The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1897-09-23
TELLS or TRIALS.
government omcial Write. Of Z

%
Government Omcial Writes Of the
Hardships In the Gold Country. 5
Washington, i Sept. 2O. Oren W..
Weaver, acting commissioner Of labor,
has given out2a copy of most graphic
.letterson the terrors of the, trip across
Alaska to the Klondike gold fields. The
letter has just been received from
Samuel G. Durham, statistical expert
of the governments department. of la
Dor, who had been assigned by Commits
siQqner Wright to make an investigation
OF the opportunities which the gold
regions, in the Yukon valley: and ad-
Joining territory afford for the re-.
muneratives employment Of American
labor and capital. The letter is as fol-
lows: = ~ ~ = .-,,s
Lake Lindemann, Alaska Aug. 26, 1887
Commissioner Of Labor, Washington
Sir: l left Dyea Monday morning at II
o'clock and arrived here Tuesday evening
at seven. My four Indians>started ahead
OF me, but have not seen anything OF
them asince the start and am waiting for
them here. When Preached the foot Of the
summit a. terrible storm was raging on
the pass had an awful experience COM
Ing across the summit. ] started out with
my hand bag strapped on my back, think
Ing that as it weighed only 40 pounds I
could carry it. I manageable struggle along
to the head of navigation for2eanoes. six
miles from Dyea, and was there forced
to employ an Indian packer, paying him
tensdollars to carry my grip to Sheep Camp,
u miles from Dyea. spent the night at
Sheep Camp. which is merely collection
Of tents. and started tor the summit at
eight O'Clock Tuesday morning in q driz-
cling, cold rain employed q packer to
carry my grip from there to Lake Linde-
mann, paying him SIG. At the foot of the
summit we met perhaps 100 Indian and
on the trail above and were returning to
Sheep Camp to await an abatement OF
the storm. Sf&4..ss .s4 N !, sEs<9
1.-The distance from the foot Of the sum-
NIT to the top is said to be three-quarters
OF a mile, but it seems like five miles. The
trail ascends at an angle of 45 degrees,
skirting precipices where a misstep would
hurl one thousand feet below; crossing
the face of glaciers as smooth as glass,
and in many places traversing the pol
ished surface Of great granite powders
hundreds of feet in extent Every hundred
yards or so mountain torrents, fed by the
glaciers, and on the present occasion aug
nented by the rainfall, rush across the
trail, and have to be waded, the water often
coming to the knees. "
add to this gale blowing so miles an
hour, with sleet and snow rushing hori-
zontally through the air, and the tenn
perature at 30 degrees, and you will have
faint idea Of the horrors of my passage
across the summit. After struggling up a
steep ascent Of rs or 80 feet I would be
forced from sheer exhaustion to rest for
a moment, but would scarcely stop before
the chilling wind would cut me to the mar
row, and I would have to continue my
course to keep from chilling to death. Be
fore I reached the summit was wet to
the skin and my boots were full of water,
and the%added weight of the water made
1t almost impossible to proceed. finally
reached this camp. at the head Of Lake
Lind emann; about 9sevenso'cl clock inSttt the
evening. having been II hours in covering
II miles, so thoroughly exhausted that
could scarcely drag one foot after the
- At present the condition of affairs on
both strailsis terrible, and hundreds ofmen
are bound to starve and freeze tosdeath
III theyycontinue to come this way. Ipassed
AT least I;O00 men between Dyea and here
and mt more thanz10 have their outfits
1his side,spf the summit. Every so yards
along the trail are piles Of goods, and I
,suppe1es there are provisions to- the value
.of $20l,O00s scattered along the trail. Prices
for packing ands for all kinds Of service
are practically prohibitory for most OF
IQOSSt WHO dES attempting u get IN, SO many
are carrying over their own outfits. Some
OF theIndians carry as much as 200 pounds
at one load and make the trip from Dyea
TO Lake Lindemannin In two days. returning
to Dyea on the third4day, thus making two
trips a week. White men carry from IS
to 1875 pounds. and4it takes man with an
adequate outfit asmonth to get to the lake.
There are many here who have been five
:or sixssweeks packing their outfits .over
and are not: reAdysto start downEthe river
yet. All. who have come to Skaguay or
4Dyea within.the-last week or so, who have
to come in without sufficient outfit pay
40 cents or more a pound or not get in at
all.
Lumber is $500 a thousand and rising.
A great many whipsaw their lumber, two
men turning out about 100 feet day.. A boat
carrying three men sells for $3.50 to 500,
Wages Of carpenters are $3.50 day and
board Everything is high in price when
you can get it at all. Whisky Is so cents
q drink and five dollars a bottle, and poor
stuff at that. Alcohol is worth $40 gal
lon. It makes ten gallons Of Lake Linde-
money. as everyone is holding on to his
provisions. I never saw such seldshness
anywhere ais is displayed on this trafL
You pass q hundred people without receiv-
ing a RESPONSE to your respectful *good
morning. and soon learn to keep your
trail that it is like walking the street of a
cfty-the individual is lost in the passing
throng and you are recognized only by ac-
quaintances. If you ask for food in nine
cases out Of ten 1t will be refused.
II have tried to give you a fair idea of
the hardships of this journey. but feel my
incapability to paint its terrors. 1t is out
of my line. will simply say that no one
who has written on the subject has over
stated its difficulties. "A man who got in
to-day over the Skaguay trail says that
it is even worse. He counted 172 dead
horses along the trail and several men
have met with serious accidents, such as
broken ankle, leg, etc. Several deaths from
drowning have occurred on both trails,
the swift current carrying packers down.
stream and their packs rendering them
helpless. Some movement ought to be made
at once for the relief Of the suffering which
is bound to occur at Dyea and Skaguay.
Every steamship that has brought people
up will have all it can do for at least two
trips in carrying the unsuccessful people
back TO- civilization, and there ought to
be: some way to- force them. to perform
the service without compensation.
SAMUEL G. DUNHAM."
Buys Valuable Patents.
Denver, COL, Sept. 20.-Frank Gard
NOR oHnifn1icf IF Landau