Mexico weekly ledger., 1898-08-18

nent in the rigging could be seen q
a number Of men, m of whom was
pointed out as Joaquin Miller, the
gray-haired and lame newspaper cor
respondent. "There," said Mr.. Head
ington, scan be een a man who Is
largely responsible for the influx. He
was sent there as a paid newspaper
correspondent and most of his arti-
cles to the American press were bare
faced exaggerations, utterly devoid of
truth. The scheme originated in Daw-
son and nearly all the coast cities
we're in league with the press
throughout the country to deceive the
people. The first excitement was
brought about by "~salting" favored
sections.
In one instance a prominent pros
pector was himself let down into a
mine. The pan OF dirt brought out
yielded from 500 to $1,000; a second
trip revealed paying dirt worth near
" as much, and then the wild rumors
begun to take wing. The Canadian
government was more largely bene-
flied than anything or anybody else.
1t reaped a harvest.
The great NOV slide Of April 3, on
the Chilkoot pass, in which 81 per-
sons were crushed to death, was de-
tailed at length by Mr.. Headington,
who vas upon the scene and who
conducted the funeral services of the
unfortunates. Sheep Camp vas an
improvised morgue and sorrow was
depicted everywhere on the counte-
nances of the living. The dead were
crushed under an avalanche of snow
and ice which came down from the
mountain side upon the left hand side
of the trail at apoint midway between
the Scales and Stone house. The
place where the slide occurred is
some five miles above Sheep Camp.
The last vestige of the trail in the
vicinity was wiped out of existence.
Two thousand men were digging In
the snow to recover the bodies.
MI, Headington said to get his out
fit Is miles he had to make trips that
aggregated so or 100 miles. From
Dyea to the top of Chilkoot Pass was
one continuous town of tents and
storehouses of goods. There were
10000 sleds drawn by men, women
and children, horses, mules, oxen,
burros, goats and dogs. From the
"Scales'' to the top, three quarters
of a mile, packers get &c per pound
for carrying goods. Steps were cut
in the snow and ice and a rope was
stretched along the side to hold on to.
1t was death to a man to lose his
footing.
The navigation of the many lakes
and rivers, White Horse rapids, Five
Finger rapids, Rink rapids, the great
Yukon river and the g voyage
were gil Interestingly told of, besides
the habits of the Indians and the GUS
toms prevailing in their villages.
The speaker said there were 10000
men in camp at Sheep Camp when he
was there and that it was the dirtiest,
ilthiest place on the face of the earth.
Mr.. Headington spoke for an hour
and a half and his effort was so highly
entertaining that perfect quiet reign
ed throughout; as the saying is, the
dropping of a pin could have been
heard. Mr.. Headington could not tell
all the interesting facts connected
with his trip in a dozen lectures. He
will talk to the people of Auxvasse
next Saturday night.
Mr.. Headington does not regret
having made the trip. Although he got
no gold, mol did he see any prospect
of becoming a millionaire, he stored
away a fund of information which he
considers well repaid him for the
long and perilous journey, but undel
no circumstances would be agair
undertake the trip, which is fraught
with danger to life at every turn aftel
| civilization is left behind.