The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-07-19
HORDES OF WEARY
TREASURE SEEKERS
CAMPED AT DAWSON
Without knowledge OF Mining, Unable
to Get Employment, Thousands
Are in Sorry Plight.

can side.
Many miners are going down to Ram
part City and the Minook diggings, up
the Tanana and the Koyukuk. Cap
tain w. H. Geiger has taken his little
steamer st. Michael to the mouth of
the river for cargo and will return
and go up the Koyukuk with as many
passengers as he can carry.
Considerable anxiety is felt concern
ing the boats that are coming up the
river, especially the boats of the new
companies. The old companies are
said to have secured all the best pilots
on the river for their service and to
have control of the wood cut last win
ter-what Of 1t there is left, for the
flood carried away a great part of that
which was cut by the Indians and the
unprovisioned contingent between here
and Fort Yukon.
The fact that so many boats on the
river between these two points have
run aground gives excuse for this an
xiety. The May West has made good
escape. She brought twenty-six very
forlorn-looking passengers into port
with her. They had been wintering
away down the river and put in most of
the time worrying the captain. He
had guaranteed to land them at Daw-
son and to feed them until he did so.
He had not counted on being caught in
the ice 1000 miles from his destination
and he was short of food for the filling
of his contract. Some of his passen-
gers had a mortgage on his boat and
they threatened to tie her up here, or
at Circle City. Captain Worth. hale
and hearty man at st. Michael last
summer, arrived here a haggard and
broken-down man, having lost forty
began. OF all the trouble that the
frozen river witnessed last winter in all
its great length, Captain Worth says
his own case was the worst. He would
not go through it again for fortune
The difficulty with the passengers
was adjusted here and the boat re-
leased to go and work out her indebted
Steward Harry Clifford, she brought the
following passengers who had wintered
with her:
II. H. Honnen, John Tyler, James Carr,
Frank Hoor. Harry human, j. A Ander-
son, Mr.: Peterson, Mr. Clark, all of
Seattle; Henry Shoemaker of Grass VAL
Mr.. Adams New York; viii Lindsay,
Port Townsend; John Miller and Fred
Heath, Tacoma; Al Mole. Denver; Will
Mr.. Scott, Mr.. Cole, Mr.. Robbins. MI
Schultz and Mr.. Durham, San Francisco:
Frank Holt, California: Mr.. Todd, Oak
land; Charles Range, Idaho, and Alex Nc
On her return trip down the river she
took seventy passengers, the first to
seek the outside by way of the mouth
OF the river this year. Many Of them
are miners and they took out consider
able treasure, but how much Il was i'm
possible to learn from them here rs
they greatly fear an attack upon the
boat.
Captain Ray and others who have
been watching people and events down
the river this winter are convinced that
there is an organized gang of thugs
which has been planning for sudden
riches in that way and that an attempt
to hold-up the boats may be looked for
and should be guarded against.
The steamer Victoria, having re-
turned from her first run to Pelly River,
left last evening for the Pelly again,
carrying some seventy passengers.
They will be met at the Dalton trail by
saddle horses and expect to reach salt
water in eleven days from this date.
The little steamer A. ]. Goddard of
the Upper Yukon Company arrived two
days ago direct from Bennett. She
starts tonight on her return
The special war edition of The Call
came in from Dyea in eight days.
Crossing the mountains, taking boat at
Linderman, making the portage from
Linderman to Bennett, taking boat
a.
head wind almost all the way, but keep
ing at the oars day and night, two men.
one resting and sleeping while the other
worked, brought this great edition and
the Calls were on sale in the streets of
Dawson on the eighth day after they left
the ocean front at Dyea and brought
the first big news Of the war to Dawson.
1 arrived at Lake Linderman on the
18th of May, to find it still icebound.
afv1ad o1ro
ten days and still the ice remained. I
returned over the Chilkoot Pass to get
a later edition of the paper than I car
ried in the first instance, and with it
left Dyea on the afternoon Of June 7
and arrived in Dawson the night of the
18th. The ice had been out of Bennett
several days when I arrived there the
second time.
1 passed more than two thousand
boats on the way down. At Tagish,
where a stop was required by the
Northwest mounted police, the bank
was fringed with boats for mile. At
the head of Lake Labarge they were
tied up for two miles. A strong head
wind was blowing and no man would
start out on the thirty miles Of water
in the face of it; so they had been as
sembling there for three days.
Suddenly the wind changed and
thousand sails were llIIeQ almost In
concert. In a half hour the whole face
of the lake was dotted with every va
riety of craft and sail. Soon the line
stretched as the speedier got away, and
extended as far into the distance as
the eye could see.
1t was a brave, stirring picture, the
seemingly unnumbered sails careening
before the wind over the swelling sur
face of the water.
Somewhere in the crowd. cornet in
the hands Of some one who knew how
to play it sent 1.-The Star Spangled
Banner" floating across the lake. Not
a sound broke in upon it from the first
note to the finish. But before that
wonderful echo of Lake Labarge had
finished it's repetition cheer ran down
the whole length of that moving line
Then it came back to the starting
point and returned down again Again
and again it made the circuit, each
time with new enthusiasm until the
cornist struck in with the first notes
of Hail Columbia" He was listened
to intently as before. and at the con-
clusion the scene was repeated, and IN
this inspiring way Lake Labarge was
crossed.
And no man who was there will ever
forget that scene. Indeed. the same
may be said Of the whole run down.
The crush was so great at the canyon