Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-08-29

mourning that expense, and so il is that
she has chosen for herself the hardest
route of all, that by way of the famed
and dreaded Chikoot Pass.
What makes It all the more interest
Ing when one stops to think Of this
dainty young woman in the midst of
rough surroundings is that the latest
reports from the Chilkoot route show
that the thOroughfafe is fairly jammed
with people. animals, and provisions
Indeed. in some instances, the army OF
prospCctors have been forced to build
roads I'm order to make their way along
at all, and IL is over this very route that
Miss Lessarge is journeying towards
what she hopes will prove to her the
land of fortune.
The Klondikers call Miss Lessarge
the heroine of the Klondlke, because,
although she has never yet set eye on the
rugged country which teens with
gold she has in her quiet determna-
ton and disregard of all danger and pri-
walton. shown courage and herolsm
which any OF the sterner sex might well
be proud Of. Listen 10 how this young
girl is dressed, and think Of what the
season will be before she can reach the
gold under the most favorable cir
cumstances.
She had in that forty-pound grip-sack
of hers two suits OF fairly warm under
clothing. a lined petticoat, dress OF
substantial wool, and two pairs Of heavy
shoes. Her attire at the time she boarded
the steamer, consisted OF rather
cheap cloth dress, and the ordinary
summer weight apparel of a woman.
This was all. With this outfit she
traverses to-day a country where 1t is
no rarity at all for the mercury TO reach
20 degrees below zero. She Will traverse
a mountain pass where skeletons Of men
and animals bear CHASTITY testimony TO
the flerceness OF the storms Of the fall
and winter.
Should she pass these dangers. she
will encounter life in d country where
The ground freezes TO a depth Of 20 feet.
and all this with an outht or clothing
that would be none too warm for the
ordinary winter in the state OF WASH
ington. In this country OF the Mon
dixie. where Miss Lessarge hopes to md
riches. she must either live In a tent
during the zero weather. or in ram
shackly building. into which the cold
renetrates without difficulty In taking
no step that she has, she has v0lun-
tarilv reljnouished almost entirely the
society of her own sex, for the klondlKe
A. not freouented by women with whom
this young lady would care to consort:
And then, always and forever, stalks
the .gaunt spectre OF failure. The klon-
dixie Is crowded, crowded with men des-
perate i'm their search for gold, VINO
haye neither inclination nor time 10 stop
TO help a woman, no matter now oe-
serving she may be. Should she az
tempt 10 stake out claim, she WIN
find herself an object OF interest TO the
claim jumpers at once. for though none
are more chivalrous than your true
miner the black-leg is as numerousiy
represented in the klondike as else
where. 49, .....,,.
ted she could have secured the ala ne
TO lift tho mortgage from her
home without batting death III
the manner she has done, but she re-
fused TO accept charity preferring 10
s,,ffer all that a Klondike trip carried
With II rather than abandon the privi-
l. 20 OF independence. Should she sue
coca as every one hopes she VIII, no
retnrned miner Will receive so great an
ovation as will be the lot of this brave
Ii,tla woman, the heroine of the hlon-
Ilke. when once she comes home AGAIN