Red Lodge picket. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1889-1907, 1898-03-26
n L MBER 81.
he opened up tile present season by
plospectors even should not the great
stream OF travel be turned in that diree


ton.
There are already indications of y
desire on Tie part OF gold hunters To
abandon their luea af going to Dvea
and SkagWay. and to stke ont for the
Copper river and Cooks inlet. Be-
vond doubt this tendency Will rapidly
increase rs the crowded condition oi
tic passes becomes better known. AT
present the only facilities for reaching
Copper river and Cooks inlet is the
United States mail boat operated by
the Pacific Coast Steam Whaling Com
panv from san Francisco, the two
small steamers now on the route from
Portland to Copper river, and the small
steamer running from Port Townsend
to Copper river. These steamers are
already inadequate to meet the demand
and doubtless more will soon be put
on the ,ou ..
Atteut5l has also been turned in the
direction of the route by Fort Wrangel
and Stickeen river, Telegraph creek
and Trslin lake. but rs vet, facilities
have not been provided. Several
small river steamers are being CON
structed for the Siickeen river to ply
between Fort Wrungel and Telegraph
creek, which is the point OF disemhark-
alton for the overland journey of the
$50 miles to Lake Teslin. On this
stretch OF 100 miles it is proposed by 4
Canadian company to construct a rail
road the present year under special
grant from the Dominion parliament of
20, 600 acles OF land per mile, and
the time set for It's completion is the
tirst of September. 1t is thus seen
that, for this season at least, only such
travel can go over the Stirkeen route
;.a can be handled ny pack animals,
and this, OF course, cannot he very eN-
tensive. Possibly several thousand
people will attempt this route, with
the probability that :. large portion of
them Will make Il failure OF their
effort. Should this railroad be built
and Il sufficient light draught steamer
he placed on Lake Tesin and Iloota-
lnuua river. in another year the Stick
cen route would he the favotitc one.
Undoubtedly i great many who in
tend to 90 TO Alaska are waiting To take
the ocean and river route during the
Summer months, llele there is n
much uncertainty a on the passes.
The facilities have vet to he provided.
Possibly rs many as 80 small steamers
are under construction or have been
purchases, ior Use on the Yukon the
coming summer; bat navigation of that
river is expensive and dangerous.
Channels are harrow and t0rtUOus and
known only to Il few people. Fuel Is
v.'rv difficult to procure, and 1t is UNI
derS,ood that the companies already
operating on the river have secured all
that can he had ior several hundred
miles from the mouth of this stream.
These companies will not take miners
outfits, preirerring to take in goods for
their own stores and sell them to
miners after they get three. Conse-
quently miners wishing to take outfits
viii! have to depend on independent
. boats which promises tn he a very un-
e,tain reliance. Certainly, one going
by that route should not undertake it
unless the s}tortatlon company con
tracts with him to carry him clear
through to his destinations This, how
ever, is 4 matter about which more
Will be known q few months later. Az
stated above, the natural outcome uf
the present condition Of affairs would
be the opening up of new routes and
new objective points for the thousands
who will be disappointed in their ex-
pectaton of getting over the passes,
and OF getting into the Yukon country
by the present routes.
Alaska Minin. Notes.
The Alaska, Mining Record. pub
ishr;l at .]uuneau, in its latest issue
has the follow ing items brought out by
recent arrivals from the interior:
Messrs j. ID. Douglass and ID. Boyle
who lett Fort Yukon in December, are
the latest arrivals from the Interior
These gentlemen made q short stay 1T
Dawson City, leaving that place in
January They bring the latest news
from the gold fields, and while nothing
startling has occurred, they report :.
steady prosperity at the dig2ings and
anticipate that the spring clean-up will
aggregate 4 sum not less than = 5,00O,
600. AS Mr. Boyle puts it, the yield
last wear was somewhat more than 81,
COS. 900: al least 10 times the number
OF men are working this winter and the
output the coming spring cannot be less
than the sum named, after making all
allowances and observing all due con-
servatism in making the estimate
Almost every claim being worked in
the klondi!ie district is turning ont
fully as we'll as Was anticipated.
funlcr creek in particular is maxim.
rich returns, while EIdoras'o, Bonanza,
sulphur and Dominion creeks are
holding their own.
Dawson City is reported quite and
orderly. with little to break the winter
and MONOTONE The dancehouses and
gambling places inrnislt the only excite
nent.
The opinion prevails in Dawson that
the regulation providing ior the collec-
lion OF royalties will fail of enforce
ment, the idea being based upon the
fact that in the annual licenses issued
10 miners no mention is made of the
royalty regulation. This position,
however, is regarded by many as unten-
able and there is little doubt hut. the
miner will bc promptly muictea iii the
10 per cent royalty which the regulation
imposes.
a reduction in WAGES to 81 an hour
has been made by the holders Of some
oi the richest claims. notably the Bcrry-
brothers, but most employers still pay
ST. an hour for labor. As there are
altogether too many people III the
kionaiI,e district even now ani many
more at various points this side VIII"
will eventually reach Dawson it is more
than probable that Il general cut in
wages will be made before long.
Special Train for !, Bottle.
All sorts of special trains nave been