New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-11-29
PRICE THREE CENTS.
BACK FROM THE KLONDIKE
TWENTY-FIVE MEN FROM THE GOLD
COUNTRY REACH SEATTLE.


SHORTAGE OF PROVISIONS IN DAWSON
APPROACHING sTARvATIoN-A STAN
PEDE FROM THE GOLD DIS
rRIcr METROPOLIS.
Seattle Wash. Nov. 2s-The steamer City q
Seattle arrived here to-day from skaguay. She
had on board twenty five men who left Dawson
on October a. coming out over the Dalton TRAIL
They brought 100000.
They were divided into two parties. the last
one Of which left Dawson on October 16 The
men included Thomas Magee. sr., Thomas Magee,
jr.. OF San Francisco; Swift Water BIZ Gales.
Joe Boyle. William Huskins. F. Eckert. F.
Robertson. Fl. Raymond. Bert Mason. John W.
Brauer. W. H Chambers f. W. Pond, 4. ASH,
J. Gillespie. Thomas Wilson. P. McGraw. Jack
Dalton. William Leak Arthur Cellna, Joseph
Fairburn, ]. Smith, T. Warren and Jim
Stephenson.
All tell stories OF a food shortage In Dawson
that is almost a famine. The last person 70
leave Dawson was Jack" Dalton. When Dali
ton came away, the steamer Alice and Bella had
reached there loaded light 1t is said that the
Bellas cargo consisted OF whlskey and billiard
balls. She brought no provi,ions The Canadian
Government mounted police chartered the Bella
ard gave all who wished free passage to the
Yukon The Bella is reported to have sailed
about October II with two hundred men.
According to the statements made by members
OF the Dalton party there is likely to be trouble
of the most serious kind this winter in Dawson.
Billy Leak told one of the men In the party
ahead OF him. whom he met at Dyea, that all
the people talked about at Dawson was the food
famine. Men were gathering in groups and curs-
ing with might and main the newcomers that
were constantly arriving in the Klondike loaded
with scarcely any provisions The mounted
police were offering free transportation to the
grub placers further down the Yukon to Fort
Yukon, but to the countless hundreds who had
labored hard all through .he summer accumu-
lating a grubstake the prospect was uninviting,
to say the least.
ToSS-UP BETWEEN DAWSON AND FORT
YUKON.
The men figured that 1t would take all their
earnings in gold to pay their living expenses at
Fort Yukon during the winter, and that in the
spring they would not even have enough left
to pay passage money back TO Dawson. to say
nothing OF purchasing enough food to subsist
on until they could get started again. To these
poor fellows the offer of the mounted police was
no better than the prospect al Dawson of being
compelled to live on half-ratons until the supply
]
John W. Brauer. the United States mail-car-
riel, who left Dawson September -, said:
There is only one salvation for the miners who
are now at Dawson City; that is. for them to
undertake the awful winter trip from Dawson
TO Fort Yukon distance Of four hundred miles.
There is no food at Fort Yukon. there is none at
Dawson and just as sure as the stars shine. ter
rible suffering will be the fate Of the Dawson
! miner unless he leaves there before spring.
When left Dawson the men who were there
| had on average four months food supply.
! Some did not have a months supply, and some
| had four five. The restaurant closed the
+, night left 1t had been selling nothing but
oeefsteak, for which the hungry paid 81 80.
When the people realized that the boats
would be unable to get up the river, they knew
that starvation threatened 'hem. and the great
stampede began. The first to leave went to
| Fort Yukon l guess there were about ten in
! the party that left the first day. One boat came
! up from Fort Yukon with several newspaper
men aboard, among them sam Wall and a Mr..
! McGilvray. They brought the news that the
! Hamilton had unloaded all of her cargo and
| tried 10 set over the bar light. and failed In
! her efforts, though she drew about two feet Of
water This news increased the excitement. and
made the rush toward food centres all the
! greater.
POLLING UP THE RIVER
ION September II Bert Nelson. of Seattle. and
myself left Circle City and started to pole up
| the river to Dawson City, distance of three
! hundred miles AT the same time started
! from Circle City, the miners had about taken
| their departure. 1t took eleven days and
three hours to make the journey, arriving at
Dawson September ". Captain Hanson,
| Va, hAat
us into Dawson by about one hour and a haIf.
Hanson gathered the Dawson City miners to-
gether and made short speech, in which he
advised all who did not have provisions TO last
the winter TO go TO civilization or try ana reach
points in the Yukon River county where 1t was
known food could be secured.
THAT night was the greatest one in the MS
tory OF Dawson City. The miners, as soon dS
they heard the news, made EaSty PREPARATION 70
get out, and nghtfall saw the gold-seekers ana
men who can o-day sell out for many thousands
OF dollars, leaving by thousands for down the
river or up the river points. Inc little steamer
Kiukuk. which was to make the trips from Da"-
son to Pey, where the Dalton tran starts, was
brought into play. She was besieged by would
be passengers, VINO offered as hign as sou that
they might be aboard while she made her jour.
nev Of ,5 miles To Pelly. The kiuhuk left Daw-
son on the afternoon of september - with
I twelve or fifteen passengers
.'The next day made up party including
Herbera Raymond, OF Seattle; Bert Nelson. Of
Seattle; Harry Robertson. OF san Francisco and
myseIf We started w. the river in small
river boat, the same one we had used In going
rom circle City to Dawson. We lett Dawson
about D. m.. and were soon on our way up the
river "a. r> . , -.
while Jack Dalton left Dawson couple OF
davs later the situation ;here then was the
same as IL was when we left. The only thing
Won could possibly buy was sugar baking
powder. spices and some dried fruit. No flour.
bacon or anything of that kind could be pur-
chased from any Of the stores. simply because
they did not have them. So long as the stores
had any provisions prices remained the same.
Tba stores treated the men all right under all
circumstances never advancing the prices,
knowing a shortage was coming, and knew that
they mad but TO ask for high prices and receive
them. | can relate, however, an instance where
n nriyate party sold to a miner a sack Of -four
for S15 and bacon at 81 pound"