The San Francisco call., 1898-02-26
THE LUCILLE SAILS AT LAST Government Expedition Leaves Nanaimo for
 Alaska. End of Vexatious Delay At tended by Heavy
 Expense. For Eight Days the Vessel Has Been Detained Awaiting a Tugs
 Arrival.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

SEATTLE, Feb. 25.-The vexatious wait for a tug which has detained the pack train of the Klondike relief expe- | dition at Nanaimo for the last eight | days is now over and the ship Lucille, | with her interesting cargo of army offl- | cers packers, mules and Government supplies, is on her way to Alaska. A | telegram received here to-day an- nounced the arrival at Nanaimo of the 1 tug Monarch. The ship was 1mme- | diately made ready to proceed on her | important mission to the north i'll tow of the Monarch.
 Thus ends another of the introductory chapters of the history of the Govern ment expedition for the relief of the
 men who may be reasonably supposed
 to feel even now the dread invasion Of Want-men known to be battling un-
 successfully against scurvy induced by lack of variety in their food. From the
 first there has been delay following de- lay, until it seemed that the train on
 which so much depended would never
 get under way. Even after sailing from
 this port, after detentions sufficiently
 diScouraging, the vessel immediately
 on striking British waters, was tied up
 once more for what promised to De an
 indefinite length of time.
 The 112 mules, whose condition IS or such importance to success in crossing
 the passes, had suffered from conflne-
 ment in the stalls of the ships deck,
 and 1t was found necessary in Nanalmo to unload them and. put them into a
 warm barn.
 The transfer of the mules from ship to
 shore and back again is not child's play. It requires some time, and there is always danger of loss through 1n-
 jury to some of the animals Hardly are they settled ashore than the tug Monarch appeared, and then came the
 change from shore to ship. The work
 of reloading the stock was begun this
 morning and completed in the after noon By this time the Lucille is well on her way, providing no unforeseen ac- cident has occurred.
 All this delay has cost some one thousands of dollars; it has been re- sponsible for a loss that can hardly be calculated in holding back an expedi-
 tion on the early arrival of which in
 Dawson depends the physical well be- ing of hundreds of miners. Further cost is possible through the arrival Of the
 pack train at Dyea after the snow and
 ice have become so SluShy as to render
 the use of pack mules impraoticable,
 and the animals themselves worthless.
 It seems difficult to place the respon- sibility. Havner & Co, charterers or the
 Lucille, claim that the Government un-
 derstood perfectly that there would be
 a wait at Nanaimo.
 "The Government has no cause for
 complaint said MT. Havner to-day. Before the Lucille sailed on February
 16. we went to Captain Robinson and
 told him we could not promise to get the party to Dyea at any definite date.
 We told him that it might take forty five days to reach there; that we could
 have the tug Monarch only as far as Nanaimo and must wait there to eaten another tug coming down from the north. If they wished to go by some
 other vessel we offered to unload their stuff We even went so far as to in
 sist that they should pay the expenses of keeping their men and mules at Ma naimo during such time as we might
 be compelled to remain there. Every thing that could be suggested to eX-
 pedite the departure of the Lucille from Nanaimo we have since done. since she left here we have been under an
 expense of $500 a day, so you can read ily see our interest in getting the eXpe- dition landed In Alaska as early as pos Sible.
 we have a contract with the Puget Sound Tug Company, which controls practically all the large tugs on the sound. to take the Lucille to Alaska. AS a matter of fact they have apout half again as much business as thelr | boats can attend to. l think now, now
 ever. there will be no further trouble. "Since the ship has been tied up at
 Nanaimo Captain Robinson Jr., local
 representative of the War Department, has tried in every way to hasten the expedition on it's way. Since no tug could be secured at first he thought of sending a United States revenue cutter to tow the Lucille"
 At the time United States District Attorney w. R. Gay did not believe that this could be done, but later changed his opinion There was also some thought of bringing the Lucille back to | American waters and transferring her freight and passengers to some steam ship. The chief objection to this was that no vessel with space enough to take the entire pack train with the sup plies for the expedition could be l found It was that fact, indeed, which | induced Captain Robinson to recom- mend the sending of the train and SUD-
 plies by the Lucille. The original con- | tract, as will be remembered, was on the steamship Signal, but delay in the | arrival of that boat from Alaska caused | the cancellation of the agreement. | The Government has stipulated tC
 pay Havner & Co. S6000 for the use o1
 the Lucille on this voyage. portion
 of the amount has already been paid
 It is probable, according to good au-
 thority, that the payment of the bal
 ance of the s6000 will be refused by the | Government, and in that case Havnel l & Co. will be forced to enter suit.
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