The record-union., 1898-03-20
THE FROZEN EGG MAN.
How He Made Money or His Alaska
Trim

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 Chllcoot
summit and the Yukon River, trudsih3
along with one companion and tour
dogs, pulling a cargo of frozen eggs
bound for the Klordike. Eggs at DaW-
son are worth 81 or more each, and
this high price proved such an incentive
to a Portland man that he resolved to
freeze a lot of them and take them i'll.
The egg man has been the source OF no
little amusement for the Klondikers
who have come out. They have fire.
quently laughed at his foolhardy spec
ulation and often predicted his failure
He has been a prolific landmark, and
one of the stock questions which Klon
dikers 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 a sack
which many a Klondiker might we'll
envy. His name is Charles Vest. Vest
left Portland last October on the
steamer Elder. Before leaving he OBJ
tanned lib dozen eggs. He broke
and packed them in tin cans holding
one gallon each, or six dozen. The
cans were sealed, frozen and 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 a sack and tied the
sack over the dogs backs Each dog
carried twenty-eight pounds in this
way. Once over the summit the cans
were piled on sleds pulled by the dogs,
and the journey continued.
Several adventures befel Vest and
his companion on the way. On Decarl-
Der 21st they stopped at a cabin aud
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-
picions, 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 ami
from these two or three days later Vest
obtained corroborative evidence as to
the guilt of the suspect The thief had
gone toward the coast; but Vest fol-
lowed him and took him before the po-
lice. Confronted with the evidence Of
his crime the fellow confessed. The pc-
lice decreed 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 81. 40 in all.
AT Thirtymile River an adventure of
different sort overlook the egg man.
raft was built to float down the riv-
er. 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
Vests weight and he was forced to let
the line go. The raft went spinning
down the river at a fearful rate. the
anxious owner running along shore to
keep up with it. Suddenly a rock
trimmed with ice appeared in the track
of the raft. In a moment the raft had
dived under the ice the rider had
jumped to the rock and the cargo mad
spilled into the swift stream. The
stove and tent of the men sank. but
the sacks of egg cans went floating
down stream.
! 1t was bitter cold. but 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 a time. To do this he
/ had TO run a'rng and into the stream
for mile and a half His clothes
froze on him. but he saved his eggs.
| Then he went back to his companion
and threw out rope and towed hin,
ashore Three men who happened to
he camping near by gave the two wet
men shelter until they had dried and
warmed themselves
Sixty-five miles further down Vest
reached the Big Salmon, where Major
walsh was camping. Major Walsh
wanted supplies. and he bought Vests
eggs at - per dozen The eggs yielded
f"'Zll' which. added to the S1.11o
amounted to S6,321 as the total pro-
Duct Of Vests undertaking -Seattia
Post-Intelligencer.