The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-11-09

steamer Al-Ks came inro port yesterday
afternoon with the hest-consented lot Of
miners that ever came down from Alaska
Az soon ~ che vessel came within Aafling
distance. and before the second ofncer had
. chance to spit the air with his yelis TO
stand by TO catch the bow line. somebody
on board making . trumpet OF his hands
shouted. Who's eiectedr Then . man
on the dock climbed UP on . pile and
yelled back. Mckinley Hurrah for Nc
ktnieyv There was q cheer on the Al-ki.
and another man on the dock said: Yes.
but be hadn't ought TO be-" and the sup
porters of the theory laughed.
As the Ai-Ki pulled in slowly the decks
revealed q crowd OF men whose chief char
acter!stics were whsskers and bushy bar
damned under old hats and cstps of all de-
scripsions.
The waIia wal.A was lying along the
outer end Of the wharf, and the Al-ki,
after passing her lines ashore across the
larger vessel. was gradually warped
around the end Of the Walla Waila ana
into the south slip. Her decks were black
with people. ana as recogn.tions were mu-
tuaay made, those on board and those on
shore commenced . system OF catechising
that grew into d din, shove which the
piercing notes OF the hotel runners were
family distinguishabie. BY the time the
steamer was alongside the dock the crowd
on shore had grown to immense proper
tons, and the shifting of the gangpiAnks
was accomplished only by pushing AM
hauling which temporarily made those en-
gagged in the work very unpopular. Then
the bnsay, rough men with the wild
boards and long hair who for months, and
some for years, had been chasing the
ignls fatuus fortune in the snow and ice
OF the frozen North. began TO walk down
the steep incline with bundles OF blankets
ard bags of boots and old clothes. How
much OF the precious yellow metal was
slowed under the rough extertors was not
learned. but almost all laughed and APP
peared satisfied. not only with their re-
turn to csvilsxatf ron but with the results OF
their past months iabors- From brief
conversations with at least dozen OF
them q general disposition vas shown to
return In the spring. which later inter-
views verified
The AI-Ki only brought $50 tons Of
freight. which was made up Of ore sam
pies and canned salmon The passengers
were principally from California and
Washington. with a few from Oregon.
Among the Seattle passengers was r. X
Latimcr. who was formerly engaged In the
drug business In this city. and who left
for the Cook inlet country seven months
ago to run store. the principal business
OF which was drugs. although Mr.. Lat
contracting and commission. He was one
OF 80 OF the Cook inlet people who re-
turned to sitka on the Excelsior. After
the arrival of the crowd at the Alaskan
capital they were compelled 70 wait nine
teen days before q chance WAS offered
them to proceed south This was the most
disagreebie feature OF the return trip. al
though It would appear to the casual OBJ
server to be break in the ncnotony OF
travel. as Resurrection creek was left Just
Eve weeks ago to the hour the Al-Ki
pushed her way alongside the dock yes
terday.
A Post-Intelligencer reporter found Mr.
Latimer at his home as Wall street. last
evening, and listened to an interesting ac-
count OF the nluch-maiigned country that
did not paint the conditions half as black
as the statements made by the occasional.
returning. disappointed prospector from
the Cook inlet country. have made II ap-
pear Mr.. Latimer agrees with many
others that gold Is not picked UP In the
guichee nor along the sea shore by the
hand fun. and says that those who have
gone expecting 10 find an Eldorado have
returned disappointed. but those who have
been willing to stand the hardships have
not returned empty-handed. The two
principal "citses" OF the Cook inlet coun-
try are Sunrise City and Hope City. the
former having a population at present OF
possibly 100. and the latter 50 souls In
Hope City there are 81 cabins Probably
80 TO 10 men Will winter In both places.
Mr.. Latiner Is interested In several stores
that are located in each one OF the
Cities ard hts report as 20 the market
for general commodities is revelation
10 many who have been led 10 believe
that sustcnarce costs q prsEce's ransom.
Prices. as Mr.. Latimer quotes them. are
altogether reaSona bic. Flour Is 81 30 Der
sack: sugar s cents per pound: bacon u
10 Is cents: hams IL 10 Is cents: canned
goods. such as corn and tomatoes fey
cents per can. There IL only one mail each
month. and the papers and letters were
eagerly looked for. Archftecsuraiiy the
cities" are becoming preteutious. There
Ia one substantial frame building In SUN
rise City and 6vs in Hope In the former
place the Alaska Commercial Company
has erected fine log store building aud
IL carrying a stock worth sIsoo.
The general nei.un OF exchange Is
god. east. and everybody who has any
thing 70 sell carries lbs scales II would
ia as snlrcssss'e 80 20 business without
scales. as without gold dust. Such money
as does come 10 with tire miners and pros
pectorS eventually disappears and specie
payment - d-scon sinuexl
CseEc-rrSa@ ere rnires OF the Geek Inlet
country Mr.. LatImer SAYS chat those OF
Resurrection creek have not tcr~ mach
during the past year, ard there have been
no big strikes II this o1s.rsc: there has
been but one ussse worked that hss been
moderately successful. That ore was IRE
NfFsr csssFFs. leased av the Lloyd Tin Corn
pzny. THE prospects % Mills creek. A
branch 81 Slx-A!le creek. have been very
GOOD. as have these OF Canyon creek
There have been good prospects 40 Turn
-
on rsnk creek. TIE best mining property
- re Cook Inlet country according 20 Mt
Ysss-er. - that o, the ToEv Mining Com
-.arv. which owns Ave valuable cief--s
W. on are he'd nv tses- owners az $50 ass
TIE lucky rro~c~c-o-s made IRE strike IN
the fan CO sssS Tires members % ne
company ara Seattle naen-Messv-. Price
psa-r~ ard Sroxr-4srs. Trey r~turoe~. On
.ss AK YESTERDAY ecr the Writer. Each
&c -rrrrree1 20 have n-curs~s down abosr.
s. .a Tire other members OF -se company
are residents ot Alaska named Rs&ney
ard Mscassis<r-l
TIE entire r.-tv Of Cock Tntst miners
carre ont cartier than vsssei. ows-g 10 TIE
e-s-~oacArssTt o. the wtr<er. TIE steam
sr's passe-sSp- SnaS~e was saxess ~ ~ u.s.
sz,s,~st men eesnx sfsstrsss-s~s anozs- sn eve-v
avssaaeSe noscS ard cc~rs<. J. p Isassss
Of Ssar Fra 1c1scc. wssc represents New
yss~s syndicate. wss among the passenger.
ard ~set return n RTE spring ard establish
a, Resur-~ctsen ere Hr~t hyst-s4zsSc mining
slant in that 1.ssrtss.
Mr.. I&stTser also discussed the coming
s~sa, az Sstks. November * Of Asosr,
peesve. wei known sr Seattle. WHO -
charged With shooting a mar o4 Stx-Nsie
creek 'rse party xhc Hss sacs VAS ore
- several ~assc Aae ssenress = elsz- in
~ascA Beeszs ard several ctae-s we're IL