The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-08-07
A THOUSAND
PACK MULES
Three Thousand Men and a
Thousand Animals in the
Dyea Crush.
Twenty Vessels Have Gone Int
the Alaskan Business From
Here.

Twenty or more special boats Of all
sizes and kinds, from the big Willamette
to old side-wheel river boats and tugs,
have been engaged for the Alaskan service
within two weeks. In connection with
this, every builder of small boats has been
rushed day and night building new deck
boats for these vessels and boats to be put
together on the lakes beyond Chilcoot
Pass.
On Puget Sound there has been a SINH
lar grabbing at every vessel that could be
hastily pressed into the service and every
sportation company has headed some
of its craft for Dvea.
The Northern Pacific Railroad Company
has just put It's steamer City of Seattle
into the service; and the Union Steam
ship Company of Vancouver will start
the CoquitIam north tomorrow. A con-
iderabie numb of British Columbia
steamers have been rushed into the bust
ness since Dyea was made a SUPPORT of
entry.
a legion of com panies and individuals
are planning transportation Enterprises
which are to bloom for the spring rush.
The favorite field for them is the Yukon
River naturally, ana while many Of these
plans will fail it Sc ems certain that when
the ice oves out OF the Yukon next June
there will be an enormous feet OF boats on
the Yukon and he AIDED for it, ready 10 ac-
commodate the spring rush which is gen
orally expected to greatly exceed the
present one.
Within a few avs there will be over
thousand horses, mules and donkeys at
and about the passes beyond Dyea and
Skagaway engaged in packing the mass of
outfits and supplies being crowded ashore
by the 5000 or more people who have lett
coast ports for Dyea within two weeks.
Every vessel that has left here has carried
from ten to fifty, and many more are to
90. The Willamette took 800 horses from
Seattle the other day, the Rapid Transit
took 26S last Monday, the George E. Starr
took 100 and a dozen other vessels have
carried large mum hers northward from
Seattle and from Victoria The scenes
about Chiicoot and White passes next
week will possibly "beggar description"
No reports have reached the telegraph
lines at Puget Sound from Juneau and
Dyea since the crowd of rushers became
very large up there, but the latest reports
and thE wisest predictions promise a ter
rible crush between Dyea and the lakes,
md this crush will reach its greatest
point early next week.
1t is predicted that great many will
be disheartened an turn ;ck. Packing
AT last report had already risen TO 30 and
40 cents pound. There will be duties to
pay at the boundary line, and lumber for
boats will rapidly become harder to get.
Many have joined tie rush with light
outfits or none at all, trusting to luck and
to grating" ana much trouble and
hardship will be met by hundreds.
company is being formed at Seattle
to build on big scale one of the Bowers
dredging machines, which pump enor-
nous quantities OF sand and mud from
below water. With his machine it is
proposed to dredge and sluice the gravel
at the bottom OF the Yukon q places ia
vorable for the accumulation of gold.
The British Columbia Development
Association announces that next year
railroad will be built over White Pass and
to Tagish and Ailin lakes.
The Northern Pacific and the Great
Northern Railway companies have issued
special folders giving information about
the k!ondyke and how TO get there.
Moran Bros. of Seattle have EN- ployed
200 extra men ina building the three new
steamers, tug and bartea order d for the
Yukon service by the North Western Trans
portation and Trading Company.
The landing process at Dyea is long and
tedious There is no deep water by the
shore in which boats may approach to
land The tide at that cad of a long and
narrow estuary rises and falls twenty
three feet and the beach is long and fiat.
Hence everything must be taken ashore
in lighters and surfboats, which make
long trims with each load. Horses are
dumped into the water 10 wade ashore
The Pacific Coast Steamship Company
gives notice that its responsibility ends at
the anchorage, but it uses its boats and
crews to help get ashore the passengers
and freight. At Skagaway, about five
miles from Dyea, the conditions for land
ing are much better, as long wharf 20
deep water is about ready for use.