The record-union., 1898-05-09
STICKeEN RIVER IS OPEN.
ENTIRELY FREE FROM ICE AND
RISING RAPIDLY.
Seventy-four Bodies Taken From
the Debris of the Stone House
Avalanche.

| VICTORIA B. c., May S.-The
| steamer Tartar returned yesterday
morning from her first trip to Skaguay,
making the round trip in seven days,
the fastest time on record. She had
! fifty-seven southbound passengers. One
of these was an Iroquois Indian, asso-
ciated with the Northwest Mounted Po-
| lice, w. Grove by name, who left DaW-
son City on February 10th and jour
neyed outward by way of the lakes and
rivers. He brings no news from the
interior that has not been already told
by previous arrivals from the Klondike
Capital.
Another passenger, j. j. Buzzesice of
Seattle, tells a story of having lost his
two companions on the way out from
Dawson, but the general opinion is that
he has never been any further north
than Skaguay.
News is brought from Wrangel that
the Stickeen River is open and entirely
| free from ice Mr.. Keith of the Mac
kenzie and Mann party, arrived at
Wrangel a few days before the Tartar
sailed, having made the voyage from
! Telegraph Creek in a canoe in three
days. The water was low, but rising
rapidly. The first of the river steam
ers to go up was the Ramona, which
sailed on Sunday last, crowded to her
utmost capacity. The vessel refused
passage to a great many. The steamer
Hamlin of the Canadian Pacific will
follow her on Wednesday next.
| Keith brought news that Frank
Claws, the Norwegian who is charged
with the murder of two British Column
h 6ric K on
and Burns, early in April on the Stick
cen River, has been captured by the
Canadian Mounted Police. Claws made
a complete confession, telling in detail
| how he killed his partners in their tent
for the sake of robbery and revenge. He
! is being held in irons at Telegraph
Creek, and may have been lynched by
this time, as the feeling against him is
said to have been very strong.
The police did not reach the scene of
the murder until ten days after it had
been committed, but they overlook
Claws eighty miles out on the Teslin
Lake trail On the way back to Tele-
graph Creek he made the complete con-
fession of his brutal crime. as stated
above, to officer Mclean. He turned
/ over the pocketbooks of the two muir
dered men. After reaching Telegraph
Creek he changed his mind about the
motive that caused him to kill the two
prospectors. At the hearing held be-
fore the magistrate he pleaded mot
guilty. to the charge and set up the de-
Tense that he was compelled to kill
Hendrickson and Burns because they
were going to murder him. Burns and
| Hendrickson were murdered in their
sleep and their bodies thrown into the
river.
Claws, who had started with them
for the Klondike could not be found,
but it was learned that he was fleeing
UP the trail on horseback
The lakes and the headwaters of the
Yukon are still covered with ice, but
| it is getting very rotten. The Skaguay
and Dyea trails are covered with slush,
warm weather having prevailed for
some time.
When the Tartar left Skaguay sew
! enty-four bodies had been taken out
of the avalanche debris 1t is thought
that but few more bodies remain en-
tombed
A story comes from Skaguay that
steaks from the carcasses Of the horses
killed on the Skaguay trail last fall
are being served in the restaurants
along the trails.