The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-05
AWOMAN'A
INCIDENTS OF A TRIP IN TROUSERS
Access CHIN o PASS.


Desolation THAT Turned Men BncL-unrdah,p.
and Dangers or tho Journey-Thinra THAT
Interested q woman-Cost or Pie. aud
Dresses at Dawson Clty-Lire on the way,
SEATTLE, Sept. l.-Whcn n Seattle man who
went to the Yukon mining region in the spring
Of 1896 and returned home In the following
fall announced his intention of going back to
Alaska last spring his wife declared that she
was going with him; and go she did. She is
now at Dawson City. In letters to her daughter
sho presents q picture OF a trip to the Klon-
dixie as II appeared to a woman's eyes. She
went over the Chilkoot Pass from Dyoa, a jour
ney of b49 miles. Here are some extracts from
her correspondence.
"Well,' she says in one letter, I'VE arc at
Dyea. The air rings with noise and confu.
sion. There Is no wharf here. The steamship
lies at anchor two miles from shorc-that Is
from low water mark. Beyond this point up
to dry land there is a sea OF mud-a dismal
stretch Of mud flats wide away. Everything
must 90 taken ashore In small boats and landed
in the mud or on the rocks. Papa and Harry
are ashore now. They have to take out freight
as fast as 1t Is landed from the boats and carry
II above high tide. Seventy Ave or one hun
dred men arc ashore now engaged in this
kind Of work. There are a lot OF lazy fell
lows among them, men who won't work,
who were born tired. and what on earth
they ever came up here for, where there Is
nothing but the hardest kind Of work to do.
l can't imagine. ! don't know how they ever
expect to reach the Yukon or what they expect
to do when they get there. The horses and
cows have to win ashore. II seems cruel to
plunge them into this cold. rough. icy water
and compel them to swim such a distance.
what a future awaits us! How dismal
seems the outlook. Our surroundings seem to
mirror our feelings. Nature never smiles here.
The wild coast scenery presents no trace Of
gladness. The dreary ocean,, the awful noun.
tains piled on mountains, the rock ribbed shores
with their mantle Of snow and ice, and the
dismal mud fats, all conspire to make one feel
blue. II l were faint hearted. l should feel like
giving up now. Strong men are dismayed at
the outlook. Many have given up. have sold
their outfits and will go back. One stecraeo
passenger offered his outfit for his passage
back. Such pigeon.hearted men-men who
haven't the courage to say boo to a goose-are
not cut out for miners. But ! will never say
die"
April 3.-To-morrow at noon everything
goes, myself included. Such a time as we had
unloading our goods. A part Of our goods were
put on the tide flats, and the rest ON the rocks.
nearly five miles from shore. Some OF our
packages were washed of the rocks. Some
people lost q lot OF things. One man had ZOO
gallons Of whiskey aboard the ship. He found
many Of the kegs floating on tho water, also u
lot Of cigars. We had TO go on shore before
they were through unloading. The goods
were not checked on, as they should have been.
but were thrown out Of the boats into the mud
and on the rocks in utter confusion. The men
had to work two nights and two days to segre-
gate their freight and TO save 1t from being
washed away by the tide. We lost a sack Of
hardware, three sacks Of feed for the horses.
and several bales Of hay. | don't know how we
can get along without them. We also lost 100
pounds Of bacon. However. VIC fafed better
than we expected. This is the most desolatc,
cheerless, and dismal country Imaginable. Ma
ture, sad, melancholy, and woful. seems even
to have stamped her seal upon the Indians and
their dogs. which latter. as an accompaniment to
the death song OF the winds. are necessarily
bowling. And such lugubrious bowls | never
heard before. Harry sold two OF the dogs we
brought with us. l saw them pass the camp to-
day in q dog team. The shepherd dog knew
Harry. II just makes my heart ache to see how
cruelty they arc treated. Men seem to become
heartless up here. Tho environment seems to
mako them 80.
II am 90 glad we brought horses. / don't
They just walk right of with the loads without
any trouble. Our next camp utter tomorrow
that vi %ili 76 be Foot oA OF su N tA' l'A' '"np 4''eF
lub buO" u ROtHB lasI 10 uOlIlliS
D Dos get s's' here ss? q G day too ono soo %A'' We aFo afraid the the
sHM@is ~ up 4S Psa; s. E'6 ofestn Ii the ss snow may "a 'b be
harder, Tel quite at sn home n.ot II our r coy Ii,,Ie e
sSest.lron sA Yukon S1's saoS sS' tS ssSS1e' It n IS s1s q n pet'
fec. little Jewel: keep a pot Of baked pork
S SIsns beans ,asn On hf tps.S al bf saS .i% TSf,er W. i2, ssv S.b for
Harry bought some OF an Indian peaches. boiled
rice with, condensed milk, cookies. and coffee,
tea, bacon, and biscuits. We would not have
had even that limited fare had ! not taken it
from home. l have not been homesick yet;
We have just received the first news from
f bsSo R5on %sasur nnd E fte eI"t bsrd HSsF seems eeS pI lisRiSs
now: every hardship . less severe; Hope lighhtt.
nothing tires US now. It is said that Mr.: Berry
Of Fresno. CAL who ~,, went mt In with papa nna
: have chsngsd my mind; Instead q $4,000
F.. a and day ya'' They say there VIII be- work for every
: IL a plenty OF good placer, ground left So. who
!, knows: you may o be an isI hei r. ss yet ! am &c
; There arc Aye women now on the trail goinF
f.. S %oar to Ss the s sSitS! You i9"lu onRst T tS sse vs. We o al
3 day ] was working at the stove when two mer
came % the entrance Of the tent, One mar
said, Mister, can you give one q drink OF waterf
water. While ] was getting the water tn,
. Other man made a remark TO him not audibl,
I 70 me. When he took the water he seemed 50
disc9nserted that ss .d ! could .Fdcu not ms from
thought you we're ere a man T,n ! wear a man,
too warm to wear my hood. We have a lot o
o fun. They all tell me that | look fine in m!
= mans suit. l felt like a fish out OF water whei
n j frat put 1t on, but have got used to 1t nov
and | ike It better than our regular costume
. through wet places. I instinctivSsIly reach aroun,
Il a. hold ,,n INV altrta Than hnw thay Ia,,uI
v III am sitting on the bed writing. It ia role,
up: and the position oIon Is NOT vSrS a , VERY oo ond IT, 3.
I time very busy, and industry, you know, al
ways besets happiness. So am both bus!
kets, and every day and every hour and ever,
minute there Ii a plenty to do, and how the tim
IS CAMP PLEASANT. April lsTTWe are camp
ing in a great canon canon ., whsre so ,ali GINS on eithe
they reach tho very cl @lds The awful. sol
ness beggars description. The trail to the sum
NIT leads up the canon directly in front of on
| hna hacnuna- q pnft th.. a.