The San Francisco call., 1897-08-19
known and only an occasional fight dis
.rrhs bo ,,oace of the camp

known and only an occasional fight dis
turbs the peace of the camp.
Captain Patterson OF the Al-Ki is au-
thority for the statement that the hard
sbips of the ChiIcoot trail in particular
are not so great as have teen represented.
The horses, he says, have no difhcplty In
packing an ordinary load along ths trail
and the miners have no harder work than
the backwocd ,men of any country. AS
stated heretofore the White Pass trail is
in q very bad condition, however, and .he
people of Skaguay shrink from trying 1t
after it is opened.
J. Wei.ey Young, formerly city ticket
agent of the Great Northern Railroad,
writes short but encouraging letter TO
General Western Passenger Agent K. [.
Stevens of this city. Young dates his let.
ter from Skaguay, August o. ana says'
There are great many Seattle boys on ms
the Skaguay, trail. We have not YET Deen
able TO procure horses. They sell at thls time
for $3.50 to $500 horse. and are hard to get
at any price. We figure that in thirty DAYS
they will be giving them away, as there is not
sufficient feed 10 keep them over winter, ana
there viii be no use for them thirty Gays
later One can make a fortune IN PaeA'ns
just now, but it cannot last more thah loul
weeks One man owns three wagohs-the
only ones on the trail-and they net MIN
about $75 to $1Oo each day.
The road grows harder as we advance, out
are still hopeful. We have three horses or
dered which will be here in about three
weeks. We cut down our outfits slightly, but
still have m ore provisions per man than 20
per cent of the crowd.
We are now engaged IN crossing swl1t
river, which is about four feet deep. 1t is low
in the morning and high in the evening, on
account of citing snow. Part OF the river
we wade, using rubber-b boots. We will be at
least twenty five to thirty days in crossing
over 10 the lakes, q distance OF thlrty-hve
miles.
Sam Archer writes from Skaguay that
the exorbitant charge of a firm of packers
for carrying the corpse of Dwight Fow-
Ter OF Seattle few miles has resulted in
the organization OF law committee.
twenty-five men who intend to remain at
Skaguay during the winter were selected
to act vigiIantes and enforce the orders
of the miners meetings. u. X. McKin-
ney of Seattle was made permanent chair
man.
G. E. Howe, who is one of the party that
| includes Josiah Collins, Launcelot Pelly
and other prominent Seattleites, writes to
his brother, Attorney l. B. Howe, from
Sheep Camp, under date OF August 4, as
follows:
Sheep Camp is about thirteen miles from
Dyea. We expect to leave here tomorrow for
Lake Lindeman, where we have the rest of our
outfit and q boat which we bought, for We
found that it was be tier to get a boat there
than to have ours packed over the trail. We
expect to start from the lake for the Klondike,
ii no mishaps befall, on august 9, and in ten
or twelve days we will be in the gold fields of
Alaska with month or more to begin work
in before the winter sets in.
! I suppose you will hear that many of the
miners have become discouraged and Will re-
turn home. We have heard these reports. l
think some OF them are true, but these reports
do not apply to us. Seeiug the difficulties and
hardships that every one has to contend with
we are very much elated at our rapid progre SIS.
! think we are ahead of every one who has as
| large an outfit as we have and who started at
the same time. From what can find out about
| the trip think that we will be over the worst
when we arrive at Lake Lindeman, and the
| trip by water from there, which is about 600
miles, will be very pleasant one.
H. l. Miller of Seattle is meeting with
success in the somewhat novel expedition
of transporting 700 head of sheep TO the
Klondike. He left this city with the
sheep on the Al-Ki in July last. In land
ing them at Dyea thirty were lost. Since
that time nothing had been heard OF man
or sheep until this morning, when let
ter came down on the Al-Ki causing all
Interested in the project to rejoice beyond
their most sanguine expectations. 1t was
written at Lake Bennett under date of
August 8, and addressed to f. D. Black.
| 1t stated:
We are getting along fine with our sheep.
We have not lost any since landing from the
Al-Ki We expect to make Cariboo Crossing in
two days.
The sheep will be carried down the
Yukon River to Dawson City on barges.
After several vexatious delays the big
steamer Hum boldt steamed out OF the bay
this afternoon shortly after 8 O'Clock.
The libel suits brought by passen gers
| were dismissed to-day.