The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-24
TWO-slDED POLYGAMY.
a Place Found Where Men Do Not
Have a MONOPOLY.
From the Philadelphia Inaufyer

from He fniIddelphtd Inquirer.
ST. Louis, Nov. 1S.-The first news I'm
months and the last tor at least year of
the government expedition TO Alaska waz
received in this city yesterday. 1t came
in letter to Patrick McGrath. brother
of John Il. McGrath, one of the chiefs of
the exploring party. As the expedition
was organized by the United States
government in order that a reliable survey
OF It's most northern territory, and espe-
clally its unexplored parts. might Ebe OBJ
talned, information OF the welfare and
work of the party is of national interest.
That part of the expedition which Mr..
McGrath commands has now navigated
the ukon river further than any steamer
ever went before, and will, during the
winter, travel through an unexplored land
The Turner party has already pierced into
an unexplored part Of the country. Mr..
McGrath's letter was written as his journey
progressed after leaving st. Michael,s He
writes:
I'VE have been steaming up the Yukon
for seven days, and are now 300 miles be-
yond that point on the river which Is half
way between st. Michaels and where K
expect to go. We are making on an aver
age OF five miles per hour, and expect to
fall behind, even at this rate. This Ia
great river. Near Its mouth il IA almost
GUS channels through which it reaches tho
sea. 1t much resembles the Mississippi.
Our boat is small, and we are compelled to
stop frequently for wood, much of which
we are compelled to cut
wREToHED NATIVES.
every fifteen or twenty miles we come
upon an Indian settlement More desolata
houses you cannot find anywhere. The
sexes OF the natives are distinguished in
their dress only by the length of their fur
coats. Tho women wear their coats long
behind, and the mems are cut off equal
lengths all around. When you get close to
them the women have another Distinguish
ing feature-they have three straight lines
tattooed on their chins. A man can taxa
as many wives as he can support. aud
each ono has to work as hard az
possible. Farther up the river the state Of
affairs Is different. There woman NAV
have two or three husbands. The furniture
in the native hut is very sparse. few birch
bark baskets, some spoons Of ivory, wooden
dishes, arrows, spears, maybe gun. straw
mats and furs. Everything smells worse
than a soap factory. The people are liter
ally covered with vermin. They are mis-
erably poor. They get very little for the
game and fish they have TO SELL Both are
so plentiful that we have tired of ducks.
geese and salmon.
NATURAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY.
GAS am writing there are some magnif-
cent mountains in sight. They remind me
of the first range of the Rockies in Colo
RADIO. In the woods there are wild roses.
and the hillsides are as green as any lawn
in spring. 1t Is difficult to believe that this
is an Arctic land when you observe the
luxurlant forests. the green grass the how-
ers, and mark how warm tho days are. But
dig down ten inches anywhere, aud you
will find the ground frozen hard. At Mu-
latto they have dug twenty-five feet to get
all the way down. In spite of this
the weather is so warm that every
man Is going around in his shirt sleeveE.
Mosquitoes are plentiful and ferocious, We
reached Fort Yukon on July 2, and our paI@
ties separated, Turner and his party went
up the Porcupine river, and am making
my way slowly up to the boundary. Tur-
ner is the first to take steamer up the Por.
cupine. The river is q regular mountain
stream, rising with every rain and falling
Immediately afterward.. Turner struck it
at low stage and progressed but forty
miles. Fort Yukon is but name now.
There Is not a stick Of one of It's houses left.
The English used to think ii belonged to
them, but a surveyor showed it was twenty
five miles within our territory, and they
had to move out.
MINERS MIsERABLY POOR.
"The miners are miserably poor. The
storekeeper at Forty Mile creek had Sic, 900
worth Of bad debts in his books there lasb
spring, and still, am told, the man who
comes into his store without dollar gets as
good treatment as the one who has the cash
to pay for what he gets. He gets his money
if the miners can make it, and IL they don't
he loses 1t. The frontier smen stand together
and help each other through thick and thin.
Last year solitary miner was killed by an
Indian over at Koejubuk river. He was
the first one ever touched. A big band of
miners travelled nearly 1000 miles and
hanged the Indian murderer, losing whole
seasons work by their trip"
This letter was marked August 10, 1889.
A second letter bearing date of August /,
1889, among other things says: "We are
four or five miles outside of the United
States line, and are now squatting on Her
Majesty's possessions but / do not think
there will be any complaint Of the trespass.
/ don't expect to get any more letters out
this year nor in the spring. / have no dogs