The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1889-12-18
4 TtlE OF WOE.


YEondesfal Escave From Deafh by Starsa'
tioa OF T,so Adsenfnrers.
The British Columbia nail today brings
the following terrible tale of starvation
in the Yukon district. which is clipped
from the Victoria Times: -Chilcestl
Alaska. Oct. 1.--Threc detachments OF
men have returned this fan from Yukon
The second brought word that they
oassed boat lying on the beach With no
one 20 be found near IL. bat Il was
thought to belong to four men who
started from Forty Mile Greek to come
ont on July @. 1t was known that they
mad but a small supply Of food with
them, and Il was supposed they had taken
70 the woods in search Of game Thus II
proved TO be. and yesterday two men
tottered down the mountain side to this
Mace. whose ennaciafed faces and trem-
bling limbs showed that they had sur
rirel an experience that few men would
nave lived tlirougli One OF them was ).
w. Sperry. Of Portland. Ore. he is fifty
wears Of age. with hair as white as the
driven snow. The other man. z. c. Rose.
also from Portland, is twenty years
younger, and this youth alone saved
Sperry from filing an unmarked grave
in The valley Of the Yukon
..Tfree weeks after starting ON their
homeward journey. their supply OF pro
visions was entirely exhausted. and they
soon became 90 weak that they could
not pull their boat. which they anally
abandoned, and took to the hills in
search of game. Occasionally squirrel
was shot and quickly eaten by the men,
who were now ravenous. and wild ber-
ries becauae their only means of subsis-
tence. Their trail was followed by
clouds of mosquitoes and flies, that lit
upon them in swarms. and which they
had TO fight continually. and their face
and hands soon became raw and bleed
ing sores. ntheir weakened condition.
Ingram and r. c. Young, from San
Diego, Cal, o;hars Of the party, were
unable to fight of the pests, which
proved upon their eyelids uotl they be-
came so inflamed that they lest all pow
er to open or close them, s=d they be-
came totally blind.
"The dread Of death by starvation and
fear of being hopelessly lost in that
strange country soon told upon she
minds Of these two. and Ingram repeat
edly begged his companions to shoot him.
Finally he lay down. refusing to move,
and when his aompanions saw he was
about gone they left him. almost drag
ging Young along. The next day Young
succumbed, a victim to starvation and
the torments Of pests which swarmed
about them day and night. They left
him lying upon the ground to die, how
far from where the foot Of man has ever
tro= they do not know.
Another day brought them to some
dried salmon caught by Indians for
winter use. and they were now able to
retrace their steps to the boat, and soon
a party Of Indians came along from
whom they obtained food enough to en-
able them 10 reach the first white settle
ment this side of the Yukon. On their
way back to the boat they came TO the
spot where Ingram was left, but found
the mosquitoes and flies ssinging a requiem
over their comrade. He was left with
but stone to mark his resting place,
and his blanket and a few branches of
hemlock spread over him for shroud.
They could not find where Young was,
but they are satisfied that strength or
reason never returned sufficient to allow
him to move from the spot.
"On their way out the party discovered
ledge having a clearly defined vein of
rich ore, showing free gold, and at its
base found liberal quantities Of gold in
every pan. Location notices were hur-
riedly put up. and the anticipation of
rich results in another year, when they
all hoped to return, buoyed up their
spirits for time and spurred them on
to renewed efforts TO escape their inn
pending doom. The pangs Of hunger
soon destroyed all hopes Of future riches,
and their only thought was for some
thing to eat Notwithstanding their
terrible experience the two survivors in
tend TO return to the Yukon the coming
spring"
British Columbia advices say that the
clE<44AIl AAC1A - A-A0NA aao oAAtfNA o.
Victoria on her way down from Alaska,
with several Yukon miners on board.
The miners complain bitterly of the pro-
visions sold TO them, upon which they
have entirely to depend, by the Alaska
Commercial company. The miners say
that they were obliged to take eighty
pounds of putrid bacon, as it was all they
could get Out of the lot they could
only use four pounds.
Another party driven by hunger were
obliged to eat it with the result that four
of them died. The prices asked are
enormous. yet the miners had TO submit
and pay what was asked or starve TO
death. They say they had one OF two
alternatives. either to go without the
provisions offered for sale by the Alaska
company and starve, or to purchase
them and run the chance of being poi
soned TO death.-Ottawa (Ont.) Dispatch
in Louisville Courier-Journal.