Omaha daily bee., 1897-08-26
RAILROAD TO The KLONDIKE
Steam Cars Expected Soon TO Reach the
New Gold Fields,
ENGLISH SYNDICATE IS PUSHING II
Road VIII start from sknrwny and
Go Through White Pnss-skn Eyvny
is Now HUstlinE
NiIlnEe.

SKAGWAY. Alaska Aug. 17.-(Nia Seattle.
Wash. Aug 25)-A U!vu engineer Of Juneau.
c. z. GArthside. and six assistants. ere now
surveying the White pass IN the interest Of
an English syndicate which intends to run
q ra.l~aad from Skagway. the entrance to the
pass. to Taku Arm q distance Of e!Xty-eiEht
miles, and eventually to the Hoo;alinuun
rive. ll0 miles Z. A ReIlinghurst Of Vic
toria is one OF the principal promoters Of
the scheme This road, when completed, Will
form the shortest and quickest route to the
Yukon country, and it is the intention Of the
company TO build wharves and warehouses
at skagway. The highest altitude Of the
road will be at the summit OF the White
pass. &c 600 feet. The summit Is about twenty
miles from Skagway. The surveying parry
has been at work since July rs, and expects
to have the survey completed in two weeks
They aye now twelve miles up the river. Al.
though the exact cost cannot yet be e5ti-
mated, it is known that the road will cost
more per mile than most railroads, but as the
trail is the natural outlet from the Yukon
the promoters expect to reap large returns.
The present trail over the pass, used 50
much at present by Ingoing miners, was
cut by this company with the idea OF divert
ing the travel from Dyea and the Chilcoot
trail and they made an attempt to prevent
professional packers from charging more
than Is cents a pound. In this however
they were unsuccessful as the rate is now
30 cents Mr.. Garthside states that ii will
be impossible for more than One-quarter oi
the people now on the trail TO reach the
KlondiEe. Work on the railroad will be
begun in the spring and the road to Taku
will probably be completed in six months
from then. SkRgway is destined to be 9
large town and should the railroad become
an assured fact will distance Juneau as al
Quitting and general commercial point
Many OF the Juneau merchants nave opened
branch stores here already.
The great majority of people arriving
here cannot possibly get down the river this
year and those of them who already realize
this fact are locating lots in Skagway ano
starting to build. In year the town viii
undoubtedly contain $500 to 5000 inhabi-
tants. The various paths and trails lead
ing through the forest have been chris
tened and the infant town has q Broadway
and several avenues. The White paes in It's
present crude condition is practicable for the
entire distance to Lake Bennett and q man
without a pack can go over ii in twenty-fou1
hours Pack animals can traverse II with 9
load Of 15O pounds and ii seems to be the
better trail for those who have brought
horses with them. For the miners who have
no horses the Chilcoot pass seems prefer.
able as it is impossible to hire men here
20 pack outfits The White trail has beer
cut through TO Lake Bennett only about {
week and SO far very few have passed out
of the lower END, although hundreds Of
miners are camped along 1t. Frank Slavin
the pugilist, is reported TO have been the
first man to emerge at the lake. His out
ft, however, was badly broken up by the
packers and he refused 10 pay for its trans
inn