The record-union., 1897-11-29

sibly buy was sugar, baking powder,
spices and some dried fruit No flour,
bacon or anything of that kind could
be purchased from any of the stores,
simply because they did not have them
So long as the stores had any provis-
ions prices remained the same. l want
TO say that the stores treated the men
all right, and never advanced the
prices, Notwithstanding that they were
aware of the shortage, and knew thai
they had but to ask for high prices and
receive them. / knew of an instance
where a private party sold to a miner
a sack of flour for S175 and bacon at
81 per pound
H. A. Ferguson said:
The situation at Dawson was re-
lieved by the exodus to Fort Yukon. 1
doubt if there will be any actual starva-
tion there but there will be shortage.
The old-timers have provisions enough
to carry them through. The stores are
particularly cleaned out. All they would
sell was five pounds of sugar to one
man. Flour could not be had at all.
One or two sacks We're quickly picked
up at 5000 a sack.
Wages are still S15 a day, but they
are sure to go down to So by next
summer, and SS a day there is no bet
ter than 81 30 day outside
Thomas Magee, Sr., the well-known
capitalist of San Francisco, in an in
terwith the correspondent of the As
sociated Press, said:
THE excitement over the failure Of
the steamers to bring food up to Daw-
son continued when the Dalton party
left. The police took charge for two
days of the stores and warehouses of
the Northwestern and Alaska CONNER
clal Company as a precaution only
Flour was selling at 50 a pound, and
no sales of less than fifty pounds We're
made. No plans had yet been formu-
lated to avert the starvation of those
who are short of provisions. Those
Well supplied have not much sympathy
with those who are short, because of
the fact that the majority of these lat
ter went in with little food, although
abundantly warned at Lake Bennett
in advance
1T had not been discovered up to
October 10th who shot the two men in
Dawson who We're caught stealing food
One was found dead, the other fatally
wounded. died at the Catholic Hos
pital. 1t is believed that a secret or
ganization exists for the purpose of
shooting down thieves The organiza-
ton of hunting parties for the winter
to hunt moose was talked of and will
be carried out
Dysentery and accompanying fever
were general at Dawson last summer
They were caused by miasma from the
swamp on which the business town and
other absence of drainage and sewer
age.
These conditions will be greatly in
tensifed next summer and an epidemic
is predicted The river water is bad,
but there is one fine spring of water at
the Catholic Hospital Nothing was
talked of but the grub question. The
solution will probably be a public COM
mittee to gather UP voluntary or en-
forced contributions, the food thus
gathered to be publicly dispensed and
paid for by work or cash by those to
whom it is given. The Yukon River was
practically closed twice about Septem
ber Goth, and again about October 25th,
but the ice ran out again and left the
river free, so that all the parties who
in the wilderness, most of them short
of provisions, too, probably all got to
Dawson or near to it, This reopening of
the river twice was phenomena never
known to occur before There was no
new mining excitement With a per-
sistence heretofore unexplained. many
parties from Dawson as well as new
comers went up the Stewart River
Nothing whatever except good claims
have as yet been discovered there. The
belief. however, is that rich discover
les will be made there yet. Jack Dalton
and Mr.. Maloney, lawyer of Juneau,
have purchased of Hugh Ferguson and
Alexander Mcdonald. Skookum claims
Nos. and for $50, 800 1t is reported
large advance has been offered to
the buyers. Skookum claims are look
ing up. and some of them have yielded
on initial work as large returns as
any found elsewhere Thomas Magee.
Jr., has purchased interests on some of
the best creeks. FL Dorado. Bonanza
and Skookum He will return to de-
yelop these claims very early in the
spring. Business in connection with
them was what brought him out.
An agent of the Rothschilds who in
vested 100000 last fall has made ar
rangement to return in the spring.
Because of the failure of the Septem-
Der steamers to take passengers down
the Yukon early enough to give reason
able assurance that ocean connections
would be made at st. Michael. hun
dreds who were intensely anxious 10
get out of the country for the winter
Ivy la tar 80 = t.
and lakes with dog sleighs this win
ter. Many of them will suffer greatly,
because competent guides and dogs are
both scarce. This business of the fail
ure of the steamers to get UP the river
with provisions and down with passen-
gers will have to be rectified Lighter
draught boats with more power and
steam capstans for use in getting over
bars viii have to be ready next June.
Hundreds of intensely disappointed
persons are now in Dawson, who like
myself would have given any price in
their power to get out by steamer, but
could not. I was better off in the will
derness and walking than in that hole
of utter discomfort and starvation this
winter. The people there are being
largely prevented from developing the
enormously rich country by nearly ut
ter isolation and scarcity of food The
work TO be done is sufficiently hard ana
trying at best. and its great difficulties
should not be increased as this and
last winter they enormously were. A
railroad is the real want If steam
boats We're run from Lake Bennett TO
Dawson. they could not travel contin-
uously. The obstacles of the canon.
the White Horses and Five Fingers
rapids are not to be removed. nor sands
and gravel barS and cparo 80 o,,r.l