire and excitement were at their heights, and a great deal of it was done. It is now impossible to tell owners, for the assembled multitudes, |7 e ey waq that engine as it came Continued on Second Page. PRESIDENT IRRITATED OVER DELAY Negotiations Again Interrupted. SPANIARDS. PLEAD FOR TIME GIVEN UNTIL WEDNESDAY TO ANSWER. Relations Now More Strained Than at Any Time Since the Cessation of Hos~ tilities. Special Dispatch to The Call Call Office, Riggs House, ‘Washington, Nov. 14. President McKinley is extremely de- sirous that some understanding be reached at Paris so that he may treat the subject conclusively in his annual message. He does not attempt to con- ceal his impatience, which amounts to irritation, when conversing with Cabi- fet officers. One of the latter said to The Call correspondent to-day that the President was resolved to have no more dilly-dallying. He insists upon retain- ing all of the islands of the Philippine archipelago. The report to the con- trary published in New York papers is incorrect. He said: “We do not look for a rupture of the negotiations at Paris, but will be pre- pared for any contingency.” This official did not say what these preparations are, but it is pretty well understood in Washington that the Navy Department’s order for our war vessels to rendezvous in Hampton Roads was made in anticipation of a rupture of the peageful negotiations with Spain and a passible naval dem- onstration to be e on the coast of Spain or the Canaty /Islands. AN ULTIMATUM TO SPAIN IN PROSPECT NEW YORK, Nov. 14— The Wash- ington correspondent of the Herald sends the following: Chairman Day and his colleagues will present a note to the Spanish Commissioners on Wed- nesday, peremptorily demanding the relinquishment by Spain of the sovers eignty over the Philippines. This note will not be in the form of an ultimatum, nor is it intended to be such, but the administration is tired of Spanish procrastination and intends the matter shall be settled promptly. It was learned definitely to-day that the instructions which were sent to the Peace Commissioners on Saturday last were very emphatic in declaring that there should be no further discussion of the question of the right of the United States to take the Philippine Is- lands, but Srain should finally an- nounce whether or not she would agree to the®American demand to cede the archipelago. These instructions are intended to strengthen the hand of the American Commissioners in pressing their de- mand upon Senor Rios and his asso- ciates. It is expected the Spaniards will withdraw on the plea that they con- sider it necessary to consult their Gov- ernment and an adjournment for a few days will be permitted, but at the next sitting of the commission, if the Span- iards continue to press the discussion of the question, an ultimatum will be submitted, which will finally determine whether this Government shall peace- fully or forcibly possess itself of the Philippines. TIME GIVEN SPAIN FOR MAKING ANSWER PARIS, Nov. 14.—It has been decided that there will be no joint session of the Peace Commissions to-day. Secre- tary Moore of the United States Com- mission received from Secretary Ojeds of the Snanish Commission this morn- ing a note saying that the Spanish Commissioners had found it impossible to prepare their memorandum for pre- sentation to-day and asking if the United States Commissioners would be inconvenienced if, owing to the late ar- rival from Madrid of expected data, the Spaniards should request that the next meeting be deferred until Wednes- day. Secretary Moore replied that the Arnerican Commissioners were quite rcady to accommodate the Spaniards is this matter, and the joint session was practically deferred until Wednesday next. Importance is attached to this delay, it being regarded as indicating that the Spanish Commissioners are preparing for a final stand in these negotiations, and it may now be definitely stated that they will not sign a treaty of peace which yields to Spain no more from the Philippine Islands than has thus far been offered or indicated by the Ameri- cans. Should the latter announce that the United States is only willing to re- imburse Spain for her pacific expendi- tures in the Philippine Islands the Spanish Commissioners willireply that their mission is finished. Should this occur it is possible that the Spaniards will also suggest a suspension of the negotiations through the commission and a resumption of negotiations be- tween Madrid and Washington. The attitude of the Spaniards is ex- plained by the fact that the members of the Spanish Commissicn have po- litical alliance ~d personal responsi- bilities to constituencies and the na- tional creditors of Spain restricting them to certain lines which are as far as try at Madrid cares t0 go«