The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-09-14
DUMPED ON A SALT MARSH
Two Hundred and Twenty Five
Persons Stranded on the Beach
at ST. Michael Island

SEATTLE, WASH, Sept. 1.-Two hun
dred and twenty-five people, passengers
on the steamship Humboldt, which
sailed for the Yukon August IS last, are
stranded on the salt, marShy beach at St.
Michael Island, where they are subject to
the terrific gales that blow across the icy
Boring Sea all winter.
In the passenger list appears the name S
OF many welI-to-do Fasteners who were
lured to make a foolhardy attempt to
reach Dawson by the tales OF the marvel
Gus richness of the Klondike, spread
broadcast over The country by the news
papers. Among the passengers are Mrs.
Ely Gage, vile of the son of Secretary
Gage, and W. II. Hubbard, William Weare
and A. II. Ulrich, all of Chicago and all
interested in the North American Trans
.porlation and Trading Company.
a letter received here to-day states Mrs.
.Healy and party took t river steamer
Healy, sailing August 30, for Dawson City.
As the passage up the river takes three
weeks their chances of escaping a long
stay a. some of the trading posts below
Dawson are dubious and depend entirely
on the season. The river is reported by
all the passengers on the Humboldt,
which arrived to-oay, as being very low.
Ii an early freeze comes, as was the case
last year. Mrs. Gage will very probably get
no farther than Forty-mlle or Circle City.
For the other passengers on the Hum
holdt very different fate is in store.
They were dumped on st. Michael Island
in the teeth OF bleak wind from the
north pole with only their tents and thin
81 F..
ing. There is no fuel at the place. All
have am pie supplies, but in spite of this
their predicaEen is serious in the ex-
treme, as there are not half enough houses
to shelter the hundreds of miners that are
coming down the Yukon to spend the
winter, being driven out of the country by
the food famine.
DR.. A. {. Posey of Los Angeles, who
went north on the Hum boldt and re-
turned to-day, says there is no SLOW what
ever for the Hum boldt's passengers to get
to Dawson, although they had paid $500
each fare through to the Klond Ike ana
freight on their provisions. To THE CALL
correspondent tonight ne said:
cit will take The Hum boldt people, at
the least, three weeks TO put their river
steamer together. The engineer admitted
this to me. This will mean that they viii.
not get started on the long voyage to Daw-
son before September 20. They cannot
possibly get to the klondike this winter
They may be able to reach Munook Creek.
where rich placers have been found this
summer. The others will doubtless re-
main at ST. Michael The place where We
were landed was frightful in its pcsslbii-
he
OF ST. Michael is huge salt
marsh, and the wind has sweep
from Boring Sea, chilling one to the
marrow. Death is sure to follow in the
wake OF the HumboIdrs passengers.
saw it staring me in the face and left.
The Hum boldt's passengers combined to-
gether and resolved to hold the steamer
lhere till the river steamer was built so
they would have a refuge from the Arctic
winter. Their plans were well laid but
the revenue cutter Bear was in port and
they were afraid 10 do anything. They
will most assuredy attach the river
steamer. which. oy the way, draws four
feet OF water, while there is but three on
the river bars"
The HUMBOLDT, which returned here
this morning, brought ten men from the
Klondike and $40 000 Their accounts of
the shortage of food confirms all that has
been said in these dispatches. The Hum
ooidt was eleven days from St. Michael.
The steamer Eliza Anderson is anchored
in Dutch Harbor, where she arrived on
the An inst, and where she is now de-
tanned by the revenue officers. Her pas
sengers have by this time entered Bering
Sea on schooner chartered for that pur-
pose. Two OF the passengers on the An
derson were so frightened that they gave
up their search Tor gold and returned
south on the steamer Humboldt