The daily sentinel., 1898-12-31

hlb
Nearly every man who has come out
of Dawson during the past two months
or more has had something to say of
the "frozen-egg man." They met him
at various points between the Chilcoot
summit and the Yukon river, trudging
along with one companion and TOUR
dogs, pulling a cargo of frozen eggs
bound for the klondike. Eggs at Daw-
son are worth one dollar or more each,
and this high price proved such an in
centive to a Portland man that he re-
solved to freeze Il lot of them and take
them in. The egg man has been the
source of no little amusement for the
Klondikers who have come out. They
have frequently laughed at his fool
hardy speculation and often predicted
his failure. He has been prolific land
mark, and one of the stock questions
which Klondikers have asked each
other here has been: Where did you
meet the egg man?"
The egg man is in Seattle. He has
sold his eggs and returned with sack
which many Klondker might well
envy. His name is Charles Vest. Vest
ltlI idst oStoDSi oh ohS oesu'h
err Elder. Before leaving he obtai:.ed
1,743 dozen eggs. He broke and packed
them in tin cans holding one gallon
each, or six dozen. The cans were
sealed, frozen aud put on ice. They
weighed 2,025 pounds in cold storage.
With one man to help him and his
dogs Vest hurried the eggs up to Sheep
Camp and buried them in the snow. He
put four cans in sack and tied the sack
over the dogs backs. Each dog carried
% pounds in this way. Once over the
summit the cans were piled on sleds,
pulled by the dogs. and the Journey con-
tinued.
Several adventures befell Vest and
his companion on the way. On Decem-
her 81 they stopped at a cabin and
bought supper and lodging. They
bought some moccasins of one of their
hosts. In the morning one can of the
eggs, now becoming more and more
precious, was gone. Vest had his sus-
pic1ons. but had no evidence. He asked
his host about the missing can, but got
no satisfaction. although his suspicious
were confirmed. There were others
camping at the cabin. and from these
two or three days later Vest obtained
corroborative evidence as to the guilt
of the suspect. The thief had gone to-
ward the coast, but Vest followed him
and took him before the police. Con-
fronted with the evidence of his crime,
the fellow confessed. The police de-
creed that the man should be punished
by giving up his outfit to the man he
had wronged. This was done, and Vest
got S1s5 per dozen for the can of eggs, or
S1,11o in all.
At Thirty-Niile river an adventure of
different sort overlook the egg man.
A raft was built to float down the river.
Vest stayed on shore to Inc the raft
down, and his companiou was aboard
the raft. The ice at one place was not
strong enough to support Vests
weight. and he was forced to let the line
go. The raft went spinning down the
river at n fearful rate, the anxious own
er running along shore to keep up with
it. Suddenly n rock rimr:e'i with ice
appeared in the track of the raft. In
n moment the raft had dived under the
ice, the rider had jumped for his life to
the rock, and the carg. had spilled into
the swift stream. The stove and tent
of the men sank, but the sacks of egg
cars went floating down stream.
1t was hitter cold. but the situation
was desperate. Vest did ret ponder
long r~1- >r. to do. T. danced into
the s. 'ru''r'l on tGo sci.5 one
at ,i~.. l. 20 run
ale -a, i-ta hi ,arl i3i .. lie and
h..i. Hi7 clotl,- froac % l.-a. ut
he s-.1 lis EGGS. rAen he wsr' hack
to CO Tnion q threw OF rope
and 3v hiri ashu. e. Three Iuen. who
hap - be CO ing near ny. ravr
the two vet men s. ter ,ntil they had
dried and warmed themselves.
SiNty-fve miles further down Vest
reached the Big Salmon. where Mai
Walsh was camping. Maj Walsh want
cd supplies. and he bought Vests eggs
Mt three dollars per dozen. The eggs