The herald., 1897-08-30

My advice is II any one comes, bring at
3 least a years provisions and enough
money to pay passage back home. 1t
= no place for q man to attempt to play
gentleman. Every one works hard, the
hardest OF his life. dare say. Don't let
the reports of the great amount Of gold
going out turn your head. 1t all come
from the creeks above named, and the
owners Of the claims realize their posi-
tion only too we'll"
ONLY. MODERATELY RICH
VICTORIA, Aug. 29.-J. Peterson. an
Alaskan trader who left Dawson City on
July ed with his partner, Bradbury
Cole, arrived here on the steamer Island
er this morning. they having come out
TO the coast over the Dalton trail. Pc
terson says that there are certainly rich
diggings in the Yukon country, but
nothing to warrant the rush that is talk
ing place. Henderson creek, three miles
below Stewart river, where the reported
rich strike has been made, is all staked
: off, but miners did not record claims the
ground not being considered rich
enough. Before Peterson knew that the
Portland had arrived he said she would
bring between S15000O and 100000 On
the first of August $50 men had passed
Fort Selkirk on their way to the mines
These are the men who left the coast
cities before the excitement commenced,
and of the men who left since only fifty
have crossed the pass. Trails are get
ting worse every day and it is hard to
say which is best. Skaguay is blocked
with horses and in attempting to pass
many horses have been thrown over
precipices and killed. Half dozen men
came down on the Islander who have
given up hope of getting to the lakes.
On the trip down the Islander picked
up three men-Frank A. Brown of Ju-
neau, a man named Gregmire of Port
land and W. McMurdo of Nanaimo. They
were clinging to capsized sailboat on
August 2Sd in which they and four others
had left Juneau for Skaguay on August
21st. On the morning of the 23d at a.
m. the boat capsized and James Arm
strong of Seattle, Thomas Trevylan of
Nanaimo, W. Mcdonald of Nanaimo and
Hugh McLaren of Nanaimo were
drowned. Having been unable to get
steamer at Juneau, they secured a sail
boat, and, loading it with their outfits,
started for Skaguay, and while jibing
the boat capsized.
AT ST. MICHAELS
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. CIV. A
Ryan, one of the special correspondents
of the Associated Press now en- route to
the Klondike gold fields, writes from st.
Michaels' island, Alaska, under date of
August 18th, as follows:
Nearly 800 impatient gold seekers are
fretting here in enforced idleness await
ing the arrival of Yukon steamers to
transport them to the upper river, Daw
son and the diggings at the Klondike.
OF this number 100 came on the steam
ship Portland and 13 on the Excelsior.
There seems to be little hope for a
speedy transfer, as the P. B. Weare of
the North American Trading and Trans
portation company is now more than a
week overdue and such severe wind
storms are prevailing that the COM
pany's new steamer, the Charles H.
Hamilton, cannot possibly venture out.
For two days she lay upon the rocks,
threatened with destruction, and was
only gotten out of danger yesterday.
Two days after she was launched she
was blown ashore. The damage to her
hull will prevent her departure for near
ly week. The high winds will also pre-
vent the Portland from unloading or
sengers of the steamship Excelsior are
compelled to remain aboard the vessel
until the arrival Of the steamers Alice
and Bella, due about the 29th.
The waiting passengers have this
thought to beguile them, that there is
great danger of famine on the Klon-
dixie. According to all reports from tha
upper country, it will be impossible to
land sufficient food at Dawson to sup
port the population already dependent
on that base OF supplies During the voy
age Of the steamship Excelsior to this
port an association for mutual benefit
and advantage was formed by the pas
sengers. Upon the arrival at st. Mich
aelS reports were SO discouraging con-
corning the food supply that a special
meeting Of the association was held and
a committee appointed to await upon the
Alaska Commercial company and de- |
mand that each passenger be allowed to
purchase years supply Of food at this
place and transportation be furnished |
for the same. The managers are at pres
ent at Dawson and are not expected back
until the latter part of this morning. r.
T. Lying, local agent Of the company, de-
clares that there will be a scarcity of pro-
visions at Dawson. According to his off
cial advices there are from 1000 to 5000
idle men in Dawson and new parties ar
irving every day by way of Chilcoot pass,
He says that the total amount of freight
landed in Dawson this year will not ex-
ceed 1000 tons, of which amount only $500
will be provisions. Miners returning
from the upper country who left the
Klondike in the middle Of July say that
provender was already running very low
and that 1t went out of the warehouses
just about as fast as it was put in off the
steamers. They say that the old timers
realize the situation and that the down
river boats will be crowded with men
eager to get to some safe place to winter
Distress and death are predicted by them
as result of the Klondike fever. Will
lam Ogilvie, dominion land surveyor
who has been making a typographical
surrey of the British possessions along
the Klondike, is here on his way to Ot-
tawa, having been recalled by the do
minion government He will return home
by way OF San Francisco. He has been
called for consultation over important
matters affecting the lew gold fields and
viii make report embodying sugges-
tions for new mining laws governing the
sale of liquors ard taking of wood for
fuel and many other points Of observa-