Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1898-02-18
MAKES A FORTUNE IN EGGS.
everybody Laughed at Thir Man, But
Success Came 20 Him.

success came TO Him.
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 Chilkoot
summit and the Yukon river, trudging
along with one companion and four
dogs, pulling cargo of frozen eggs
bound for the Klondike. Eggs at Daw-
son are worth a dollar or more each
and this high price proved such an in
centive to Portland man that he re-
solved to freeze 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 Klondkers have asked each other
here has been, "Where did you meet
the egg man?"
The egg man has sold his eggs and re
turned with sack which many Klon-
diker might we'll envy. His name is
Charles Vest.
Mr.. Vest left Portland last October
on the steamer Elder. Before leaving
he obtained l,743 dozen eggs. He
broke and packed them in tin cans,
holding one gallon each, or six dozen.
The cans were sealed, frozen and put
in ice. They weighed 2,025 pounds
in cold storage.
With one man to help and his dogs
Mr.. 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 2S pounds in this way. Once
over the summit the cans were piled on
sleds, pulled by the dogs and the jour-
ney continued.
Several adventures befell Mr. Vest
and his companion on the way. On
December 81 they stopped at cabin
and bought supper and lodging. They
bought some moccaslns of one of their
hosts. In the morning one can of the
eggs, now becoming more and more
precious, was gone. Mr.. Vest had his
suspicious 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 towards the coast but Vest
followed him and took him before the
police. Confronted with the evidence
of his crime the fellow confessed. The
police decreed that the man should be
punished by giving up his outfit to the
man he had wronged. This was done
and Mr.. Vest got $iS5 per dozen for
the can of eggs.
At Thirty-Mile river an adventure OF
q different sort overlook the egg man.
A raft was built to float down the river.
Vest stayed on shore to line the raft
down and his companion was aboard
the raft. The ice at one place was
not strong enough to support Mr..
Vests weight and he was forced tC
let the line 90. The raft went spin
ming down the river at fearful rate,
the anxious owner running along shore
to keep up with it. Suddenly roch
trimmed with ice appeared in the track
of the raft. In moment the raft hac
dived under the ice, the rider hat
Jumped for his life to the rock and the
cargo had spilled into the swift stream
1t was bitter cold, hut the situation
was desperate. Vest did not ponder
long upon what to do. He plunged
into the stream and pulled out the
sacks one at time. To do this he haC
to run along and into the stream for {
mile and half His clothes froze tC
him, but he saved his eggs. Then hi
went back to his companion and threw
out a rope and towed him ashore
Three men who happened to be camp
ing near by gave the two wet men shel
ter until they had dried and warmed
themselves.
Sixty-fve miles further down Yes
reached the Big Salmon where Majo
Walsh was camping. Major Walsl
wanted supplies and he bought Mr.
Vests eggs at SO per dozen. The egg
yielded $5,9ll, which. added to tn
SlllO, amounted to Sc, as the tota
product of Mr.. Vests undertaking.