Arizona republican., 1898-04-02
A Thousand KIondykerS in 6
 Bunch at Seattle
CONCERNING THE TRAILS
The Route From Skaauay Grown mpaSsable
In the Event af a War No Gold will be Brought Down the Coast This Summer to Tempt Spanish Priva- teerS.

Seattle, Wash, March 27.-(Special correspondence of The Republican.)- There has been a slight slackening of owing to the blocking of railway traf f1c, but today a thousand Klondykers are to arrive, and it is safe to say that two hundred runners have gone out to stores have sent out their entire force of clerks to act as runners. I cannot but be thankful that am not a Klon- dyker on that particular train.
 The situation at Dyea and Skaguay remains unchanged. A great many people have succeeded after tremen- dous labor in getting over the passes to Lake Bonnet, only to be stalled there. The ice on Lake Bonnet will not break up till May 20 and no single outfit can get ahead before then. Con sequently these poor fellows, in order to save the all-valuable grub. have been forced to work at packing on the passes. Not packing on animals packing on their backs. And this can not be called a good preparation for the long journey down the river. If any one of your readers wants to know what it is like, let him strap seventy pounds of material on his back and then climb up the Cancels Back. Then let him imagine a bowling wind and driving sleet and temperature of 20 degrees below zero and he may get a glimpse of the situation. Next month this will be different. It will be warmer and packing will be done principally on animals.
 There can be no question, believe, as to the superiority of the Dyea route. All the old Klondykers are going that way without exception. And from some of these I have gathered definite information as to the character of each trail. The Skaguay trail would be the better were it not for a num- Der of bog holes so deep that they cannot be filled up and almost impas- sable for animals of any kind. Enough horses and other animals sank into these quagmires last fall to fill ur any ordinary bog hole but they were as ready for business at the end of the season as at the beginning. They can. not be left to one side, for they occupy the whole available road space, in the nc CEo0 fore, to be a good place to leave alone
 At Dyea, the conditions are more encouraging. The trail goes up 6 creek bed from the town to the Scales This creek for a few days in summer is a roaring torrent, but during the rest of the year it is a very small stream with gravelly banks. Thus there is no difficulty in packing to the Scales-a point within five hundred feet of the summit But this distance of five hundred feet is very bad indeed lying at an angle of about 45 degrees It is not far and it can be overcome with patience It is safe to say tha efficient mechanical means of trans portation will be provided very soor for this distance and if not it can bt overcome by each individual who tackles it manfully Beyond the sum init all is plain sailing with animals to Lake Linderman. And there the hard part is over. At White Horse rapids the portage is only about three hundred feet, while Five Finger rap- ids are navigable. One difficulty will present itself seriously, however, al Lake Bonnet and that will be the ques- tion of lumber for boat building. The timber has already been cut off there to a great extent and must soon give out. However a responsible firm Oi this place, Messrs. Carol & Johnson have sent up steamers for Lake Lin. hermann and Lake Bennet-in sec tions of course. These are already a the Scales, by last advices, and by thi: time are probably well on their way over the summit. So the difficulty C.
 scanty boat material may be met by steamer transportation to the east enc of timber, and where saw mills galor, will probably be erected
 The amount of gold that will com, down this summer is generally esti
 mated at about S15, 1000 900. Mir. Wash
 burne, one of the managers of tn
 Alaska Commercial company, told m
 that the two big companies woul, bring down about S1O,O0O,OOO them selves, and more will come down b, other means to save. charges of ex change. which are light. If, however
 war should be declared with Spain
 MT. Washburne doubts if any gol