The San Francisco call., 1898-06-14
BY SAM w. WALL.


 the world has seen nothing since the Crusades so picturesque as this stam- pede into the north in search of gold Each season seems to develop a feature that forms @ more blood-stirring pict- ure than the preceding. When I came out over the ice in March I met a pro- cession extending In single file along the trail the whole length of Lakes Ben nett and Linderman. A few of the over-eager and energetic had alone reached the lower lakes. Every man was harnessed to a sled. Above every sled was spread a sail. The sails were made of all manner of things, from a flannel shirt or a w-ite sheet of can vas, through the scale of colored and striped to the black rubber blanket With the wind blowing with them fill- ing their sails and driving a heavy fall Of snow, every man, instead of pulling, exerted his strength to prevent running over the sled in front. Occasionally a sled got away and turning off the trail went careening over the wide surface of the lake until some obstacle over turned it.
 l thought this procession of sailing sleds, extending as far as one could see through the mist of snow in both di- rections, was the most remarkable thing the stampede would see. But there was still another more striking just at hand. When I left the lakes and began to climb up through the de- file of the mountains that forms the White Pass I still met this army, still with its sails spread, filing down. L the line, struggling now through the snow and over the rocks, here and there a sled with its load overturned or fallen into some deep creYasse and lost. For these the marching thousands had no time, but moved on past and down, the broken spaces being quickly closed and the sails showing again continuously, one above another, until, on the far summit, they stood in relief against the sky or were half obscured in the clouds.
 The winter that then encompassed everything is now confined to the mountains. On the summit of Chilkoot Pass there are still unknown depths of snow. At the scene of the great snow slide it is probably forty feet deep. The day before I passed over it the bodies of two other victims were taken out and it Is more than probable still others will be found there. Down below, at Dyea and Skaguay on the one side and at the lakes on the other, the snow has gone and the ice on the lakes is break ing and passing. The thousands who in March were hurrying over the ice in an effort to get as near the foot of the lakes as possible or were climbing down the west side of the mountains are now camped on the shores of the lakes, making ready to go down just the mo- ment the ice releases the stream.
 At the head of Lake Linderman is Linderman, the town. Fully 5000 peo- pie are camped there. Seven miles further down, beyond the little neck of water that divides LinQerman from Bennett, is the town of Bennett, where 5000 more are encamped. Between Lin derman and Bennett and down the whole length of the chain of lakes the shores are fringed with Klondikers and the whole region is one big boat yard.
 Sawmills at both Linderman and Ben nett and others at different points along the shore fill the screaming air with sawdust and turn logs into lumber at 25 cents a foot. All manner of boats are under construction, from the little dory designed for a man with a short outfit, to the big barge upon which horses anu Cdlllt NllH lOIlS OL Hay cilO other provisions are to be carried down to Dawson. The ice about the shores of both Linderman and Bennett Is melted and, with the direction of the wind, great foes move to this side and that At one time there may be wide avenue of water on the Bennett side that will invite the eager KlOndiker to launch his boat in the hope of getting a mile or so further on his journey.
 The wind shifts and slowly the wide avenue closes, the great foe touches the shore and all within the space is crushed Only yesterday a barge that started on it's way thus prematurely was destroyed and much of the twenty tons of provisions it contained was lost. Rotten as the ice Is and has been for weeks still the more reckless and wit less have ventured on it until within few days. Ferrymen have carried these out from the shore to the ice and they would make their way over 1t as far as possible. But so unsafe has the ice become and so many fatalities have occurred recently that 1t is no longer trusted, and those who insist on travel ing are taking to the side hills. This is very rough going as there is no trail and one must struggle over the rocks and through the underbrush with only general directions" for guide.
 A number of deaths by drowning be-
 
 ten ice are reported These reports, however, are very unreliable and place the number much too high. For in stance a story to the effect that seventy persons had been drowned by the crushing of boats in the ice gained wide circulation along the lakes. I find that there is no more truth to it than there was to the story of the death of Swift water Bill" On leaving Bennett to move further down Bill called back to g. friend If anybody asks for me just tell 'em I'm drowned" Out of that grew the entertaining obituaries of "Swiftwater Bill"
 That many have been drowned, how ever, is known. A man with a pack on his back was seen by people of Lin derlnan to drop through the ice a few days ago shortly after being ferried out end starting on a trip to Bennett A dog team and two of a party of four went through at Caribou Crossing a few days ago. The two drowned were Due Richards and Thomas Barnes. The other two of the party were ahead of the team and escaped. The sled was heavily loaded and went through. breaking the ice for such an area that the men attending 1t went down. The lead dog kept it's footing on the ice for some time afterward with the weight of the sled and the other dogs hanging