The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1891-02-28
A DEAD CITY.
4 DESCRIPTION or THE FROZEN CITY
or THE NORTH.
RE Yssn % Miass who Has Seen the
original q the Muir Glacier Mirage
In Toe Bouad AisskA.

mirage first became known. your cor
respondent has made every effort TO
get substantial news concerning IL. but
beyond the statements OF Prof. Will
loughby. aud the word OF one or two
Who had seen the mirage. nothing
tangible until yesterday could be OBJ
tanned. By the steamer Elder. which
arrived ut Victoria from tho North.
came miner. who left the vessel at
that port. and did not 90 on 10 San
Francisco. as he at first intended. From
this miner. who is very intelligent
man. q most remarkable story was OBJ
tanned, aud tho first description OF the
Silent City is here given.
George II. kershon is the name given
by the narrator az the tale. lie says
he is native OF England. but left that
country when a lad for the gold fields
Of Australia. where several years were
passed. New Zealand. Cape Colony.
and California were also visited. aud
Ia his forticth year he joined party OF
miners who were bent on exploring
the secrets of iccbound Alaska. Kerr
shou Is a hardy looking man. with a
well-knit frame. indicative Of an abil-
ity 10 withstand physical hardship. while
his clear, blue eyes are "A surety that
whatever he undertakes he will carry
through.
Yes" he said. II think | am the
first white man who ever gazcd on the
frozen city Of the North. In the sum
mer of 1883 ! was one OF party Of six
who left here 10 20 north prospecting.
OF the other live. ] know not where
they are. We took the steamer 10
xuh l..ff In
small sloop TO take our kits up TO
Yukon. After several weeks of awful
Z toll we reached fork.
~ II was for going up this fork and
prospecting. but the other five were
against IL; but ms was determined 10
80 left the party. engaged an Indian
canoe. with two bucks. and started up
OF this unknown fork. We bad ter
rible time. The stream narros ed in
between high cliffs and shot with dizzy
swiftness down the gulches. making II
necessary to tow the canoe by means
OF line from the banks. two doing
this. while the third man rested. Pro-
gress was necessarily slow, aud for
many days we toiled before the range
Of cliffs and mountains were passed.
Onee l00-foot waterfall barred us.
aud 1t took three days TO get around it.
After that ii was u bit easier. The
river broadened out aud the country
was more level. The banks were well
wooded and game was plentiful. We
kept OH likethis. always going north.
when. after six weeks. range OF
/ mountains was sighted. believed this
to be the head OF the river. and pressed
on to reach IL before the cold weather
set In.
Snow was now falling very often.
and II was evident that the summer
was nearly done. At length we
reached the wild country again. and
the stream. which had been subdividing
itself into lesser ones, soou became too
difficult tn navigate. This was almost
Mt the foot OF the mountain range
spoken OF. Here determined To camp
for the winter and good quarters were
found. Everything was made snug. rs
the weather up there Is something aw-
full; but We were la deep rayine. over
run by high cliffs. which broke the
fury of the winds. aud the best was
made OF II. Game was plentiful. aud
large quantities OF moose and bear were
shot and frozen for use during the long
winter months.
Before long the cold came. aud ut
times II WAS impossible to stir from
cover. Especially was this the case
when the winds blew. AT other times
~ was fairly comfortable. although the
lack Of sun made II gloomy enough.
Toward the end Of winter IL began TO
get lighter and the gales were less fire.
9uent.
~ L.. l.s A..
scale one OF the mountains near us. as
got so tired and weary with being
penned up In such confined place.
This idea / put before the Indians.
One Of them said he would 90 with
me; the other would not risk Il. so he
was left In camp. A storm shortly
arose. blowing heavily for three days.
but ~ soon as the weather had settled
myself aud the Indian started oil on
our trip.
I'VE went right up the line of the
frozen river. which. being a solid mass
Of ice. made good roadway. Follow
log this for about twenty miles. at n
pretty steep rise. we reached plateau
between the foothills aud high range.
Here the stream ended. aud we started
To climb one of the big hills. After a
lot OF hard work we reached point
near the summit. A wonderful view
was had from here. but the strnngest
thing was city In one Of the valleys.
You may bet was surprised TO sce
II. At first thought II was some fan
tastic arrangement Of the Ice and snow
which had assumed the form Of city.
bat examination with a glass showed
thai such was not the case. II being too
regular Ia appearance.
IL was city. SURE enough
Determined TO see more OF II.
commenced to work downward. al
though the buck was rather frightened.
ha axidonllN nnl onn.i.l..r.u1z n .lx....I