Mower County transcript., 1898-02-09
NO ARMED TROOPS
CANADA REFUSES TO ALLOW THEM
IN HER TERRITORY

CANADA REFUSES TO ALLOW THEM
IN HER TERRITORY
Even For the Purpose Of Accompanying
the Klondiko Relief Expsdltton-Ques.
tion of Allowing an Unarmed Escort
Now Under Consideration.
OTTAWA. Ont. Feb. 8.-An official
announcement was made in the Do
minion house of commons that armed
troops Of the United States would not
be permitted to accompany the Amer
ican relief expedition to Dawson City.
The government also stated that the
question Of allowing United States
troops not under arms to do so was now
under consideration by the cabinet and
was also the subject of negotiation
with the Washington authorities.
1t is generally conceded that an un-
armed body Of American troops will be
permitted to accompany the relief ex.
pedition over Canadian territory.
scURvv EPIDEMIC LIKELY.
e. H. Wells Says Thouaands of Klondik-
ers May Perish From 1t.
ST. PAUL, Feb. 7.-"The 5000 pros.
pectors now at and around the Klon-
dixie are threatened less with starva.
tion than with sourvy. But they are
actually in the shadow Of DEATH"
This is an authoritative statement
from the man who brought from Daw-
son City, which he left as late as Dec
20, the special dispatches Of Captain P.
II. Ray, Eighth infantry, u. S. A., to
the United States war department.. It
was the statement made at the Mer.
chants hotel by E. H. Wells, a news.
paper correspondent, who has been
more or less in Alaska during the last
eight years, who has corresponded for
Frank Leslie's Weekly and other lead
ing periodicals and who is now repre-.
senting the Scrips-McCrae newspaper
syndicate.
Mr.. Wells said that provisions were
scarce when he left the Klondike. But
there would probably be enough of a
few staple foods such as pork and beans
to prevent actual starvation next
spring. Yet scurvy has already made
its appearance among the men who
were limited to a diet unsuitable for
their conditions.
Scurvy Will Be Epidemic.
"And soon," explained Mr.. Wells,
''scurvy will become epidemic, the doc.
tors say. That is, it may not become
SO until the latter part Of March or a
little later. But without a sufficient
variety of food scurvy is certainty,
and scurvy up there is much more fatal
than on shipboari.
1.-The truth has been concealed.
Why? Simply because almost every.
body coming out heretofore has be-
longed to one Of two classes. They
were either men that had speculative
schemes and wanted to sell mining
properties located in the Klondike and
therefore didn't want the public to get
prejudiced against the country by
stories of starvation, or they are men
that intend, as many do, to stock up
with provisions and rush back at the
earliest possible moment so as to take
advantage of the famine prices. Such
schemers wouldn't like any more com.
petitors than can be avoided.
Captain Rays statements are abso.
lutely authentic. There are hundreds
of men along the Yukon without food
or money.
mo, there isn't enough at Fort Yu.
kon to supply the big crowd at Daw.
son. But the government relief expedi.
ton left Seattle, I believe, late last
'Heek. If it gets through within two
months, and it ought to arrive sooner,
it will be in time to save the miners
from the horrors of scurvy epidemic
1.-The reported discoveries of new
placers on the Stewart river have been
much exaggerated. think Alaska will
repeat the story of California. A few
men will get rich. The vast majority
will be bitterly disappointed.