The Portland daily press., 1898-03-10
LIFE IN DAWSON CITY.
The Real Ell Dorado to BE Found in the
Far North.

The River Trip to 1.-THE Klondike" is
the title of an article in the March Cen
fury written by John Sidney Webb. The
author says:
On the morning of August 18th at
about o. clock, broad daylight. we came
up to that collection of forty log cabins
and 800 tents, sprawled at the foot OF
Moose-skin mountain. named Dawson
City. Heller. SHELTER, in a marsh, lies this
collection of odds and ends of houses and
habitations, Tho warehouses Of the two
companies cheek by joWl with cabins and
tents; row of barrooms called Front
street; the side streets deep Gin mud; the
river bank o mass of miners boats, In
dian canoes and logs; the sscreeching of
the sawmill 1.-THE dismal, tuneless scraping
Of the violin of the dance halls, still wide
open; the dogs everywhere, fighting .and
snarling; the men either 'whooping it
up or working with the greatest rapid
ity to unload the precious freight I'VE had
bIought-all of this rustling and hust-
ling made the scene more like the outside
of circus TENT including the smell Of
the sawdust, than anything else in the
world.
This, then is the real Ell Doradol One
wonders where they all live. One won
ders, in anRzemenI whers they are ell
going to live through the awful winter
that is approaching. Here is the true
pinch Of the situation Of shelter. There
are no logs fit to make a cabin TO be
found on the river within thirty miles of
Dawson City. 10 wait for winter means
that it will be too late to build cabin,
because the moss which is used to fill the
cbinks between the logs by that time will
be frozen solid, and be useless unless
thaWed cut over fire, very wearisome
job.
The old timers have got used to 10 de.
grees below zero in tents; and even If the
robe over them freezes solid, q match is
smuggled from under the bedclothes, the
fire somehow lighted Sin the sheet-iron
stove, and there they lie until 1.-THE stove
is led hot before bthey dare emerge from
under the skin rugs. But how are the
newcomers to survive the cruel exposure
the lawyers, clerks, doctors and mechan-
les?
Dawson City seems like joke. Eight
teen hundred and fifty miles from ST.
Michael isIand-this is where they have
gold, millions of gold, and nothing better
than muddy swamp to live in; gold
dust and nuggets in profusion, and yet
70
plantation live better than the richest
mau in the country. Our arrival ut Daw-
son was at n very critical time. we had
brought with us nearly 400 tons of pro-
visions, and this fact served to allay the
anxious fears of many who were becom-
ing panio.stricken at the idea that there
would be a scarcity of food during the
winter. No news had come to us by way
Of the ocean Of later date than June 10,
but newspapers had been received over
the summit at Dawson of date as late as
July 26, and SO the report that crowds
were swarming into the gold fields had
reached them, but was news to us. The
town was thoroughly scared, and was
overrun with men who had come . down
from the diggi1gs, often twenty and
twenty-five miles, to mgake sure of their
outfits for the winter. and SO determined
were they to procure them that they sat
themselves down calmly in line, like men
waiting to bny seats at first night per-
Torrance, determined to wait until the
goods were put up and set aside in their
names.
An outfit for miner means every thing
that.he uses during the winter and this,
being reduced to it's lowest terms, means
bacon and beans. There are other things,
of course, in tins and in gnnny-sacks-
flour, sssuqar, salt, pickles, dried fruits,
desiccated potatoes-to suit the taste; but
the work is done, and the gold is found
and cleaned up, and miles and miles of
the wilderness conquered, and cold wealth
err and wintry winds withstood, on bacon
and beans 1t is the easiest food to pack,
the quickest to prepare, and the most
lasting and sustaining The miner usual
ly reckons on getting his outfit in Novem
Der, because be can carry on sledge,
after the snow has set Gin, TOUR times as
much as he can pack on his back, and il
he is fortunate enough to have dogs he
can draw much more