The record-union., 1898-01-23


ment relief expedition, all agree that it
Will be impossible to forward supplies
down the river on the ice. In the first
place, the Yukon River between Daw-
son and Pelly is so rough that dog trains
can haul but a small amount Of pro-
visions-barely enough fer the party &C
companying them-and the route is i'm
passable to horses. Then the Lewis or
Thirty Mile River is still open, and it is
with considerable difficulty that dog
teams and men on foot can make then
way along the shores. The winter in the
interior up to the present time has been
remarkably mild, and it is the opinion
of old timers that Lewis River will not
fl eeZe over this winter.
| Inspector of Mines James McGregor
who left Skaguay some weeks ago with
seven tons of provisions and fifteen
horses, has only reached White Horse
Rapids. 1t will be impossible for him
70 take the horses down Lewis River
unless he can build RATS and float them
down the river, and this is confessedly
a hazardous undertaking. He and his
party are now building a road around
White Horse Rapids, and are making
fair progress.
| Among this weeks arrivals was a
committee representing the miners from
the Klondike country, en- route to OF
tawa where they will interview the Ca
madam Government concerning the
mining laws and endeayor to secure
their amendment. The committee is
composed of DR.. Wills, formerly OF
Belleville, Ontario, for the past three
years Northwest mounted police sur
geon at Dawson; Max Landreville, an
ex-memher of the Canadian Parliament,
and E. j. Livernash of San Francisco
The members of the committee de-
clined 10 discuss their mission, stating
| that they did not feel inclined to make
| any statement for publication un-il
| they had conferred with the Canadian
| Government. 1t is understood. how
ever that they have With them petit
tioa bearing several thousand names,
asking for revocation of the royalty
clause, the alternate claim section, and
that claims be restored to the original
siza-.500 feet.
Speaking of the food situation, DR..
Wills said IF we can get food into
Dawson by the first water the situation
will be relieved. 1t is no use 20 try to
sled provisions down the Yukon 20
Dawson: it cannot be done, owing TO
the fact that the Lewis River is still
open. and the great ridges of ice which
block the Yukon below the Big Sal
mon. # the American Government
wishes 1c send in supplies to its people
III Dawson, the only feasible plan is
to freight supplies to the feet of La
barge on the ice, and have them ready
| to ship down the river as soon IS nav
igation opens, probably about the 10th
of May.
There will be much suffering ia
DawSun-there always is. Food VIII be
scarce, and scurvy will break out but
the situation will be no more serious
than it has always been at that time
of the year"
The question of the right Of the Ca
madam customs officers to levy duties
on American goods at Lake Bennett
was explicitly raised by Will Thorp, a
well-known cattleman of Washington.
In November last Thorp drove thirty
head Of cattle from Skaguay to Lake
Bennett, where he slaughtered them.
The question of duty was not broacned
until a few days ago, when Mr. Thorp
received a communication from Cap
| tain f. G.. Wood, Inspector of the
Northwest Mounted Police, stating that
he had been requested by the Collector
of Customs at Tagish to call upon
Thor2 tc pay the duty, SIG head
Thorp was also told that in case of
refusal TO pay the duty Captain Wood
would send men to secure the beef, or
| as much Of it as was necessary to cover
Z ba l-tt Csat1 in
Wood whose headquarters are tempo
rariiy located here. and formally refus-
cd 10 pay the duty demanded. on the
ground that the cattle were killed in
American territory, and not in the Ca
madam Dominion. as claimed by the
Canadian officials. He also objected TO
the duty Of SIG per head. claiming that
ii Il We're legal for the Canadian custom
officials to collect duties at Lake Ben-
nett in this case, the duty should be
levied on dressed meats. and not upon
live cattle
Ihorp will lay the matter at once ,e-
! fore the United States Government
and in the meantime he has warned the
I; Canadian customs officials nct to seIza
| his beef until such time as he can re-
ceive a reply to his communication from
| Washington. ID. C.
| Mr.. Thorp claims that, according to
survey made by the Dominion Land
| surveyor. William Ogilvie, Lake Ben
nett IS clearly within American terri
| tory, and that the Canadian Govern
ment recognized this when they estob-
/ lished their custom house at Lake Ia
1 gish. That point being clearly within the
/ Canadian Dominion. Recently the Col
| lectoc Ct Customs at Tagish made a
tour of Lakes Bennett and Lindermau
and collected duty upon the outfits of
Number of people who are camped
! there for the winter
Daniel Lopez, barber about 26 years
| Of age, was found in a emi-conscious
condition on the summit Of White Pass
last Thursday afternoon. He was
taken to neighboring cabin. but died
before reaching 1t. Lopez left Skaguay
on Tuesday for Lake Bennett. where
he proposed 10 open a barber shop. He
/ had dog and a sleigh, on which H..
carried his blankets and provisions.
/ Whom found on Thursday afternoon ne
was lying in the snow with his .an.
! over him. Nearby were his blankets.
| which had not been unrolied. How
long he lay there can only be surIalisea.
as when he was found he was delirio,ls
When found his dog .as guarding him.
and i Was with some difficulty that the
animal was beaten off. Lopez's body
was brought 10 Skaguay and buried.
Lopez came here last August from San
Luis Cbispo, Cal, where his relatives
reside.
Colonel w. f. Fisher of San Fran
cisco, who was reported to have been
drowned in White Horse Rapids about