The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1897-09-26
FOR THE SAKE OF GOLD
What a Man Must Endure Who Goes
to Alaska for Wealth.
THE STERN REALITY IS SHOWN
Awful Trail mp Which They Stnrucr
Endcn with Back brcnlinE Hur.
Hehn OF Northumberland step OF
tho Trail Grows Harder ana
MISREPRESENTATION ornnrdxhips.

Especial correspondent Chicago Ncwa.)
Skaguay. Alaska, Aug. 27.-The fine
weather which for some weeks has made
Alaskan gold seekers change their views,
about the horror OF Northern climate
has vanished.
have just walked back from Skaguay
to mail this record of our trip TO
the Daily News, and to purchase
some necessary articles, and the
weather IS frlShtful = showing all
around us on the mountains and
raining here. Winter Is at last pretty
close and 1t is possible that we may be
showed In somewhere along the route
and not reach Dawson City after all. If
the trail gets too bad or we hear dis
couraging news about the food supply at
Dawson it Is quite likely that we will
winter on either the Stewart or pelly
rivers, tributaries of the Yukon
-Four days ago we were nj Camp Por-
cuplne, near the creek of the same name
and had been in Alaska ten days, hav-
Ing made Just fourteen miles out of the
forty we had to travel, but we were still
way ahead of parties who landed weeks
before us. a dismal sight met US we
stood on the steamers deck. Our first
glance Of Skaguay, Alaska, was through
sheet OF rain. There was no dock and
the steamer could get only within 100
yards OF the beach After breakfast the
ram stopped and several lighters came
along side. all the freight was dumped
on them and carried to the rocks. whore
the men passengers formed n line and
passed it along.
AT skaguay it Is still daylight at II
o'clock at night. 1t was one of tho mos,
dismal and widest spots ! have ever
eeen-only small plot of damp. level
ground. and the woods and mountains
only few hundred feet away. They
looked very forbidding and many n man
wished he had never left home when
ne flrst gaZed on them. The town con-
slsts or tents and every one picked out
ms lot and pitched his tent where he
chose. Some OF the labor involved in
moving our baggage from the steamer
may be understood from the fact that
there were sixty tons TO be unloaded
and all of 1t was piled in a miscellaneous;
heap out of which the various passeu-
gers hauled and identified their belong
ings All OF the goods had to be moved
two miles over the fiat or be washed
away.
Fifty men formed a double line from
1he large TO the shore and az the bags
and boxes were handed off the barge
passed up the line, landing the stuff one
hundred yards inland. My position was
next the boat and every bundle of the
sixty tons I had to handle, taking il
from the man on the barge and passing
IT on to the next man. Some of the bags
weighed as much as 200 pounds. Every
thing was landed in the widest confu-
sion, but our party did not lose a single
package. As each of us has provisions
and clothing for n year and a half we
mad about three tons of baggage 10 move
on our own responsibility after the boa.
had discharged its cargo in the manner
Just explained. We bought small two
wheel cart for $50, which holds about 700
pounds and then it was tramp, tramp.
tramp, over the wet, marshy grounds
until our goods We're at the spot in
Skaguay where we had decided to camp.
About 100 tents of all shapes and sizes
were already UP and many OF the 400
people camped were only waiting for
the boat to take them home 10 the
United States.
We had the whole outfit at the camp
by o'clock at night, and were glad
enough to get into dry clothes, for we
were soaked through after working n
whole day In the pouring rain. The next
day We spent In unpacking our trunks
and packing our clothes and provisions
into bags and seeking information, but
IL the people in town had any they kept
1t to themselves. so we decided to go
ahead On our own hook. We hired a
team to haul our stuff to the river three
miles away. II took two trips ut $40 per
trip. The Transfers here are making
anywhere from 800 to $3.50 a day. The
river. a swift stream, has q corduroy