The San Francisco call., 1897-09-12

prietor of one gam bling-house now boasts
that be has been making $1,000 day.
! Dockie Mckinnon, an experienced
! Yukon prospector who now keeps hotel
| here, went up to Skaguav last week. lie
! started to walk fe " miles up the trail,
but was stopped by watch man with q
! shotgun. McKinnon WAS empty y-hanoed
and only wanted to look al the trail. The
watchman said his orders were to allow
! no one to pass, and Mckipnon was COM
peiIed to return. He is one OF many
| others who now claim that 1T was never
| intended TO put the trail in GOOD conoi-
tion and that the scheme was TO let 1t re-
main impossible so as to keep the Mon
dikers in town. Many men have spent all
| their money and are now broke. 1ne
| spendthrift element sent away from the
| cities by fond parents has run through ali
its money. sold outfits to get more ana
written home for money. The pursers on
the regular boats on Alaskan runs now
carry large sums to be delivered to
"busted" boys and men at Skaguay. Ii
the trail was improved in one place pv
the expenditure of considerable money,
1t was found i'm pasSable in another.
Money and Tine have both been wasted
ana the crowd, though now beginning 10
wake out OF its dazed condition, is still at
Skaguay. II the crowd makes up its
mind that the trail has been purposely
neglected and tampereG With, there will
be q wreck of matter in the form OF rou-
lie tie wheels and faro layouts ana a double
quick exodus OF half-dozen men VINO are
now prominent citizens.
W. B. Lansing, an old Yukon pros
pector, who has arrived here from VISIT
10 Puget Sound, says there will be great
suffering from lack of provisions IN Daw-
son City next winter. The fact that the
steamer Z. B. Weare, with her cargo OF
gold. did not connect at ST. Michael with
the steamer Portland is a sufficient lndl-
cation 10 his mind that the river IS shall
low, and that the last boats up with sup
plies may not get through TO Dawson
City. he says the Alaska companies VIII
supply their old customers first and that
the others must get food where they can.
III does not see where the provisions to
feed the crowd through the. winter are
com ing from, and predicts that many will
die from cold and starvation while trying
10 get back to the coast.
progress over the >Dyea trail and ChiIkoot
Pass with fair prospect of getting
through, even at so late a date as this, If
if they can get boats. George Van Buren,,
aid to be from Chicago, and aged about
90 years. dropped dead at Skaguay yester-
day. He had packed his outfit over to
the other side of the summit. He said:
Thank God, my stuff is nearly over," and
then he fell dead. His wife is waiting for
him on the other side of the pass. 1t has
been raining hard for nearly week on
the trait. Thousands of dollars worth of
provisions have been ruined and the
gold-seekers are becoming more discour
aged each day it rains. Tons of supplies
can be bought for 25 cents on the dollar.
including cost of freight and packing to
where it lies.
There will be ri turn excursion from Ska
quay 10 Willamette and home tomorrow.
The steamship Seattle has made an ex-
cursion rate OF $50 from Skaguay and
Dyea to Puget Sound, and yesterday the
names of 1e3 return excursionists had
been listed. As the ship will not leave
till to- morrow or next day the mum Der OF
returning klondikers promises to run
Into the hundreds. HAL HOFFMAN,