Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1898-01-21
A Couple of Interesting Personal Let
tiers Received in the City
Anent the Klondikers.
Account of the Immense Business Be
ing Done in the Coast Towns
at This Time.
Description of the Incidents Attending
the Loading and Departure of
a Vessel.
Where to Outfit.

r. D. Hoskins has an interesting let
ter from his mother, who is a resident of
Tacoma, Wash, and writes of the Klon-
dixie traffic there. An extract from the
letter will be of interest to aspiring
Klondikers in this vicinity:
Our city is filling up rapidly with
Klondikers Quitting for the Alaska
goldfields-the most marvellous camp
ever discovered. The old Rocky Noun
tain miners say that NJ place outfits
them 50 wisely, reasonably and carefully
as Tacoma and are loud in their praises.
One of our very best firms is that Of
Mclean and Mcmillan, we'll known in
Fargo and that section. They employ
the most experienced packers, which
experience is of infinite value in know
ing what Alaska climate requires.
AS you know, Tacoma is at the head
of navigation on Puget Sound, and all
Alaska steamers and sailing vessels
start from here, stopping of course, at
other points en- route. Wherever any
one outfits, he has to come to Tacoma
to start north, a point which is of very
great Importance in securing the best
transportation first.
Yesterday the magnificent steamer
"City of Seattle" arrived here-her
home port having made the run to
Alaska and back, calling at Dyea,
Skaguay, Juneau, Port Wrangel and
other points in less than nine days.
Her companion ship, the " City of
Kingston, :" was once one Of the palatial
Hudson river steamers. She was
brought around Cape Horn to Tacoma
without damage. Both are now part
of the feet of the Washington and
Alaska Steamship Co.," a Tacoma COM
pany. Our Alaska stove and sled fac
tories are working large forces of men
day and night filling outfit orders.
Woollen mills, tent factories and sleep
ing bag works can hardly keep pace
with our constantly increasing trade.
The sleeping bag is the funniest thing
you ever saw, but it is pronounced by all
buyers as just the thing.
Our December shipping report which
closed the year showed that over hall
of all the shipping of Puget Sound and
the entire state of Washington was done
at Tacoma. December was the largest
!. months business ever recorded in this
or any other port on the North Pacific
For the year ending June 30, 1897, as
shown by the figures compiled by the
U. S. government, shows that Tacoma
is by far the leading commercial city ir
this part of the world. 1t does more
business than all the other cities anc
shipping ports combined.
Being an old resident and warn
friend of beautiful city of Tacoma.
and desiring to know exactly the ad
vantages our outfitters have to Offer
Klondikers, I have made a personal in.
vestigation, with the above results
which l think may be of interest to you
and also your friends.
E. P. Moran, a brother of Frank
Moran, stenographer at the governors
Offices formerly a resident of Fargo, and
who is o in Seattle, sends a letter tt
his brother descriptive of the incidents
surrounding the departure of a vesse
bound for the gold fields, He says:
To give you some idea of the kind O.
cargoes the Alaska vessels take north
now and Of the interest people take il
the sailing, 1 will try to tell you my i'm
pressions of this one departure THU
morning and what l saw loaded anc
loading. 10 begin with there were abou'
5000 people on the dock, watching the
vessel finish loading. They were the
friends and rela ives of the ones who arr
going-in fact the crowd is down there
yet, as the vessel has not sailed. There