The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-30
HIS FORTUNE FROM EGGS.
"FrOzen Egg Man" brought BacL
Over $4,000 From KIOndike.

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Nearly every man who has come out
of Dawson during the past two months
or more has had something to say of
the "frozen-egg man." They met him at
various points between the Chilkoot
summit and the Yukon river, trudging
along with one companion and four
dogs, pulling cargo of frozen eggs
bound for the Klondike. Eggs at DaW-
son are worth 81 or more each, and this
high price proved such an incentive to
a Portland man that he resolved to
freeze lot of them and take them in.
The egg man has been the source os
no little amusement for the Klondikers
who have come out. They have fire.
Guently laughed at his foolhardy spec
ulatlon and often predicted his failure
He has been prolific landmark, and
one of the stock questions which Klon-
dikers have asked each other here has
been, Where did you meet the egg
man?' =
! The egg man is in Seattle. He has
sold his eggs and returned with a sack
which many a Klondiker might well
envy. His name is Charles Vest. Vest
left Portland last October on the steam
er Elder. Before leaving he obtained
LAB 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 They
weighed 2,025 pounds in cold storage.
T With one man to help him and his
dogs, Vest hurried the eggs up to Sheep
Camp and buried them in the snow
He put four cans in sack and tied the
sack over the dogs backs. Each dog
carried twenty eight pounds in this
way. Once over the summit the cans
were piled on sleds pulled by the dogs,
and the journey continued.
Several adventures befell Vest and
his companion on the way. On Dee 81
they stopped at a cabin and bought
supper and lodging. They bought some
moccasins of one Of their hosts In the
morning one can of eggs, now becom-
ing more and more precious, was gone.
Vest had his suspicious, but had no
evidence. He asked his host about the
missing can, but got o satisfaction. al
though his suspicious were confirmed.
There were others camping at the
cabin, and from these two or three
days later Vest o tains d corroborative
evidence as to the guilt of the sus-
pect. The thief had gone toward the
coast, but Vest followed him and took
him before the police. Confronted
with the evidence of his crime the fell
low confessed. The police decreei
that the man should be punished by
giving up his outfit to the man he had
Wronged. This was done and Vest got
$lS5 per dozen for the can of eggs, or
$1,110 in all.
At Thirty-m 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 pace
was not strong enough to support
Vests weight and he was forced to let
the line go. The raft was spinning
down the river at fearful rate, the
anxious owner running alongshore to
keep up with it. Suddenly a rock rim
med with ice appeared In the track of
the raft. In a moment the raft had
dived under the ice, the rider lad
jumped for his life to the rock, and the
cargo had spilled In the stream. The
stove and tent of the men sank, but
the sacks and egg cans went floating
down the stream.
1t was bitter cold, but the situation
was desperate. Vest did not ponder
long upon what to do. He plunged into
the stream and pulled out the sacks
one at time. To do this he had to
run along and into the stream for a
mile and a half. His clothes froze to
him, but he saved his eggs Then he
went back to his companion and threw
out a rope and towed him ashore. Three
men who happened to be camping near
by gave the two wet men shelter until
they dried and warmed themselves.
Sixty-five miles further down Vest
reached the Big Salmon, where Maj.
Walsh was camping. Maj Walsh want
ed supplies, and he bought Vests eggs
at 50 per dozen. The eggs yielded S.
I'll, which, added to the 81, ITO, amount
ed to 1921 as the total product of
Vests undertaking.