Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-11-29
CREWSOME REPORTS
Brought in by Those Who Are
Returning from the Arctic
El Dorado.
FORCED TO FLEE BY STARVATION,
The Case Of Hundreds Who Went Into the
Wilderness Unprovided with Rations for
Year or Se-Grand Rush for Country
Where There Is Something to Eat-Gold
L. There But the Auriferous Metal Seems
To He Hard to Get,

Where There Is Something to Eat-Gold
Ii There But the Aurifcrous Metal Seems
To he Hard to Get.
Seattle. Wash. Nov 29.-Twenty-five
men arrived here yesterday on the City
OF Seattle direct from Dawson City. The
party consisted of Thomas Magee, Sr.,
Thomas Magee. Jr., Swift Water Bilp'
Gates, Joe Boyle, William Huskins, F.
Eckert. II. Robertson, H. Raymond,
Bert Mason. John W. Brauer, w. H.
Chambers. +. W. Pond. Z. Ash, ]. Gill
lespie, Thomas Wilson, p. McCraw,
Jack Dalton, William Lesk. Arthur Ce-
line. Joseph Fairburn, ]. Smith, T.
Warren and Jim Stephenson They
came out over the Dalton trail, leaving
Dawson City Oct. 16. They are re-
ported to have betweeN them $50. 900. All
in drafts and 100000 in gold dust AL
tell stories Of food shortage in Dawson
that Is almost a famine. The last per-
son to leave Dawson was Jack Dalton
When Dalton left the steamers Alice and
Bella had reached there loaded light.
"why Did You Get So Much Bread:"
1t Is said that the Bella's cargo con-
sisted of whisky and billiard balls She
brought no provisions. The Canadian
government mounted police chartered
the Bella and gave all who wished a
free pass to the Yukon. The Bella is
reported to have left about Oct. II with
200 men. According to the statements
made by members Of the Dalton party
there is liable to be trouble of the most
serious kind this winter in Dawson
Billy Leak says that all the people talk
about at Dawson is the food famine.
Men were gathering in groups ana
cursing with might and main the new
comers that were constantly coming into
the klondike with scarcely any pro-
visions.
Not Much Profit in This,
The men figured that it would take all
their earnings in gold to pay their liv-
ing expenses at Fort Yukon during the
winter and that in the spring they
would not even have enough left to
pay passage money back to Dawson, to
say nothing OF purchasing enough food
to subsist until they could get started
again. John W. Brauer, a United States
u.
q. said: There is only one salvation for
miners who are now at Dawson City,
and that ID for them to undertake the
awful winter trip from Dawson to Fort
Yukon. a distance of 400 miles. There
Is no food at Fort Yukon. there is none
at Dawson. and just as sure as the stars
rhine, terrible suffering will be the fate
OF the Dawson miner unless he leaves
there before spring. The restaurant at
Dawson closed the night 1 left. 1t had
been selling nothing but beef steak, for
which the hungry paid $3.50
Stampeding Away from Starvation.
When the people realized that the
boats would be unable to get up the
river they knew that starvation threat
| ened them and the great stampede be-
gan. The little steamer Kiukuk
which was TO make the trips from
Dawson to Pelly. where the Jack Dalton
trail starts. was brought into play She
was besieyed by would-be passengers
who offered as high as $50 that they
might be aboard while she made her
journey Of 115 miles TO Pelly. The Kiu-
kuk left Dawson on the afternoon of
Sept. q with twelve or fifteen passen-
gers. The only thing you could
possibly buy at Dawson was sugar,
baking powder. spices and some dried
| fruit. No flour. bacon or anything of
that kind could be purchased from any
OF the stores. simply because they did
not have them" Brauer told of a pri-
vate party selling a miner a sack OF
flour for si5 and bacon for 81 a pound.