The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-01-31
THE ALASKA STAMPEDE
De Putron Gliddon Says 1t Is
Not Over Estimated.
IMMENSELYRlCHC COUNTRY
But There Will Be Thousands of Unfor-
Inmates Who Will Return From the
Land of Gold and Mosquitoes
Disguised and Broken.

Among the passengers who arrived on
the Short Line train yesterday after
noon was De Putron Gliddon, who re-
turned from visit to the Pacific coast,
where he has been looking up the Klon-
dixie business generally, and has writ
ten fully on the subject for II special
issue of the Denver Times. Talking
with Standard representative, he
said
Il do not think that the interest taxi
en- in the Klondike has been at all over
estimated though / believe the tremen-
dous stir and the huge exodus for that
country is both unfortunate and UNI
warranted.
The klondike is certainly rich be-
yond anything yet discovered, unless
everyone whom 1 have met from there
is an active member of the Liars club.
At the same time too many are going,
and most of them are not the right
folks for the business, anyhow.
During my stay on the coast
visited Vancouver, Seattle, Tacoma,
Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles
and san Diego. and met and talked
with over 100 who have recently re-
turned from the Yukon district, and
from what l learned ! believe that
thousands will go there this year, find
nothing but disappointment and mos
quitoes of the most warlilSe kind, and
surge back again thoroughly Disguised.
But the output of gold will continue,
and probably equal the amounts pro-
phesied.
1T is however, very pathetic to think
of those thousands upon thousands who
are selling all they have, and breaking
all home ties, to go to the unknown
land 1t seems almost a satire on the
tales about the returning prosperity to
find so many ready to leave home at the
story of possible wealth"
How did you find business in the
Northwest and on the COAST
In the Klondike outhtting line 1t is,
of course, good; but | heard no special
talk otherwise. The principal thing
| that struck me is the alarming unrest
| that is manifest when one talks with
| those who are called the working class
es. You notice this especially when
! anything that suggests the encroach-
ments of capital is made public.
Take the case of the IA department
| stores in Denver that had the gall to
attempt to dictate to the newspapers
| of that city. Well. / was in Portland
| and Seattle when that fight was going
| on, and talked with many laborng men
on the subject. They We're all of them
| posted on the question, and not a few
| of them expressed themselves vigor-
| ously on the subject of the advisability
! of labor unions all over the land using
| combined efforts to discountenance the
increase of department stores.
One sensible. level-headed union
| leader put it this way:
| The more men who are indepen-
dent, that is, work for themselves, the
better for the country. There cannot
! be true independence of the American
| style when a man is one employe OF
! thousand or so, and depends for his liv-
| ing on the caprice Of some irresponsible
man. The only way to get around this
| is to have very powerful labor unions,
| and demand that only union clerks be
employed in department stores, and
where those are not employed, then all
union men should leave them alone.
| Another thing that | noticed is that
| this laundering step of the department
store people of Denver has stirred up.
even in distant cities. the question of
| taxing these businesses pretty stiffiy;
| and | miss my guess If the laboring
men of the coast let this drop very
| easily"
Did you hear much about the silver
| question"
Yes, a great deal l was surprised
to find how much intelligent interest is
! taken in ii on the coast"
Was there any talk about the Stick
cen route?'
Not very much this side of the line.
because the folks in the Klondike out
| fitting ports of this country realize that
| when that route is open IL will mean
| big decrease in the number of those
The new route is the all-Canadian
route II begins at Vancouver. and is
| a steamer passage by ocean ship and
| river boat to Telegraph creek. which is
at the end of the Stickeen river. From
! there is II stretch of land $50 miles
across, which | was told in Vancouver
| is what might be termed rolling coun-
| try. The grade is good, with few ex
| ceptions. Across this the new railroad
is to be built At the end of the rail-
l.
steamers, travel down Lake Teslin and
into the Hootalinaua and Lewis rivers,
which pass on into the Yukon river.
There will be no Chilkoot pass. no
dangers worth speaking of. no hard
ships, and as for time of transit, 1t will
occupy seven or eight days. 1t is hard
to say whether the Canadian Pacific
railroad is in the new railroad deal, but
| YOU can feel sure that even If they
don't happen To be drum major they
are not playing second cornet in the
band
Did you notice many fakes and
frauds I'm connection With this rush?'
Yes, quite a few. The chief fraud is
the untiring lying that Is going on as
to the matter of Canadian customs
duty. Scores of the merchants in the
Klondike Quitting ports know that
if the Klondikers We're aware that they
would have 10 pay duty they would
buy their goods in Canada and save
this. So endless lying is resorted to.
III is the most mean, rascally and
scoundrelly fraud going; for ii works
| this way: A man has just so much
money, and he is told that he has no
duty To pay; and also that no supplies
of any kind can be bought in the Yukon
district except at famine prices. He is
further told, as he is in the circular of
the Tacoma Citizens klondike commit
tee, that If he has his outfit. grub and
pack animals. he can get to Dawson
without money. There are no landing
charges and no duties on ordinary out
fits such as miners need. And. belies-
ing all this. he spends practically all
his cash before boarding the steamer
The result is that when he gets TO Ia
gish lake and meets the Canadian Gus
toms officers. he finds that everything
| NAYS duty the average being ~ pei