The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-31

he was quartermaster on the schooner
George w. Wright, which carried sup
plies from San Francisco and materials
to the workmen on the frontier of this
coast, Alaska and Siberia. OF course
there was no United States Alaska then:
1t was Russian territory. There were
several ships and schooners in the fleet
or the company and all were engaged in
the same business. The employees all
wore uniforms and deported themselves
In military style. The ship Nightingale
was the flagship of the squadron.
"REMINISCENCES OF AN EX-POsT-
MASTER.
Il was with the California State
Telegraph company in those DAVIS"
said eX-Postmaster Lyon. This COM
pany was the rival of the Western
Union and operated and controlled all
the lines west of Omaha. Well, it heard
ABOUT the trans Russian line, and to
capture some of the trade ran a line
up from Yreka, Cal, to Portland. and
thence to New Westminster. touching
Seattle. Then the other company
abandoned its scheme to build from
Portland and built from New West
minister northward toward Boring sea.
In later year the bonds of the state
company were placed on the New York
market and We're quietly bought up by
the Western Union.
But those were exciting days. In
my office in New Westminster I have
talked with the operator at Fort Stea-
ger, 600 miles northwest of Cariboo.
You see, the line was put in working
order as 1t was pushed along go that
communication was kept up continual
ly with the managers. A young fell
low, the operator, with one or two
others, wintered at Fort Steager, and
on clear days we would talk over the
wire and l would report what he had
to say to the officers. He had a try
ing time of it. Before he was left there
StOckade was built about the station
to keep away the Indians, and the
place was stocked with a few rifles
and ammunition, and there were port
holes to fire from. All winter long he
was besieged by Indians, who demand
ed that he give up the provisions that
he had in stock, threatening TO burn
the place. The men did not dare leave
the place all winter, and the operator
would tell me about it over the wire.
OF course, they were 600 miles away,
and we could do nothing, but they
sionally, and the perilous position
they were placed in affected us all. L
would always be glad to hear from
him, because 1 would not know from
one day to the other whether he would
survive, and the unpleasant pictures Of
blood and scalps were continually be-
fore us
VESSELS IN THE FLEET.
II was something of a youngster in
those days" said George w. Harris,
but l have d vivid recollection of the
days spent on board ship and of my
visits to Boring sea and to Plover bay
and Port Clarence. While nearly eV-
erything came from San Francisco, we
got our poles from Puget sound. You
see, in Siberia, from Plover bay to-
ward st. Petersburg, there is no stand
/ ing timber; not for some distance, at
least and most all the poles for this
extension, so far as built, came from
! Seabeck, from Adams, Blimm & Co.'S
mill. Mr.. Adams is now interested in
the Washington Milling companys
mill a Port Hadlock There were thou
sands of men working for the COM
pany, but | did not know much about
the work, except that among the ships.
| There were, in the fleet, the schooner
George S. Wright, the bark H. l.. Rud-
gers, the ship Nightingale, the schoon-
er Milton G. Badger, the bark Clara
Bell and the bark Onward. The On
ward was afterward lost.
THE Onward made a trip to Siberia
with supplies, with several others of
the fleet, and she went up near where
the Am0or river empties into the sea
in AMOR bay. She did not come out in
time, and, in trying to get out of the
harbor, was caught In the Ice and i'm
prisoned for the winter. When the ice
| began breaking up in the spring she
was wrecked, but no lives were lost"
The completion OF the Atlantic cable
and the success of the adventure was
great shock alike to the Russian Ex-
tension company and TO the employees.
When Mr.. Harris was asked how he
felt when the news was received to
stop work and abandon the venture, he
answered:
How did I feel? 1 felt that 1 had
lost my job! That was all that worried
me ABOUT that time. / had a soft snap
nothing to do but to draw my pay
when payday came around"
OPPORTUNITY WHICH MADE KEN
NAN.
1t was this great venture that af-
forded George KEENAN,, the noted lee
turer and magazine writer informa-
ton and materials which have since
made him wealthy and famous, and
given him place in the literature of
America. He was with the party that
worked from st. Petersburg across ST.
/ IBERIA to Boring sea, locating a route
for a railroad, as well as a route for
the telegraph line.
In June 1885, it was alleged to be the
avowed intention of the Canadian Pa
cific railway company to acquire the
old line. An Ottawa dispatch at that
time read:
1T is intended so it is claimed. to
repair the line and extend it to Forty
Mile creek on the Yukon. with branch
lines to Sitka and Juneau. The pros
pective great development of the Carl
boo gold mines will render the first part
of the line a good business proposition,
and it's ultimate extension into the
heart of Alaska is quite probable. In
deed, it is within the bounds of posi-
bility that not so many years VIII
elapse before the original idea Of the
projectors of the line is carried out,
Bering sea is crossed and connection
made with the trans Siberian line,
which will follow the 6 eat Siberian
railway"
Girls College In IL Blaze.