Rocky Ford enterprise., 1898-07-07
THE FROZEN-EGG MAN
A Portland Mans Business Ven.
ture In the Klondike.
He Cleaned Up = Good Round Sum
On What Seemed to the Miners
. Foolhardy Speculation
His Adventures.

Nearly every man VINO has come out
of Dawson during the past two months
or more has Ind something to say OF
the .frozer.egg man." They met him
Mt various points between the Chilcoot
summit and the Yukon river. trudging
along with one companion nnd four
dogs, pulling u cargo Of frozen eggs
bound for the Klondike. Eggs ut Daw-
son are worth one dollar or more each,
and this high price proved such an in
ccntivc to Portland man that he re-
solved to freeze lot OF them and take
them in. The egg man hns been the
source of no little mmuscmf mt Ter the
Elondikcrs who hare come out. They
have frequently laughed ut his fool
hardy speculation nnd often predicted
his failure. lie has been prolific land
mark, and one of the stock questions
which Klcndikcrs have asked each
other here has been: "Where did You
meet the egg man?"
The egg man Is in Seattle. lie has
sold his eggs and returned with sack
which many Elondikcr might well
envy. His name is Charles Vest. Vest
left Portland last October on the stca:'-
cr Elder. Before leaving lie obtained
1,743 dozen eggs. He broke and packed
them in tin cans holding one gallon
each. or six dozen. The cans were
sealed, frozen and put ON ice. TaSy
weighed a,C:5 pounds in cold storage.
With one man TO help him and his
dogs Vest hurried the eggs up to Sheep
Camp and buried them in the snow. lie
put four cans in sack and tied the sack
over the dogs backs. Each dog carried
2s pounds in this way. Once over the
summit the cans were piled on slcds.
pulled by the dogs, and the journey con-
tinued.
Several adventures bcfcll Vest and
his companion on the way. On Decen-
Ter 81 they stopped Mt cabin and
bought supper and lodging. They
bought some rnoccasinS OF one of their
hos's. In the morning one can OF the
eggs. now becoming more and more
precious. was gone. YES, had his sus-
picions. but had no evidence. lie asked
his host about the missing can. but got
no satisfaction. although his suspicious
were confirmed. There were others
camping at the cabin. ard from these
two or three days later Vest obtained
corroborativc evidence us to the guilt
VI tHt SUSPECT. thitA fsoi.S
ward the coast. but Vest followed him
and took him before the police. Con-
fro3teh with the evidence OF his crime.
the fellow confessed. The police de-
creed that the rlan should be punished
by giving up his outfit to the man he
had wrongcd. This was done, and Vest
got Sls5 per dozen for the can of eggs, or
s1,llO in all.
At Thirty-Milc river an adventure OF
different sort overlook the egg man.
a raft was built to float down the river.
Vest stayed on shore to line the raft
down, and his companion was aboard
the raft. The ice at one place was not
strong enough to support Vests
weight. and he was forced to let the line
go. The raft went spinning down the
river at II fearful rate, the anxious own
or running alcng shore to keep up with
it. Sud1cnly n rock rim.::r with ice
appeared In the track of the raft. In
a moment the raft had divcd under the
ice, the rider had jumped fer his life TO
the rock, and the cargs had spilled into
the swift stream. The stove and tent
of the men sank. but the sacks OF egg
cars went floating down stream.
1t was bitter cold. but the situation
was desperate. Vest did not ponder
long upon what to DO. lie Elungcd into
the stream and pulled ou, the sacks one
at n time. To do this ne had to run
along and into the stream for mile and
half. His clothes frozc 20 him, but
he saved his eggs. Then he went back
to his companion and threw out n rope
and towcd him ashore. Thrcc men. who
happened to be camping near by. grave
the two wet men shelter until they had
dried and warmed themselves.
Sixty-five miles further down Vest
reached the Big Salmon. where Maj.
Walsh was camping. Maj. Walsh want
cd supplies. a::d he bought Vests eggs
ut three dollars per Dozen The eggs
yielded sS,2ll. which. added to the
S1.11O, amounted to SG.3ai as the total
product of Vests sundcrtaking.-Scntt