Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1897-11-29
Food Shortage Almost That
Last Month.
Rr&cHED THERE LIGHT
Que said to Have Been Loaded with
Whisky AM billiard Balls Instead of
Provisions Exodus to Escapv Starva-
tion rheu Commenced.


Seattle direct from Dawson City. They
one of which left Dawson CT. 16. The
party consisted of Thomas Magee. ST.,
Tn mas Magee. Jr., of san Francisco;
wifi Water Bill Gales, Joe Boyle,
William Husiins, +. Eckert. IL. Robert
son, H. Rayno Bert Mason. John
w Brauer w H. Chambers, E. w.
Pond, Il. Ash, j. Gillespie. Thomas
Wilson. p NJ Graw, Jack Dalton,
William Leak Arthur Celine, Joseph
Fairburn i smith. L. Warren and
Jim Stephenson They came cut over
the dalton trail. They are reported to
hive between them 100000 in drafts
and $500. 060 IN gold dust.
All tell stories of food shortage in
Daw> on tina are almost famine. The
last person 70 leave Dawson was Jack
Dial on " hen Dalton left the steam
ers Alice and Bella had reached there
loaded light
it is said that the Bella's cargo con-
sisted of whisky and billiard balls.
She brought no provisions. The Cana
dian government mounted police char
tered the Bella and gave all who
wished pass to the Yukon. The Bella
is reported to have left about Oct. IL
with 200 men.
There is liable to be trouble of the
most serioGs kind this winter in Daw-
son. Billy Leak told one of the men in
the party ahead of him whom ne met
at Dyea that all the people talk about
at Dawson was the food famine. Men
were gathering in groups and cursing
with might and main the newcomers
that were constantly coming into the
Klondike loaded with scarcely any pro-
visions. The mounted police were
offering free transportation to the grub
placers further down the Yukon Co
Fort Yukon. but to the countless hun
dreds who had labored hard all through
the summer accommodating a grub stake.
the prospect was uninviting to say the
least.
The men figured that it would take
all their earnings in gold to pay their
living expenses at Fort Yukon during
the winter and that in the spring they
would not even have enough left to
pay passage money back to Dawson, to
say nothing of purchasing enough food
to subsist until they could get started
again. To these poor fellows the offer
of the mounted police was no better
than the prospect at Dawson of being
compelled to live on half rations until
the supply boats could reach the dig
gings in the spring
John w. Brauer, the United1States
mail carrier, who left Dawson on Sept.
81, said: There is only one salvation
for the miners who are now at Dawson
City, and that is for them to under
take the awful winter trip from Daw-
son to Fort Yukon, distance of 400
miles. There is no food at Fort Yukon,
there is none at Dawson, and just as
sure as the stars shine, terrible suffer-
ing will be the fate of the Dawson
miner unless he leaves there before
spring. | will make my statement that
when l left Dawson the men who were
there had on an average four months
supply. Some did not have months
supply and some had four or five. The
restaurant closed the night left. 1t
had been selling nothing but beefsteak,
for which the hungry paid $3.50.
when the people realized that the
boats would be unable to get up the
river they knew that starvation threat
ened them and the great stampede be-
gan.
1.-THE first to leave went to Fort
Yukon. l guess there were about ten
in the party that left the first day. One
with several newspaper men aboard,
among them Correspondent Sam Wall
and a Mr.. McGilvray. brought the
news that the Hamilton had unloaded
all of her cargo and tried to get over
the bar light and failed in her efforts.
though she drew but two feet of water
This news increased the excitement and
made the rush toward food centers all
the greater. On Sept. H. Bert Nelson
of Seattle and myself left Circle City
and started TO pole up the river to Daw-
son City, distance of 300 miles. At
the time we started from Circle CITY.
the miners had about taken their de-
parture. 1t took us ii days and three
hours to make the journey, arriving at
Dawson Sept. 20. Captain Hanson,
with two Indians, who had left Fort
Yukon, beat US into Dawson by about
one hour and a half.
Hanson gathered the Dawson City
miners together and made a short
speech, in which he advised all who did
not have provisions to last the winter
to go to civilization or try and reach
points in the Yukon river country
where it was known food could be Sc
cured. That night was the greatest
one in the history of Dawson City. The
miners, as soon as they heard the news,
made haste to get out, and nightfall
saw the goldseekers and men who can
today sell out for many thousands of
dollars leaving by thousands for down
the river or up the river points. The
little steamer Kiukuk, which was to
make the trip from Dawson to Pelley.
where the Jack Dalton trail starts. was
brought into play. She was besieged
by would-be passengers, who offered as
high as $3.50 that they might be aboard
while She made her journey of 175
miles to Policy. The Kiukuk left Daw-
son on the afternoon of Sent. 27 with