The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-11
Hundreds of Gold Seekers Who Are
En- Route to the Gold Fields in
Danger of Freezing to Death.
FAMINE At DAWSON CITY
STORES CLOSED BECAUSE THEY HAD
NO FOOD LEFT TO SELL.
Return of the Steamer Cleveland
with 90 Passengers and $500, 900 in
GOId-An Arctic Disaster.

-4--
SAN FRANCISCO. Sept 10.-The gold
seekers who are battling with steep rocks
in mountain passes morasses in the val
leys and rapids in the swift rivers in an en-
deavor to reach the Klondike this year,
will encounter greater obstacles before they
attain the promised land. Boreas and
HENS, as if maddened by the invasion or
their domain, have left their thrones at the
north pole and are now clutching the upper
Yukon region in their death dealing en-
brace Arctic winter, with all its terrors,
has begun In the gold diggings, and the
rash, needless adventures who are on the
trails or rivers may be frozen to death or
starved before Boreas and Helms release
their grasp next spring The Examiner has
received the following dispatch from Otter
Point, b. c..
The steamer Cleveland has arrived from
st. Micbaes bringing with her from the
Yukon gold fields a story OF hardship and
suffering. The miners she has on board
and officers in charge of the ship tell
story of disaster and distress at Dawson.
Winter has set in at the mining city of the
frozen north and the stores of the place
have closed their doors, for they have moth
ing to sell. Those who have been seeking
gold now must seek food or starve. While
there may be a tendency to exaggerate the
actual condition of affairs, there can be no
question that famine threatens the rash
men and women who are making their way
to the Klondike. Hundreds of unruly spirits
are fiocking to Dawson. Threats of vio-
lence are being made on every side. In
dignation meetings, heavy with uttered
threats Of vengeance, are held at St.
Michael's by those who have little hope of
advancing up the river and less of getting
back to civilization. The first signs of win
ter are apparent on the River Yukon, which
is beginning to freeze, and in a few weeks
will be closed. Enormous prices are now
being paid for food at Dawson and it is i'm
possible that more than four vessels with
provisions can reach Dawson before the
river is a mass of ice
On the Cleveland there are 365 passengers,
men, women and children, who have come
from Dawson City. There are few miners
in this party that are able to tell of pros
perity. Most of them wish to exaggerate
their possessions and if one were to believe
the stories they TELL he would say that the
treasure ship in which they have come car
ries $5,OOO,00O
Captain Wall, master of the Cleveland,
says: Two important facts should not be
forgotten when we tell anything of the
Klondke 1t is impossible, ] think, to exag-
gerate the richness of the country, and
quite impossible to overestimate the dam
gers and prospective disasters at Dawson
While we were in st. MichaeFs the angry
members of the National City and south
coast expeditions showed that troublous
times are ahead there. as well as on the
klondike. 1t is my belief that the vessels
that are TO return this fall will come heav-
lily laden with gold. This coming winter
there is cold and hunger for those who
venture to the gold fields. | have authority
Tor what say. l know, from my own OBJ
6ervation, from the accounts of disinterest-
go persons ana from miners, that there Will
be distress and terrible times in Dawson.
We are bringing back comparatively little
gold. The miners on board are exaggerat-
ing their possessions. do not believe that
there is more than $3.50 coo in the party
They all tell the same story Every person
who can leave Dawson before the winter
Will DO so. There are no longer any sup
plies. Many of the most abandoned char
acters are fastening to the mines, and
You may rely upon it that every returning
ship will be crowded to its greatest capac-
ity. At St Michaels there is plenty OF
be taken to Dawson"
The Cleveland has some of the passengers
of the p. B. Weare on board. The Weare
LETT Dawson City In time to connect with
the Portland had she not met with a mis-
hap and struck on the flats above Circle
stores
OF the Alaska Commercial Company and of
the North American Trading and Trans
portatlon Company announced that they
mad no more food to sell. Three weeks be-
lore that the same companies were unable
10 furnish outfits, and when the announce
ment was made that no goods were avail
aDie CONSERVATION resulted on the part of
the people of Dawson with gold seekers
piling in at the rate of twenty and thirty q
day. Drunkenness gambling and disorder
were rampant, and conservative observers
predict the most serious consequences.
There is gold everywhere, but the people of
gold now.
At st. Michael's there are not enough
structures to accommodate the crowd and
Scores of people are living in tents. Shortly
before the Cleveland left St MichaePs two
of the expeditions, those of the National
city and of the South Coast, held indigna-
ton meetings, threatening dire vengeance
on those who had brought them there and
were unable to carry them farther They
mad been left stranded at St Michael's ana
cannot possibly reach Dawson before next
spring. If fortune favors, four vessels will
be able to reach Dawson from st. MichaeIs
before the Yukon river freezes. They will
carry provisions, but ii is by no means GER
tain that they will reach the Klondike
They offer the only hope, however, for a
renewal of supplies
Aug. IS the Excelsior left st. Michaeps.
Reports We're current that her treasure
amounted to $100O,O00, but there is none on
the Cleveland who can verify this asser-
ton. The Excelsior was caught on the dam
gerous flats of the Yukon and broke two
blades of her propeller. When the Cleve-
land reached Unalaska she found the Ex-
celsior undergoing repairs. 1t is probable
however that she left Unalaska last Mon
day to resume her journey to the south.
The Cleveland also brings news that when
the Humboldt stopped at Unalaska on her
journey to St. Michael's the passengers
ize that 1t would be impossible for them to
reach Dawson before next spring. and they
knew that misery awaited them at St
MichaePs. There were open threats against
w, ID, Wood. the organizer and manager