The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-01-16

ca r-ra1~fseo ras bos stes CT her Kion-
agsa aggffttfnr abilities and we naturally
wished 20 oHtat II ctr home town. Bofn
81 Us have had experience IN mining De-
fore and knew about what We wan'en-
Wien we showed our iis. 70 the first uaer-
chant ~ visited there we're q number OF
things he cid rot have in stock az All
Some az tfe articles we wanted he said ne
had considered buying. buf was arraid
Of having them left on his hands. so ne
had not placed his order There were
oEher things that he did not know properly
belonged To a Klordfke outfit We went
from store 10 store finding the same state
Of affairs and finally gave up all hopes OF
outfittsng In San Francisco.
There is not a single pair az rsoccasins
for sale IN San Francisco. or II there -,
we could not find any after dilisent
search Then take for instance other 1nes
Of Alaskan footwear The proper KIND OF
shoes and boots for the northern country
which Gre sees heye in every store wih-
dow. were not 10 be had al any price. vi
course. they had boots and shoes bur not
the kind that have been tried in the min
Ing country They may do all right. hut
81 going into a proposition, win all the
dangers Of 4 year on the Kiandike, one
does not want rs take risks. In other
lines the same state CT affairs existed IL
the dealers had The articles wanted az all,
SHrt ware OF an UNKNOWN G1AHty difN IA
3 very limited quantity
Read What oue Merchant said.
'.Ali this struck ME as rather strange
for a town the size Of CALIFORNIA; largest
city ! asked one Of the merchants how II
harperef that hIs stock OF Alaska goods
was 90 small II he expected TO outfit so
MANY people. and why IL was that so
many articles We wanted were missing?
Ills reply was significant He said: How
are we going 10 tell how many people We
VIII outfit? Do you think | am going 70
stock up with lot If stuff that Will be
dead goods as soon as this Kiondike ex-
element wears off7 II a big rush comes
our way 7 guess we will find enough stun
70 sell ard II IL d0esn't We won't lose any
money ny being careful at the start You
k{oudikfrs never know what you want,
any way and 7 am afraid 10 buy big
stock for fear Of having Il left on my
hands This Is the prevailing opinion
among business men, all seeming to be
afraid TO invest for the Alaska trade. All
the hlondikers who go north from San
Francisco have 10 change boats at this
port anyway and the natural result will
be that a great many will outfit here
after failing to get what they want below.
I'm our dealings with Seattle merchants
yesterday We found them very courteous
In every way. They helped us secure our
seemed TO give themselves entirely over to
oar interests. When X came to talking
tItiitting they knew what we wanted be-
fore We spoke and had Just the things
needed I'm quantities that would give
cautious San Francisco merchant
shock. When ii comes to ques-
ton OF prices goods can be pur-
chased cheaper in Seattle than in
san Francisco. OF course. one must take
into consideration quality. and the fact
that much OF the goods one buys here is
specially prepared for the Alaska trade
II one takes the quotations on boots or
crackers without going into the quality
ar the fact that the articles or goods were
especially prepared for the north San
Francisco may seem to be the cheapest
Even then II Is only In a very few things
btner things can be purchased cheaper
here than below. even when California
prices are quoted on inferior grades. have
no hesitancy In saying that If prospective
miner comes TO Seattle to outfit and goes
10 any one OF the many reliable firms he
vii get what he wants in the quantity he
desires and at prices fully as low. If not
lower. than at any other QUILTING point
But with most of them. as with us. il Is
not question of price so much as getting
the kind of an outfit that will not fail a
isian in an emergency"