The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-22
ALASKA GIVES WARNING.
utRDSHIP AND DEATH IN THE
ptTH OF GOLD SEEKERS.

"a Flint y" "
,so n,r~ui,m-TradinE Companies Unable 70
rur,,.h provisions for the Hundreds who
r,o.ct 10 winter in tho Ktondiko REGION.
,,,Sru-. Alaska, Aug. cit ia time to toll
.aoin some plain facts about tho difficulties of
-.,,iny gold In Alaska Alaska foresaw all
-, last spring that there would DO q tromon-
.o,s rush into tho interior this summer. but not
A. widest Imagination could have dreamed of
.ny,hinu like what has occurred. The reports
hrouuht ont from the Klondiko by the two or
,hroc pnrties which camo out last winter with
rou from the inferior wcro such as to excite
N-a, ola Alaskans who have got used to stories
', NJ, atrik.s in tho placer diggings and arc not
so,uy carried away by that sort OF excitement,
49,, aver southeast Alaska was not prepared for
.nv such stories as have come over tho pass or
AVN from st. Michael this summer Nor was
u pr,parcd for tho tremendous excitement
,-hicb those stories have created in the States.
Ths rcsult has been a rush such as old Forty
miners say cclipscs the stampede for California
,hon rho first discoveries were made there.
=, 4. imnossiblc, probably, to convey to people
=, ,bo states who have never seen such n rush
a, rol5 and who have mover been carried away
~ snch excitement, an adequate notion Of tho
sond,.ion OF things up here now. Alaska 10
s..rrrn with men, many of them unprepared
g. tho tremendous difficulties and hardships
-h,cb they are certain to undergo. but nearly
III ~ whom seem to expect that they will DO
.h,o IN nick UP gold by the handful II they can
.n,v oct into the famous Klondike diggings.
aohcr.mindcd men of experience who have lived
nm hero long enough to SEQ other stampede
enough none Of any such magnitude as this
..,. n their natural end in failure shake their
h,ads and prophosy dismally Of what is to DO
.,nectcd from the winter. The men who come
over tho pass next January will bring out with
th,m stories Of the most desperate hardship and
eufering, and 1t will be a great marvel II they
do not have to relate horrible accounts OF star
walton and death by freezing.
In ante OF all the warnings that have been
crinted and sent out from men familiar with
H.. situation, the tenderfeet keep rushing in
literally BY the thousand. They haven't tho
sa,ntest idea Of what gold getting in tho interior
NJ Alaska means. Hundreds Of mon have como
nm hero who don't know anything whatever
about endurance or physical hardship. They
ara hank clerks, law clerks, clerks in stores,
men of sedentary habits. men who never
have done one good days hard work out Of doors
In their lives, narrow-chested, thin-shanked. soft
muacled men, who can no moro endure the work
BIZ panning gravel than they can get down to It
through the frozen surface dirt in order to pan
L. Judged by the tests OF sane men, Alaska Is
full of ~lunatics now. and q largo asylum would
not accommodate a small proportion Of Thorn.
Four thousand men. It Is estimated. are camped
now along the beaches at Dyea and Skaguay
waiting for an opportunity tn got over the passes.
It Ia doubtful II moro than as many hundreds
ret over. A good many Of them. undoubtedly,
will give up and 60 back to the States. They
arc beginning to do that already. but oven their
warnings, added to those of experienced Alas.
kAns, apparently have no effect on the onward
rush. Tho boats that como up from below are
TANNED to the guard rails with men and freight.
They arc bringing all sorts of things here,
home Of the most amazing outfits that were
EVER devised. and that show how completely
The men who bring them fail to realize what
they are undertaking.. b condition Of the in
loming boats Ii l~aushable. Every stataroom
livery bunk In every cabin II occupied. Mer
bleep on tho decks. 40 night tho tables In tn,
nloons are cleared and non make NJ theL
hunks there. Apparently It IL any way to get Il
Alaska, and II It wasn't 90 Tar o good mani
would try to swim. They aeem to think that nj
they needis to DO hero In order TO get rich. = 4
Whatever opportunity there may DO for mer
who coma up In the spring. It Is the absolute
fact that there 10 no chance for men who starr
now, except the chance to starve and freeze
The experience OF other years proves that this II
%. Tho great stampede to Cook Inlet two
years ago ought TO be enough evidence II there
was nothing more, but there Ii moro. 1t Is worth
while to consider the experiences which the mer
who have wintered in the interior in other year.
have had. Last year probably more men stayed
In the Yukon than over before in the history Of
Alaska's gold d~iggings. No accurate census Of
them could be made. but it is not probable thai
more than 1900 lived through the winter OIL
the Yukon. Twenty-Five hundred certainly Ii aI
extremely liberal estimate. The two trad
ing and transportation companies, tho Alas
Ia Commercial and the North Ameri
can, have been taxed to the utmost Of theil
Ability heretofore to take care of the winte
jewellers ON the Yukon who have increased ii
humber only at an ordinary rate. The mali
dopots Of the trading companies are at st
Michael Island, q short d istance from tn,
mouth of tho Yukon. Tho companies have Il
take their supplies 800 miles up the river Il
get TO their trading posts, The river Is open a
the most about four months. The steamers ar,
OF necessity Of light draught and not OF grea'
power. 1t Is impossible for them to make grea
ppeed against tho swift current OF the Yukon
from st. Michael to Forty Mile; but only In th,
most favorable seasons have they been abb,
2 accomplish that. Usually the last boa
Rome times as far down as the mouth Of tn,
Tanena. The result has been that every yea
IR ass Mfatsr N he 5as p Soia f S1vs almost nSs 's q dclla Ihi
pound. The last party that anne out on the ic,
toached Juneau In March. Flour at Circle Cit,
was then selling at $36 per fifty pound sack
could DO any hope that the Ice would go out an,
give the trading companies a chance to get fl
new supplies. Potatoes had all given out. an,
pen were beginning to suffer from scurvy
Beans had gone to enormous prices, and bacol
was no longer to DO had.
Now that was In an ordinary year. This year
Qf course, the trading companies understoo
that there would Dc an increased rush to the In
terror. News Of Klondike'ss strikes had alread
come out, and 1t was certain that a larger nun
berof men than ever would undertake to fin
fortune along the Yukon or its tributaries. Blu
the companies could not foresee the tremer
aous rush which tho midsummer reports fror
the Klondike had started. and they did not hay
q the numbers OF men for whom they would hay
70 care this winter until 1t was almost too lat
70 make any extra preparations.
Inc wild stampede Into the Yukon began a
Just about tho time when the companies wer
sending their last boats from st. Michael. TIL
companies have made their best efforts to II
extra supplies up the river. Every sort Of Graf
mat could In any way be made available he
been pressed into service. but 1t was impossible
70 make, anything like adequate preparatio
LOT the demands which are certain TO DO mad
On the compaAies' stores this winter. The NO
mai Increase of population in the Yukon woul
pot have been moro than 500, II, indeed. q
largo as that, but already 1000 men have RoI
ever the nanasa axpactip1 IN atay thso,ob,,