Iron County register., 1898-04-28
On The Way to Klondike.
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL, Apr. 10, 9s

Company is this far on its way to the
gold fields of Alaska We left Ft. Scott,
Kansas. April 9th. We took the Gull
road TO Kansas City; the u. p. via
Cheyenne to Denver; Oregon Short
Line to Portland and Oregon & Califor-
MIA to Frisco. There are ten of US in
the company. We had a delightful
trip all the way and enjoyed ourselves
splendidly. As to scenery on the trip,
1t is unsurpassed. We are never out
of sight of snow-capped peaks from
Denver to Frisco, although the valleys
are warm and pleasant. We spent a
day at Denver aud day at Portland
sightseeing. We went on the heights
at Portland and had good glass and
viewed Mt. Hood, fifty-five miles away,
and Mt. St. Helena sixty miles, which is
thirteen thousand feet high. We fol-
lowed the Columbia river three hun
dred miles-all is magnificent scenery.
! saw the fishermen catch salmon with
a wheel on a boat which dips them
from the river and throws them on the
boat. | saw the water fall two thou
sand feet over preclpice near the
track.
Leaving Portland we follow up the
Willamette for long way up canyons,
over mountains that take three large
engines to pull US up, through tunnels a
mile long. We had supper at Meach-
am on top of the coast range in three
feet snow. 1t required two engines to
hold US descending these mountains,
with the air brakes on and both en-
gines in the back motion.
We see old Mt. Shasta all day long
ahead of US and pass under it's base
near sundown. This is the highest
peak in California. We cross the
Shasta mountain and down its west
side through terrible gorge and go
eleven miles to gain descent of eight
hundred feet, back and forth, until the
bottom is reached, where we pass Soda
Springs. The train stops here five
minutes; we all get out and take a
drink of the water which is a very
pleasant drink. There are two geysers
that shoot up about a hundred feet.
These springs come roaring down the
mountain side with terrible noise.
There is big bottling factory short
distance below; from here it is down
grade most all the way to Oakland.
We pass down Sacramento Valley
and through the city. This is one of
the prettiest valleys on the route. 1t
looks to be about fifty miles wide with
ranges of mountains on either side.
We come to Oakland where we leave
the cars and take a ferry across the
bay, a mile to Frisco. This boat is
simply immense. 1t is almost as big
as Ironton, and there are great many
more people on board each trip than
are in Ironton.
As to a description of Frisco; it is
out of the question to describe it in
one letter, but I will mention a few
of the sights. OF course, we took in
China Town. We hired a guide and
went through it. All these guides are
licensed by the city and wear a badge
something like policeman. We went
through the joss house and saw all
the curiosities, the theatres, stores,
dives, and where they "hit the pipe"
We saw one leper.
We were under ground half the time,
and in some terrible dark holes, but
there is no danger. There are about
fifty thousand Chinese in this city
There are great many small children
and not few women.
To-day we went to the Golden Gate
Park and cemetery, and to the Cliff
House. We saw thousands of seals on
the rock and ships out on the ocean.
Also the big batteries of big guns that
guard the Golden Gate. There are
several war ships in the bay. To-day
was gala day in this city. The First
Artillery and Third Infantry marched
through the city on their way to New
Orleans to fight the Spanish. There
were thousands on the streets with
flags. The war feeling is strong here.
The bulletin boards are crowded all
day watching the news for Washing
ton; and by the way, we get the news
here two hours before it happens in
Washington, which is accounted for by
the difference in time.
We will be here until about May 10th
waiting on our boat and machinery,
and getting our Alaska outfit We
will go to St. Michaels via Dutch har-
bor. At Michaels we unload, put our
steamer together and load her with
our supplies and 60 up the Yukon river
and up the Tamaua river about a thou
sand miles, where we will probably
winter and mine in the places mines.
There is no telling when we will return
to civilization. 1t all depends on our
success.
l will write you again some time