The Saint Paul globe., 1897-10-26
FIELD, SCHLICK ( CO.

augh, one-horse fiddler getting two ounces
VI soIu oust a night playing for 'hoe-dOWn
danees; and everything else in proportion.
COLO everywhere plenty dirt and mos
qultoes-and this is but the beginningi The
hlondlke is but one puny 2OO-miIe-long
creek in over $4,000 miles of gold-bearing
waterways. Gold has been found on every
tributary of the Yukon where a prospector
mas stuck spade. No wonder men in every
iand under heaven have gone wild The
DOOM mas Just begun. 1t is not extravagant
10 estimate that 200 600 people will 90 In the
heE-tound land of gold and glaciers next
year; mat means at least $40 900 COO added
TO the treasures of railroad and steamship
lines. increased dividends, and a boom in
all transcontinental stocks
ana right here, | remember speaking TO
you Yesterday Of the lying that is being
the klondike, the Yukon and Alaska When
David said in his haste all men are liars
ne could nave looked at 99 out of every 100
deliberately and at his leisure. They lie
about the climate. All the Arctic explorers.
from Sir John Franklin to Andree, put to-
e65oner' ee6' meyer found SO many horrors as these
chaps deplct. The simple truth is the win
ter climate of the Alaskan coast is almost
eeX1actly the same as that of Baltimore or
for the winter is 32.5 degrees In the inter
LOT 1t is hot in the summer and cold in the
Wlnter-perhaps little colder than you have
II In Minnesota and Dakota The thermom-
eter sometimes scores 90 or 60 below zero
Tor day or two but that would have no
Ierrors 1or Fargo or Winnipeg man. Every
ordinary variety of grain, grass vegetables
and small fruit fourshes and the wild flow
ers bloom everywhere in glorious profusion
Ihen these newspaperial portrayers of imag-
mary hobgoblins have devoted thousands Of
columns to the awful hardships and hazards
OF the trails and the passes. The summit of
Chllcoot pass is but 1920 feet and that of
Skaguay or White pass about 9 700 feet above
the level of the sea- and consequently neither
can offer any great difficulties of height The
roads are like any other rough mountain
trails, and when cut up by thousands of
hoofs and feet in rainy or snowy weather
are not ways of pleasantness but women
and children have Travelled them constant
ly for years without complaining or imagfn-
ing they were doing anything specially diff
cult or heroic.
And lastly, but not leastly. these pur-
veyors OF hullaballoo for news have lied as
70 the best routes and best starting places.
One of the October magazines says: AT pres
ent, all routes to the Klondike begin at
Seattle. 1t strikes a plain frontiersman like
me that each mans route begins lust where
he starts from. A st. Paul mans route for
instance, would begin at st. Paul. When
he reached the coast he would find lines of
steamers running from San Francisco, Port
land, Seattle, Tacoma and Victoria Of all
these lines the only frst-class, regularly in
spected ocean going steamships are those of
the Oregon Railroad and Navigation com
pany sailing from Portland Or, in connec-
tion with the Pacific Coast Steamship COM
pany Every rotten and unseaworthy old
hulk and scow that could be raked out of
the maritime boneyards of the coast has been
put into service on some of these so-called
steamer lines. Several of them have al
ready been wrecked, lives endangered and
property lost or damaged, and the reckless
disregard Of every precaution on the part
of worthless an irresponsible transportation
companies has become one of the worst
features of the Alaskan boom. But there are
good boats.
'First-class fare from Portland to Juneau,
Chilcat and Dyea is $40; second-class, %:
and full and complete outfit, including
every necessary and many of the luxuries for
years digging, can be bought in Portland
for from $10O to $3.50. I might talk to you
for hours, but l think l have covered the
most essential points. There is gold in guam
titles beyond all computation. The climate
is endurable. The trails can be Travelled all
the year, and there will be railroads over at
least two of them in a few months. Port
land is the best eutfitting place north of San
Francisco and the only one that sends out
the highest class of ocean steamships. And
any man or woman easily make the
journey with $125 for an outfit, $40 for steam
er fare and enough besides to pay for trans
portation "a miles overland to the headwaters
of the Yukon. The rest Of the trip is mere
downstream floating"
No breakfast Is complete without
Vitos, Pillsbury's new wheat food.