Evening star., 1898-09-16
TRIP T0 ALASK
Nv
Inspector Clum I. Tells Of His Long
Journey.
POST OFFICES, ESTABLISHED
Some of the Interesting and Ex-
citing Scenes.
I II E g OLD F E L D S

T H E GOLD FIELD S
The clerks in the Post Office Department
are bowing low to Inspector John p. Clum
and addressing him as Pooh Bah. The
name, they claim, is apropos, since Inspect
or Clum was recently possessed of the
authority usually vested in the Congress,
the President and the Postmaster General.
All this came through his select ton last
March as the special inspector of the Post
Office Department for duty in Alaska. The
desire of Uncla Sam to assist his people in
every way possible led to the appointment.
Word had bean received of the great crowd
OF prospectors about to enter the klondike
leSions in the spring. and realizing the
necessity of adequate postal arrangements,
1t was decided to send trusted official into
the region. No one knew the conditions,
and the requirements of the service We're
an unknown quantity. So it became neceS-
sary, IN ordering an inspector to the far
northwest, to endow him with absolute
authority. He was, in reality, the whole
thlng, with powers to create post Offices,
appoint postmasters disc charge; in fact, do
everything which, in his power, would re-
dound to the good of the service. Incident
ally, ne Travelled over 10000 miles in Alas
i>'' anu piooSHI Ddch d record Oh lllI teen
new post offices. This was all done within
the space of six months Had he been
handicapped by government red tape, little
OF this would have been accomplished, and
the excellent mail service he was instru-
mental in establishing would have still
been embryonic.
Tells of His Trip.
Inspector Clum arrived yesterday, and
looks well and hearty after his rough ex-
perience in far-awaV moss SaSSion n
conversation with d reporter of The Star
today he said:
Yes, L am glad to get back homo. My
trip has been a very pleasant one, however,
ara WlthStOOd the rigorS of the north bet
ter than l anticipated. The department
here IN Washington finding it could not
handle the conditions and emergencies of
the mails SO far away, and handicapped by
the lack of telegraph and transportation
facilities, concluded to send a representa-
tive to the region with almost autocratic
powers. This was necessary, since We
knew nothing of local conditions and i'm
mediate action might be necessary. This
proved to be the case, and had | not been
gwen authority to act without reference
10 the department much of the good work
l accomplished might have gone for naught
l LETT W Washington March .. My first work
IN Alaska was complete reorganization
OF the service in the Southeastern part of
the territory. At Skaguay and Dyea |
found the mails in wretched state. They
We're conSested, and had accumulated in
large numbers. 1t was practically the end
OF the mail service, with no arrangements
for supplying the people in the interior
with letters from home. This conges ton
was due to the rush over the pass and it
was some time before 1 could straighten
things out. Thousands of prospectors were
going over White Pass to lakes Liudermann
and Bennett. This pass is on the trail
fiom Skaguay. The Chilcoot Pass, which l
VIII refer to later, is on the tail from
Dyea These trails converge at he lakes
and 1t is here you see the creates activity
The prospectors push on for these lakes in
the face of every obstacle. 1t is their ha-
ven of rest. Here 1t is that the boats are
constructed to convey the prospeGtor down
the Yukon to the gold fields Tt ere IS an
abundanca of timber, and | was struck with
the excellent boats these people turned out.
Many of them had never handled a saw in
their lives, yet the designs were good and
the craft thoroughly substantial
Fatal Avalanche.
10 go back for moment to Staguay l
was treated here to a surprise The town
Is small, to be sure, but not unlike the min
ing camps in the west which L visited in
the seventies. There seemed o be an
abundance of food on hand and quite de-
cent meals could be obtained for 80 cents.
Earlier in the spring l was informed prices
had been excessive, but the arrival of large
quantities of stores sent them down. on
this size of the Chilcoot Pass | established
four offices. One was at Haines, near the
Presbyterian Mission, another at Pyramid
one at Canyon City and one at Sheep
Camp. This last named office il. the last
station just before the big Chitoot Pass
l found between 600 and 5000 people
camped here. 1t was in this Ioc ality that
the fatal avalanche occurred which killed
over fifty people. l arrived two Gays after
the slide and assisted in the rescue of the
bodies. There were upward of l.5O0 men
engaged in this work of rescue and not
one ever dreamed of compensation. They
worked day and night for the rescue of
their fellow man. Fifty-four men were
taken out. They were removed to Sheep
Camp, and some sent to Dyea for burial
The scene of the avalanche is a magnificent
canyon between 400 and 500 feet wide
Great mountains of snow rise almost per-
pendicult.r each side. There had been
reports of snow sliding for several days
and the people who We're camped in the
pass began to move out. Those who were
caught were just beginning to break camp
No one can have any conception of the
power of a saow slide. The one to which
| refer came a mighty torrent down the
mountain side and swept with the velocity
of the wind through the pass, completely
blocking it, and spent its force on the
other mountain side The snow was slight
ly damp and packed in a compact mass
The best idea can give you of it's condi-
ton is to tell of the rescue of one of the
bodies. We had been digging for some
time when one of the men called out that
body had been found. 1t was carefully
uncovered. and the snow removed Every
part of the body was free except the right
foot, and so firmly was the snow packed
that it could not be lifted out until it was
also uncovered. Those poor fellows who
lost their lives never suffered moment S
pain. They were instantaneous smother
ed. Think of thousands of tons of snow
forty feet deep being piled on a human
being.
Some Rescued Alive.
Strange as 1t may seem, three or four
men were rescued alive They had fallen
within the protection of some object and
by some miraculous power escaped. 1 re-
call one fellow was under a whisky bar
rel, another under a shelving rock while
| the third was under his tent, which was not
disturbed. The big avalanche was followed
by a severe storm, and when l climbed the
Chilcoot Pass a severe snow storm was
raging The thing to do in Alaska is to
keep the feet and hands warm. Mine were
bundled up snugly in several pairs of gloves
and three or four sets of stockings An
overcoat is a handicap Canvas lined cloth
ing keeps out the wind better than any
other material l know of. The great hard
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