The San Francisco call., 1897-07-24

PORTLAND, Or, July "a There will
be lawlessness and murder on the Chill
coot Pass this winter if this rush con-
tinues. Men without outfits, expecting to
buy in Juneau, men without outfits and
only money to pay their fare to Dyea,
hoping by some hook or crook TO make
their way over the pass; men but parti-
ally supplied with provisions believing
that once in the interior they will be sup
piled, are joining in this senseless stGm-
pede to the Yukon. Mark me, the result
will be hardship, suffering, starvation and
then a fierce battle between those who
have reached the Chilcoot Pass, prepared
to winter, and those who have gone north
trusting to luck" said Ned Greene, a
French Canadian from Quebec and pio-
neer of both the Cassier, Juneau and
Yukon excitements. Greene is on his re-
turn TO the Yukon from visit to his Can
adian relatives, the first in seventeen
years.
AZ am actually aghast at what the con-
sequences OF this mad rush into the
Yukon at this season of the year will be.
The people are acting insanely In most in
stances, the exception being the few ex-
perienced Yukoners returning, ana who,
in reaching their destination in the in
terror, are reaching what to them has
been home for years past They know a
welcome is awaiting them from the part
ners left behind; they know that these
same partners hav- made ample provision
for the winters work by purchasing sup
ha e hoo In ri no
latter's summer trips up and down the
river. 1t is not necessary for them-as, for
instance, myself-to take in a ton of pro-
visions. All 1 require is months grub
This a Siwash and myself will pack over
the divide TO Lake Bennett in two days,
and from there on down the river nv
work is comparatively easy, lightly bur-
dened as l will be.
"In all probability will meet number
of old Yukoners going in with just about
the same equipm Mt as myself and we will
ioin forces, whipsawing lum Der for and
building one large boat in which to go
down the river. But what in the name of
heaven is to become of these men crossing
onto the beach at Dyea with their outfits
is question to trouble any man with q
feeling for his fellows. They cannot Sc
cure Indian packers in sufficient numbers.
for the Chilcats, as the tribe living at the
head of Lynn Car al IS named. claim juris-
diction over the pass and the other tri bes
of the Thlinket nation are afraid of them
and will not nter into com petition. What
the whites have done in the past years
toward making the pass easier of access
and packing I do not know, for | came
ont by the way of st. Michaels and it was
four years ago that l went in from
Chicat.
az have heard of packhorses and cables
now being in use, but ! cannot believe
that the Chilcat Pass has in those foul
wears been so improved and rid OF the pre-
cipitous 'iump-offs' which formerly
marked il as to allow of the travel o
pack animals. The result of all this will
be that a thousand or more men will bt
ranged in tents on the leach at Dyea tC
winter, unable to get their supplies across
for to be caught on the pass in one of the
binding snowstorms that comes out OF th'
Takou and sweep into Lynn Canal through
Gastineaux Channel means death, and M
siwash will attempt the passage. Some
of the men in this city OF tents will hav'
supplies, Others will not. Trouble viii
ensue."
What would your advice, then, be tt
those who propose to go into the country
for the first timer" was asked.
wait until spring," emphatically de
cIared Greene Say that there will be
rush, every one will be fresh and prepared
for it. He will save the nine months
supplies he will consume by going in nov
or attempting il, and if he cannot hol'
his own in the rush he has little or M
business trying TO make his way into th'
Uukon under any circum stances"