Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1897-08-19
THESE HAVE BEEN THERE.
Views OF Canadian Oficials Regarding
the KlOndike.

Secretary Gage has received from Can
ada report on the KlOndike district.
1t is Il condemnation of the reports OF
William Ogilvie, the Dominion land
surveyor. and contains matters from
other officers of the Canadian govern
ment who have previously visited the
region or are there now. At the outset
the minister states that the report Is
published in response to numerous pub
lie demands.
1.-THE object" he says, "is not to in
duce any one to go to that country at
the present time. Until better means
of communication are established
man undertakes serious risks in going
there unless he has sufficient resources
to tide him over the long winter. At
ter September egress from the country
is practically impossible until the fol-
lowing June, and person that has not
been successful in locating a paying
claim has to depend for subsistence
upon finding employment. Wages are
at times abnormally high, but the labor
market is very narrow and easily over
stocked.
1t is estimated that up to the mid
die of May 500 to 600 persons had
crossed the Dyea pass this year. Sew
eral hundred more will go by steamers
up the Yukon. Whether employment
will be available for all and for the
considerable population already in the
district is somewhat doubtful. 1t will
therefore be wise for those who con-
template going to the Yukon district to
give serious consideration to the mat
ter before coming to a decision"
An extract from the report of A. +.
Willis, assistant surgeon general for
1895, is given, to indicate the climate
of the KlOndike, characteristics of the
inhabitants, and the mode of living.
lie also describes the kind Of men that
should go to the Klondke. He says:
''The climate is wet. During the
winter months the cold is intense, with
usually considerable wind. A heavy
mist rising from open plains in the
river settles down in the valley in ex-
IRENE weather. This dampness makes
the cold felt much more and is con-
ducive to rheumatic pains, colds and
the like. In selecting men to live in
this country submit few remarks,
some of which will be of assistance to
medical examiners in making their
recommendations
"Men should be sober, strong and
healthy. They should be practical men,
able to adapt themselves equally to
their surroundings. Special care should
be taken to see that their lungs are
sound, that they are free from rheuma-
tism and rheumatic tendencies and their
joints, especially knee joints, are strong
and have never been weakened by in
jury or disease. 1t is important to
consider their temperaments. Men
should be OF cheerful, hopeful DISPOSE
tons and willing workers. Those OF
morose, sullen natures, although they
may be good workers, are very apt, as
soon as the novelty wears off, to be-
come dissatisfied, pessimistc and
melancholy"
Mr.. Ogilvie, chief of the boundary
survey, in a report Of a trip down the
Yukon, says regarding the weather:
ut is said by those familiar with
the locality that the storms which rage
in the upper attitudes of the coast
range during the greater part of the
time from October to March, are ter
rifle. A man caught in one OF them
runs the risk of losing his life unless
he can reach shelter in a short time"
Mr.. Ogilvie, on this same trip. had
much difficulty with the Indians, and
they demanded SEQ per hundred pounds
for carrying his goods. On being told
that the party had permit from the
Great Father in Washington to pass
through the country, and that the In
dians would be punished if they inter-
fered they reduced the price to $40.
Mr.. Ogilvie states there are about
AGO, 900 acres of land along the Yukon
and its branches that might be used for
agricultural purposes. Mr.. Ogilvie
gives the miners bad reputation. He
says:
II may say that it is generally very
difficult to get any exact or even APP
proximately exact statements of facts
or values from miners. Many of them
are inveterate jokers and take delight
in hoaxing. The higher the official or
social position of the person they hoax
the better they are pleased. l have
several times found that after spend
ing hours getting information from one
of them it would be all contradicted by
the next one l met.
Another cause of difficulty in get
ting trustworthy information from them
is that in certain sense they consider
every government official or agent their
enemy, and that he is in the country
to spy upon their doings and find out
things which the great majority of
them are very much averse to have
known"