The times., 1897-09-19


signed by the Commissioner of Labor July
% to make an investigation relative to
tile uppor tunities Which the gold regions
In the Yukon Valley and adjoining terri
tory afford for the re1nunerauYe employ
ment OF American labor and capital. The
letter is clear and graphic description
of the difficulties of the trip, and is in
full as follows:
Lake Lindeman, Alaska,
August 20, 2 H., S37
Commissioner of Labor, Washington, l.. G.,
Sir: ! left Dyea Monday morning at
ii clock and arrived here Tuesday even
ing at 7. My four Indians started ahead
of me, but / have seen nothing of them
since the start from Dyea, and am wait
ing for them here. When / reached the
foot OF the summit terrible storm was
raging on the pass, and 1 presume the
Indians went into camp somewhere on the
other side 10 await better weather. 1t
has been storming rain, slcet, and snow
alternating constantly on the summit since
Tuesday morning, and the situation is ag-
gravated by piercing wind OF thirty
miles velocity. ! had an awful experience
coming across the summit. l started out
with my handbag strapped on my back,
thinking that as IL weighed only forty
pounds | would carry it, | managed 10
struggle along TO the head of navigation
for canoes, six miles from Dyea, and was
there forced to employ an Indian packer,
paying him $40 TO carry my grip TO
Sheep Camp, twelve miles from Dyea.
l spent the night al Sheep Camp, which
is merely collection OF tents, ana started
for the summit at O'Clock Tuesday morn
ing in drizzling, cold rain. / employed
a packer to carry my grip from there TO
Lake Lindeman, paying him SIG. a the
foot of tie summit we met perhaps a
hundred Indian and white packers whJ~
had cached their packs ON The trail above
and We're returning To Sheep Camp To
await an abatement Of the storm. Wuwere
warned that it was dangerous TO attempt
10 get over, but tile wind was blowing
Tie way We were going, we decided to 20
ahead, as L felt sure my pack ers had gone
on, ana L wished TO be there when they
arrived. The distance from the foot OF the
summit to the top is said to be three
quarters of mile, but IL seems Ike ilve
miles.
1ne trail ascends at an angle OF 40
degrees, skirting preCpices, where mis-
step would hurl one Thousand feet below,
crossing the face OF glaciers as smooth as
glass, and in many places tTayersing the
polished surface OF great granite boulders
hundreds OF feet in extent. Every hundred
yards or so mountain torrents, ted by the
glaciers, and on the present occasion
augmented by the rainfall, rush across the
trail, and have TO be waded, the water
often coming TO the knees.
Add to this a gaze blowing fifty miles
an hour, with sleet and sno W rushing hori-
Zontally through the air and the tenpera-
ture at 80 degrees, and you VIII have
faint idea of the horrors OF my passage
across the summit. After struggling up
steep ascent of twenty-five or thirty feet
l would be forced from sheer exhaustion
to rest for a moment, but would scarcely
stop before the chilling wind would cut
me TO the marrow and / would have to
continue my course to keep from chilling
to death Before | reached the summit /
was wet to the skin, and my boots were
full of water, and the added weightof the
water made 1t almost impossible To pro-
oeed.
/ finally reached this camp, at the head
of Lake Linueman, about O'Clock in the
evening, having been eleven hours in cover
ing twelve miles, 50 thoroughly exhausted
that l could scarcely drag one foot after
the other. ! had letter from friend to
a gentleman who is in camp here, andI was
kindly received by him and made as com
Portable as possible in his tent As my
Indians had not arrived had no change Of
uncerclothing, and was forced to accept
his offer of suit OF WARM, dry under
clothing. and these, supplemented by half
a teacupful of rum, brought some warmth
back 10 my body. / remained in bed all
day yesterday, uoc thoroughly worn out TO
move. l had some fear of pneumonia, but
with the exception of some soreness, am
feeling fairly well this morning.
The sun has just made its appearance,
and old-timers say we are likely to have
good weather by tomorrow. This climate
is very treacherouS, changes being very
sudden. On the ocean side of the noun
tains it rains more than half the time,
and rains hard. On account OF the con
tinuous rains, the soil washes down from
the steep mountain sides, and wherever
there is level place you viii find
bog, into which a man or horse sinks
TO the knees at every step. This is one
of the worst features of the trails, and
makes it almost impossible TO use horses.
Many OF the boggy places have been cor
duroyedi and | suppose by next summer
the Skagnay trail, which is now practi-
cally impossible on account of the bogs,
will be in fair condition. A [ present the
condition OF affairs on both trails is ter
rihle, and hundreds of men are bound to
starve and freeze to death If they con-
tinue to come this way. 1 passed at
least thousand men between Dyea and
here, and not more than one hundred have
got their outfits this side OF the summit
Every fifty yards along the trail are piles
of goods. and suppose there are provisions
To the value OF $500 900 scattered along
the trail.
Prices for packing and for all kinds of
service are practically prohibitory for
most OF those who are attempting to get
IN; so many are carrying over their own
outfits. Some of the Indians carry as
much as 200 pounds at one DAD, and make
the trip from ID yea TO Lake LihdeInan In
two days, returning to Dyea on the third
day, thus making two trips a week
White men carry from seventy-five 10
125 pounds, and it takes man with an
adequate outfit month to get to the
lake. There are many here who have
been five or six weeks packing their out
fits over, and are not ready to start down
the river yet All who have come 10
SkagUay or Dyea within the last week
or so will have to come in without suffi-
cient outfit, pay 40 cents or more a
pound, or not get in at all.
There are about 200 men here and 10
tents. Probably three or four boats are
getting away each day, with from two|
to five passengers. There is one saw mill
here, with capacity OF 1000 feet a day.
and it has all the orders 1T can fill IN
three weeks. Lumber is $500 q thousand.
and rising. A great many whip-saw w their
lumber. two men turning out about a
hundred feet day. a boat carrying three
men sells for $3.50 TO $400, according to
the purse OF the purchaser.
Wages of carpenters are $3.50 day
and board. Everything i S high In price,
when you can get it at all. Whisky is
90 cents drink and So bottle, and
poor stuff at that. Alcohol is worth $40
gallon 1t makes ten gallons of Lake