The Topeka state journal., 1897-09-11

be nearly so much mining going on as
If this crowd had stayed out, for the
idle will eat the food the miners should
have The miners cannot work without
ample food and consequently there will
be a great shrinkage in able bodied
men by reason of the scarcity in food.
Food could not be bought when left
Dawson City.
of course those who have supplies
VIII have to divide them with those who
nave none; there will be no getting out
OF the country and the miners will not
see men starve while there is food in
camp Those who have amply provid
eo themselves with food will be re-
e,.i,le9 dcilen 10 give up part which will so
cIippie tnem, that they will be unable
TO prosecute work with vigor and carry
out their plans
There are a good many horses in
me me country now, but the prospects are
lHdt they VIII be starved this winter
Last winter they fed the horses with
ioui !!, anu parley. This winter the men
VIII need the flour themselves
ooa e a. henderson of Chicago,
one OF the returning passengers, has
Deen In the Yukon country since early
IN the spring. Her trip north was for
the purpose of gathering material for
newspapers and magazine articles.
speaking of her experiences Mrs
Henderson said:
would not live in the Klondike
LoF all the gold there is in it, Dawson
CITY is one of the most immoral mining
camps the world has ever seen. Gamb-
!erS and women of bad repute are rush.
ing IN; their saloons are open day and
night, and while the criminal element
is held in check fairly we'll by the au-
thor1tfes, debauchery is in evidence on
all sides to an alarming degree The
country is rich, but it is almost worth
a mans life to go in there and dig out
the treasure
). r. Churchill of the provincial DO
lice, stationed at Dawson City, says
that onclal information has been re-
celVed there that inspectors had been
appointed at each of the several trails
and rivers leading to the new gold fields
with instructions to let no one pass
who did not have sufficient food in his
possession to keep him for at least IS
months. This will work a hardship on
many who have gone to the north since
the examination began, with money in
tending to buy food when they arrived
at their destination.
Mr.. Churchill is interested in some
valuable mining property on Bonanza
creek and is returning for the purpose
of purchasing supplies for the develop
ment of his claim. He has been in
three years, and will return in the
spring, after making the necessary
purchases.
Mr.. Churchill says there will be a
great amount of suffering this winter
on account of the scarcity of food. It
is impossible to buy food at either Cir
Gle City or Dawson at any price.
Il am entirely satisfied with the
VI
friends with me when 1 return in the
spring. he said. There are only three
hotels in Dawson City, and meals, con-
sisting of bread, coffee and baked beans,
cost $1.50, which is considered cheap.
Lumber costs $3.50 per 1000 feet, and is
hard to get at that
The Cleveland has on board three
men from the sailing schooner Aurora
Borealis, who were lost from the ves-
sci during a dense fog last month. The
men were for three days and nights in
an open boat without food or water,
when finally the fog lifted and they
put into Dutch Harbor, where they
boarded the Cleveland and worked their
passage to this port.
Capt. Wall, master of the Cleveland,
says:
1.-TWO important facts should not be
forgotten when we tell anything of the
KIondike. 1t is impossible, I think, to
exaggerate the richness of the country
and quite as impossible to overeStimate
the dangers and the prospective disas-
ters at Dawson.
while we were in ST. Michaels, the
angry gatherings of the members of the
National City and South Coast expe-
ditions showed that troublous times
are ahead there as well as on the Klon-
dixie.
TT is my belief that the vessels that
are to return this fall, will come heav-
lily laden with gold.
This coming winter there is cold and
hunger for those who venture to the
gold fields. I have authority for what
I say. know from my own obserVa-
tions from the accounts of uninterested
persons and from miners, that there
will be distress and terrible times in
Dawson.
1--WE are bringing back comparatively
little gold. The miners on board are
exaggerating their possessions. do
not believe that there is more than
same story Every person who can
leave Dawson before the winter will do
so. There are no longer any supplies.
Many of the most abandoned charac-
ters are fastening to the mines and
there is certain to be serious trouble
You may rely upon it that every re-
turning ship will be crowded to its
greatest capacity. At. st. Michaels there
is plenty of food, but there is no GER
tainty that it can be taken to Daw-
son.