The evening times., 1897-08-27
They Declare That the Riches Hav..
Barely Reen Nibbled, aud Stir the
Feverish Blood of Miners On the
TrsiI-Food supply Insufficient
and Much Suffering Prevails.

1
o'Brien and Flint. and they had the ice
10 sledGe upon, making it In twenty-one
days
The Mckay party caught just the
proper stage OF low water below tine Yukon
rapids, and high water above.
The three men brought with them $751;
| t0n in drafts and dust The amount rep
resents al average OF one winters drift
n.g aRc part of one summers washing for
each Each has touched but a 1.-THE of his
oiaim
They say the riches of the Elondike River
have rarely been nibbled; tn at three
millions OF gold viii go out in the spring
from the present claims, and that there
are many uneXplGred creeks there that
shoGld yieiG as fabulous returns to small
! labor ss those now shelIing out golden
wealth
Today's news add ed TO the glowing re.
! ports OF the Stewart party, has confirmed
t.fe golden dreams OF Skaeuay' thousa nds.
| The struggling for place on the crowded
trail was noticea bly, increased. man no
longer lends a hand TO help a Mothers stalled
horse, but goes around him and ahead
! with the lust of gain.
The men who look ahead past others
| troubles are the 'tenderfeet," the begin
Dcrs, whose minds are SO stunted by the
magnitude OF the task they have tackled
! IS TO shut out the whole world. This is
/ why no united action has been possible in
repairing and improving the awful pass,
and this is why but one out OF sixty
/ viii ever reach the water over the fnoun
tains with food enough TO defeat Alaska s
winter.
4 Flour wasseIling at 81 s a hundr ed Wei eht.
bacon at 40 cents d pound coffee at 81 90
round. and other goods in proportion, on
July 26 81 d. wson. This was even after
heavily loaded Yukon stern wheelers had
arrived fropl st. Mcha els. The Indiansre-
/ oeived SO for a duck, and $50 apiece
were paid ioI the first salmon of tie
run. From these prices in summer SOME
faint idea may strike you as to what
winter WIN bring, with its added uapro-
vi,ied thousands.
Nothing goes in Dawson City less than
a 50-cent piece Or its equivalentin dast. Tie
smallest saloon check is for that amount
A brewing outfit arrived at Dawson City
July IL. The plant turns out eight barrels
daily. The beer brings 81 for each pint
bottle.
ht wv nay party are SOi0S DdCk
again as quickly winters supply OF
grub can he got together at juneau or
Seattle aud hustled here.
They think the steamer PoriIand's gold
viii nOt run over three-quarters of a nil
lien, little over a ton. but say that fully
-four millions viii go out the first thing in
the spring, and that next summers wash
up there viii show double that amount Of
precious yellow dust.
L. a. Thorp and Joe winterholler, of
juneau; George Stewart, from Tacoma
Jack Ross, of Douglass Island. Alaska, and
anOlc Indian named Scnwatka Iinped heay-
lily into town today.
The five men did not pack over Sc, 900
worth Of gold, but they have left claims
behind, to which they viii return as soon
asanew years supply of food can be gotten
together. And they have brought the first
reliable personal news from the land of
the yellow metal since the Portland landed,
on ulv Il al Seattle, her hundred weights
OF gold and their happy owners.
Thorp and Stewart went into the fields
only last summer with cattle over the Dal
ton tran. The mems stories tally exactly.
In he first place they say there VIII De
starvation amidst the gold this winter
There were only from $500 to 1900
persoas in the district last winter, in
cluding the thousand odd residents OF
Dawson City. Stale bacon cost $1.50
pound when it could be gotten Flour went
up to 81 40 a hmdredweight Men shared,
scanty stores with each other and all ate
painfully little. This was in February.
Some old Indian suppliesthen We're brought
oil md Il
bit. Since then the rumber Of appetites
in KloHdike has been doubled.
Loaded to the guards. the few little
Yukon stesmers cannot possibly haul more
than barely enough food TO skin,pily
supply the 5000 or 5000 delivers for
gold now in the Klondike district
Even before the end of winter last year,
and with but $500 mouths to feed, klon-
dixie prices were skyrocket high. Add TO
eacE price 25 cents a pound for trans
port alton from Dawson City and the other
centers to the mines. The average haul
is about fifteen miles. and the trails are
reasonably good in winter, excellent for
dog shedding and fair for foot transporta.
tion. Bacon was rs cents q pound; flour
IL cents; sugar, 25 cents; coffee (poor
gradel, 90 cents, and other staples in pro.
portion
1t must Le said that the miners did
not object to paying these prices long
as they could get something TO pay for
Stewart SAYS:
''You see, COLDS pretty common up
there. man has sack OF gold dust
II don't seem like regular money. 1t
would he different of it were coined But
it's half-ounce here and a few grains
there, unknown like, until the fellow
finds himself broke. But what of that
If he has lots of pay dirt lefti''
This winter, though, it will be worse
than February of Last, when money, even
in ounces, could not buy much.
Unless each tail climber gets at least
1,200 pGands of outfit into the gold coun,
sure to turn into great destitution. And
there are thousands coming.
Not one in fifty will get over 20 the
lakes and down the Yukon this year with
full outfits. And there are sure to be at
least twC-;hiISls of those who do cross who
will tackle the Alaskan winter with an
Arctic appetite and very little food.
Though che crowning mist OF each pass
smunit shows black the word, ..hunger.-
All the returned men say: There's
plenty OF gold for all. There are creeks
Just as rich as those OF the Klondike yet
uaprospected. But you must have the
grub with you. A man can eat neither
dust nor nuggets. They look pretty, but
they don't ffli.''
The Klondike miners report the richness