The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-09-27

The coast and geods.io survey party
which veat 10 Lynn canal tEan this c3ty
iaSs Sprgng under directions from the I nited
ctate5 government - secure faets ana As-
GFes fsgarolsig Be topography OF the sur
founding cuplTy. Is back again. /, has
accomplished much goeI work And secured
yalua0ie data for the g0venrSenI- j. n.
Fienaeg. WHO haG cAarse % the party. and
MS assistant, John N%Ison. vii leave for
Wa shngyoa tojay 10 make their report
They i4ks with them SsTeTa. hundred pno-
t1efaptlG plates. a1any u which are very
Valuable. 4s they give the government
correct idea OF the topography Or the high
sst eicya ,!ons. Beng supplied with other
Gata. gi3e government can produce accurate
maps OF ihe area which the camera Looked
upon. Tne difficulty OF Obtaining these
plates can pc judged when Il Is known that
from May !. i>.s anti the middle OF Sep
teuoef ;heFe Mere only eighteen days dur
ing which the tops II the mountains were
clearly defined. Al all other times the
clouds were - enwrapi around the peaks
,dal Il Was impossible 10 OBTAIN the focus
desired.
Mr.. F.emer's report viii be one OF I'M
usual interest TO the people of this coun-
try. as It vii! deal with the Topography of
the Chakat. klaheela. Dyea. khatsehin
and Skagway valleys. and the surrounding
dispute between Great Britain and this
country has never been definitely settled
and there is possibility thar the surveys
made by Mr.. Flemer and his party may BE
USED In that connection.
Nothing said About the boundary.
We went 10 Lynn canal" said Mr. ETe-
mer last evening 10 il Post-Intellgencer re-
porter at the Rain!sr-Grand hotel Ito DO
work for the coast and geodetic survey.
We were instructed TO work On the topog-
raphy OF the country. Nothing vas said
about the boundary. so It would be incog-
IN "A "A s.sse
II is pos~- bic that our data may be used
in determining the boundary line. but /
cannot say anything official about that.
Mr.. Nelson and myself were sent out last
spring 10 do the work We have just TN
isted. We came to Seattle and hired the
men necessary TO complete cur party. In
May and reached Lynn canal May T.
There divided. air. Nelson s party vas
made up as follows George A. Nc Elbow
ney, recorder; I'D a. McTavIsti. cook. and
and Orion Bird. helpers. BY helpers 1
mean those who carried instruments. etc.
With me were d. w. Eaton. acting re-
corder; d. j. Bedford. cook and the follow
Ing helpers: John Holmes. W. ]. Slnghaus
and Angus, Jotfman With the exception
OF Orion Bird vito secured position with
the Arctic & Pacific railroad. al of as re-
turned on the Rosalie last night. The men
were paid of today and the party has now
broken up.
After we divided on reaching Alaska.
way river valley and The kha ,seh.u river
valley. which is next below Skagway. !
took my party UP the Chilkat river and
valleys Both parties did a great deal OF
trianguiatlon work and took ga many TRAN
guiation Photographic views as possible
Of views we desired OF the mountain
peaks. because there were only eighteen
days during which the clouds broke away
entirely and LEFT the horizon perfectly
huge sentinels and I must say that the
views were grand indeed. This trianguia-
ton Photographic work was first intro
duced by the Canadians in the Rocky
mountains In 1884 and IL has now become a
very valuable adjunct TO cur work. From
the views obtained correct maps can be
made. showing the actual not imaginary,
topography OF the country.
Party's Narrow Escape.
Last June. while Mr.. Nelson's party
was going down the Khatsehin river. Il
met with an accident witch came within
an ace OF proving fatal to three members
Of the party. J. Wllams. NJ J. Welsh
and ". T. Newly were the unfortunates
and dare say they would not go through
the same experience again for many thou
sand dollars. In one Of the boats were the
three men mentioned The river IS a very
swift one AMI It Is hard 10 navigate. SID
denly the boat was swept against a snag
and the side stove in. The men we're thrown
irto the water bat Williams and Welsh
managed TO grasp hold Of the snag and
hold on until men on the shore rescued
them by means % a rope. Newly was not
SO fortunate The swift current swept him
az a htgh rate OF speed down TO what
seemed like certain death Being a good
swimmer and neryy. he managed 20 avoid
dangerous places, bit was unable 10 reach
shore Fully a quarter CT a mile ha was
carried along before he 20. hold Of a tree
ana managed 20 hold on un,i party came
70 his rescue.
In THE scciden, all the outfits and the
valuable photographs taken were lost. We
thought. however that we were lucky 20
e. OF without losing the lives 90 any os
aer men. All the rivers that We navigated
were very swift. and W. found tia = was
common Tor them - change their chan
res Just soon rs the water rises ire
sard liars will switch aroGrs. ard tn.s
makes Il hard matter 70 navigate than
safely.
- have not yet completed ny report ard
am unable % say word as = what 4 viii
contain could rot even allow auv one -
sec fha views We have taken Official IN
formation car only 30 given out by tho9a
a. hse,- shall a1 ai-arf