The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-05-10

she cas-, weYe plainly visible. pr-su-snx
calm water. xst The srtrtss 81 The rassers-
gers rrvsset accordingly. Stimulated later
or BY if<rai Inward application % rs@ac
pot pis. The usual sime-kIiiinx expcdserts
we're reverted 70. with sonx service vzrs-
alton. sx a astirx observ1rcs Of the Sab
BATH GAY. A the shadows Of the mount
airs slowly Heightened 20 the eastward
over the hlre ex r1nsecf waters. ard he sszn
Eez,ly sznk behind the cur-ssr1rx clouds.
~tsh last Ko1d-E.xhs The snip slowly ard
cautiously approaches. the nso1th os the
tosx-looke<s-f5r Cock inlet whose border
fsx usourtsirAs had been In siga. all day.
We were 3net tribe ever seven days out
from Seattle
siofs6ay. April IL.
aroee al the usual hour and found
our good ship IA as smooth and placid
waters a. ever blessed q sailors lot or
charmed a frsses-worr Passenger Con-
trsry 20 cur expec;afiJas. the Gay was
krsxnt ard the MET a; this point about
forty miles from It's mouth. was as
smooth and quiet as a rsin pond We had
passed Goa! baroor, In kachsmak bay.
car.ng the night. and were Bov slowly
and cautiously sailing Dorthxard. The
captain caused freauent soundinzs 10 be
taken. TO be sure % sufficient water. and
II reminded me OF the story Of the Swede
s1o sang ost Plenty water here" Our
mate sang ous the fathons. Struggling
foes Of ice we're COW dottng the surface
Of tfss water, but not IN sufficient num-
bers or conpactness 70 seriously interfere
With the progress Of the ship About noon
the captain and Mr.. Wakefield. after the
siaip came TO anchor, wen. ashore. The
point where they landed Il called kossilff.
II 10 simply = oannery station and Is near
the mouth OF fhs ksnai river and Few
miles from Fort Kenai- Some twelve or
fifteen white people wintsred here IL
vas rumored among the passengers that
the captain expected to secure the serv-
ICES OF m experienced plot. familiar Win
these waters. 10 assist In steering the ship
10 It's destination. Failing In this. when
they returned on board. Mr.. Wakefield
announced 70 the passengers that he could
land us either at that point or back a,
Coal haroor-the former abou; sixty-ave
and the latter 10 miles from Slx-Miie
creek. THIS proposition was met with
storm OF Indignation. and after some de-
liberation II was decided 10 raise anchor
and 60 farther down the Inlet to a safe
point. further removed from the rapidly
thickeniug How Of ice. II was II o'clock
before the anchors were again cast. and
the monotonoGs .hrob Of the engines had
ceased. During the day. and before Mr.
Wakefield had made his astonishing prop
osltaon we had organized for plating .
end secretary had been elected. a MEM
bership roll formed and q committee Of
seven was appointed TO locate a suitable
site. I was member. After Mr.. Wake
field made his talk there was q sudden and
violent panic In townsite stock These
are exciting times on board the I-akme.
and each hour Ia certain To furnish mild
but exciting sensation
Tuesday. April IL.
A stxt "a In Ia frrn
the firat sensation of the day. That II
was n steamer was plainly evidenced by
the great volumes of black smoke that
had at FIRST attracted our attention. Con-
lecture readily suggested the Utopia as
its most probable identity. and 1t proved
correct. Ii steamed much more rapidly
than the Lakme and within few hours
was In our lead on the left and opposite
side Of the channel. There was now a
great sea Of floating ice extending in front
OF W. far az the eye could reach. Ii most
certainly bore a menacing aspect. but the
appearance of the Utopia and its leader
ship seemed to inspire our skipper with
new confidence and he steamed briskly
In this UtopiA's wake. Our progress was
necessarily very slow owing to the many
and devious windings through the floating
ice. About 2 o'clock In the afternoon the
Utopia suddenly turned about In her
course and faced squarely toward us. She
was quite three miles In our lead. but our
captain did not wait for further devel-
opments and promptly followed suit Both
ships steamed slowly back to Fort kenai.
about ten miles distant. where they an
chored In the stream. Capt. Anderson.
Mr.. Wakefield and a few of the passen-
gers went ashore and aboard the Utopia.
Mr.. Wakefield opened up negotiations
with Capt. Chester TO take our party 10
its destination. with what result Is not
fully known.
Parties who spent the winter at Fort
Renal report some good strikes at Six Nile
late last fail. From one claim $4,000 was
taken out and a nugget was found worth
no. Everyone In tho camp is well. but
they are in rags. out of coffee and entirely
out OF tobacco. The two captains, Chester
and Anderson, after some consulta-
ton, agreed 10 go back about hf-
ty miles TO Coal harsoor. The start was
made about $50 In the evening. Scarcely
had we gotten under way when II began
showing and blowing at a furious rate.
This was kept up all night and the trip
was one OF the most disagreeable and dan
gerous OF the entire voyage. II was so
dark that all objects ten feet ahead were
totally Invisible. Once started however.
and In the fiow of Ice II was Impossible 10
tarn hack so on we went, pushing into
the darkness, blowing the cold blue. ice
laden waters. the ship rocking and pitch
fnE In response 10 wind and water Every
few moments a floating. miniature iceberg
was struck. which would make her crrsk
and grpar ana fairly stand on end. went
TO bed about O'Clock, but being unable
to sleep. arose and dressed. These are
dangerous waters at any season OF the
year. especially for deep-draft vessels. be-
ing full q rocks and shoals. Hence our
anxiety was wen grounded
"Wednesday &nrIt \.
Never did dawn appear more rratern,
thsn When looked up from my bunk and
saw us hrst rays peeping In through the
open hatchway. After going on deck Il
developed that IN the darkness Of the night
We had arltted past the entrance 10 Ceal
harbor ara were then faced about and
sseaming back. We get anchored aho,,t
10 o'clock IN the morning. II ia a heap.s.
fui little hareor environed BY mountains.
whose waters were as quiet ard peaceful
as June morning. As soon as we had
anchored Cart. Anderson ara NJ Wax.
HELD wen, ashore In one ~ the shtn's boats
70 investigate ;he feasibility Of landing
passengers and cargo During tire morn
'ng the Utopia anchored alongside OF Us
ana later the schooner Stella Frlans came
saslins In ard anchored. She had been on,
freFu Seattle since March 4 ard renortesf
very fair Passage. consuming nineteen
DAYS % Kodak. where they had been ar
ohored since, From the story told BY the
passengers % the Utopia. Judge they
hsd something Of a panie on hoard when
struck BY TIE same storm which gave n=
sarh shaking ND. I ana only repeating
Nj, Hearsas~ when tel yea that many
ot tho passengers were oa thss- knees
praying. ana that Cant ORrfen actually
cried Certain & IS that he has been very
saek since. and Is row not expected 20
i've WAle the captain and Nj Wake
HELD We're ashore. the passengers vore