The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-08-04
Sre-saI rrrrexpcnasace

JUNEAU. Alaska JGfy E--AA AisSss "a
reports are Il circulation regarding the
facilities ard opportunities for crossing
the mountains 70 the lakes en- route 10 the
Yukon ra:nes The most authentic reports
a-s "a me ssyec. that the Skaguay trail.
sometimes called the whifs Pass route.
In rot finished George Rice started a pack
acroSs the ssagaay trail some seS days
azo and Il i stalled about ten miles from
the lakes. 1 am tod that there are about
e.ghc or ten miles a, the ether END OF me
,rali, which 10 across swampy Lands and
must BE- sordaroyed before L can be used
for travel.
Caught ON the Trail
The rate over the Dyea route is IL
hundred out i, Is certain Ia be advane%d
10 ~ or ~ cents Voand IN week OF
TWO or soon as the lsiAadsf ana lew
othrr steamers arrive With lnossAfao OF
more prospectors. Oid-EtEuers and men OF
exrartence aver that IL VIII be impossible
To AFFORD carriers for the amount OF Dass-
ness now ia sight. and tnst there is
certain possibility that hundreds, X not
thousands Of t.nderfssx viii De caught on
the trail lakes and river when winters
SHOWS begin TO fail.
Another serious feature 20 be considered
IL that hundreds OF men have left for tho
Cgoa6Yke without enough provisions or
clothing to last them through the winter.
IN that event famine is sure 10 follow.
and great distress will be felt in the
northern gold fields before the spring sup
plies reach the mines
Joke on Joaquin Miller.
One Of the amusing events OF the voyage
from the Sound was the purchase Of
email skin at Ma;iakahsia from the In.
dams b. tao San Francisco Examiner
correspondents. Aessrs. Joaquin Miller and
iivsrnash. By conyerSiag with other pas
sengers they had come 10 realize the great
difficulty in getting boats at the lakes.
They decided TO steal 4 march on their
fellow travellers, and at Metlasaht.a they
wandered OF down on the beach where
lot of canoes were lying and finding
small. light skld that had been abandoned
by the owner. which they thought would
De easy TO carry across the mountains.
they approached an old souaw who was
t.tting near by and inquired its price. She
grinned and said:
"Sitkam dollar"
What does she say, Mr.. Miller?' in
agired Mr.. Livernash. realizing that the
poet and old pioneer ought TO be we'll
versed in aboriginal dialect.
'Oh. she says it's 81" was Mr.. Miller's
response as an interpreter.
TELL her I'll give her Si0.' was the next
proposition, and at the same time exhibit
Ing an eagle as a temptation.
MIR. Miller said something or other in
iargon and handed her the COIN which
she look and hastily shuffled OF into her
house. Several Of the Mexicos passengers
who can talk Chinook witnessed the trans
action and saw the two newspaper men
take their prize aboard the steamer. AS
the vessel was leaving the wharf they told
the joke When the woman said she want
I'd 'sitkum dollar" she meant 80 cents.
The Grafter..
On the steamer bound TO the Clondyke
are fully thirty men who have hardly any
clothing or provisions necessary to stand
the rigors OF an Arctic winter. | closely
questioned many OF them as TO what they
would do this coming winter for the actual
necessaries OF life. Each ole is ready with
a precedent which he is following. Most
OF them have heard OF Mitch Tibbets, OF
Mount Vernon. who came up as a stow
away a year ago and by hard rpS;lIng
reached the Ciondyke. He was lucky
and II 10 reported that he made 81 600 last
winter. That Is only one instance. and
there are a thousand other men ready TO
foilcv in hopes % encouu;erlng similar
fortune. Then again. many men are going
20 pyea in hopes Of being able TO pur-
chase an outfit very cheap from tenderfeet
prospectors who become discouraged on
tttf AENil dssI Ns-NL tN return Ia tkE Sound.
IL would not be a libel TO say that some
OF the Seattle boys who are now on the
Mexico are getting IN about the same state
OF mind. and yet the hard part OF the
journey has not yet commenced.
Hew Route.
FORT wTANGEL. July ga new
route 10 the gold fields Of the Clendyka
ana Yukon valley has Just been opened,
ana Will be IN hrst-class condition for ,iss
next season. SO / Az reliably informed
Passengers Will BE taken Up the Skeena
river hy steamers 10 the head OF raviga-
;ion, which Is near Teiesi aph creek, sofpe
lls miles from here. To TeeSch lake. a dis
taDce % l3' n. -, good trasi mas been
buBt and = pack train has been eStah.
lishea. The trail is through g leve! conn
Try. gree from steep grades or mountains
The steamer Alaska is now carrying pas
sensers 10 Telegraph cgeek and many oeo
ple aave tAkeo TINT route. All Of tna
miners ou the upper Skeeua have deserted
their WORK ip a body and gone IN q mad
rush 20 the Clondyke. No one remains on
the Skeena where in the early davg thrrs
we're thousands of people. exceut a co,,,,fa
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