Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1898-04-20
An Interesting letter.

| Il
lady who, with her husband, is on
the way to Klondike. The letter is
dated Sheep Camp, March 29th:
will tell you some facts about this
country, and you may be sure / write
the truth. The weather is not so
very cold, but damp. Everything
clothes, bedding shoes aud all are
forever wet. Everybody has cough,
rheumatism or backache. Four to
seven people die here every day. but
very little is said about it; no one
cares, as all are trying to get to the
gold fields. We have no funerals;
they dig hole two feet deep in the
frozen snow and put the bodies in.
When the snow melts the native dogs
will eat them up, 1t costs IS a day
TO go to the hospital and the same
if the doctor visits your tent. There
are only eight doctors here and they
are doing well. The water is bad.
the canyon it comes from being full
OF dead dogs and horses. Many boil
the water before they use it.
Wood is very poor-not a dry
stick, bus there is plenty of it. Wages
$3.50 and board, or s. without board.
Meals, rs cents, beds the same, and
such bedsl No sheets nor pillow
cases. Bare walls, no washstand, a
candle to light you to bed. Whisky
20 cents, beer or cider l5c There
are several dance houses and plenty
women here, and an awful lot of old
men, One man of 70 packed all his
outfit to the summit himself. There
are hundreds of idle men who came
here expecting to make enough to
buy an outfit, SO they are dead broke.
Packing Is down to II cents pound.
They use horses, oxen, mules. goats,
donkeys, dogs aud men, Dog teams
consist OF | to Is dogs; the harness
is Just like horses, and some of
them look very pretty; but they do
beat them terribly, sometimes break
ing their bones. One man got angry
at his OK and cut him with knife
1t was awful. The crowd drove the
man (O off the hill Every nation on
earth is represented here. Right
here you can find the missing link
between man and monkey. They
have lost every particle of human
kindness and deeency. They never
speak kind word
Chilcoot pass is like climbing the
side of house. There are steps cut
in ice and snow and a rope runs
along tina side to hold on to so yon
wont fall That is to go up Com
ing down they sit down on their
pants and slide No man ever worked
as hard as they do here, and all they
have to eat is bacon, bread, rice,
beans and tea and coffee.
You should see me with my No. 6
rubber boots, short dress, boomers
and hood But | don't like it one
bit. We live in tent l0x12, brush
floor, sheet iron stove, trunk for ta-
BILE, two tree stumps for cupboard.
agate cups and plates, box for one
chair, foot of bed for the other, bed
on ground of tree boughs and few
blankets hard as rock, but sleep
Just the same. The language used
by the people here is horrible, every
word is foul oath.
Any person who is making a living
in civilization had better stay away
from this miserable place. would
not stay a minute but for Lou, and
| will not leave him after what have
seen here, | can make things little
more comfortable for him, and in
case of sickness take care of him,
and il he dies see that the dogs Go
not eat his body.
Here are the prices of things at
Sheep Camp: Baking powder 81 a
pound, granulated sugar lie, tea 81,
bacon 17c onions 25c, potatoes l5c,
butter, soc, round steak 30c, boiling
beef zoe, porterhouse 5Oc, bath ST.,
washing 25c piece, eggs 5Oc a doz,
empty coil oil can 81, loaf bread l5c,
pie 35c, doughnuts 2 doz. Zoe, orange