The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1898-04-09
LIFE IN DAWSON CITY.
THE REAL FL DORADO ~ FAR
NORTH.

A Struggling COLLECTION ~ Log uuts
aud Tents - old-Timsrs Have Got
iced TO seventy Degrees Below
Zero In Tents.
The River Trip to the Klondike" Is
the title Of an article In the Century.
written By John sidney Webb The
author says
On the morning Of Aug H. At about
Z o'clock. broad daylight. We came mp
10 taat collection Of forty large log
cabins and ave hundred tents. sprawled
M the foot OF MOose-skin Mountain.
named Dawson city. Helter-skelter.
In a marsh. lies this colle,t.ou Of odds
and ends of houses and habitations.
the warehouses Of the two companies
cheek by iowl with cabins and tents;
row of barrooms called Front street
the side streets deep In mud the river
hank a mass Of miners boats. Indian
canoes. and logs the fcrecching OF the
sawmlll. the dismal. iune'esg fcraping
Of the vi1lln Of the dancc-halls. still
wide OPEN the dogs everywhere. fight
Ing and startling: the men either
"whooplng Il up" or working with the
greatest rapldlty 10 unload the precious
freight We had brought all Of this
rustlinE and hustlIng made the scene
more like the outside of a circus-tcn,,
including the smell Of the sawdus'.
than anything elFe In tho world. This.
then. IL the real II Dorado, One won
ders where they al live. One wonders
In amazement where they are all going
TO live through the awful winter that Is
approaching. Here Is the true pinch Of
the situation. II Is not a question %
food Il Is question Of shelter There
are no logs NJ 10 mae a cabin 10 be
found on tn -rcr within thirty miles
~ Dawson city. To walt for winter
means that Il will be too late to build
a cabin because the moss which Is
used 10 on the chlntF between The log
by that time will be frozen solid. end
be ureless unless thawed ont over q
FIRE. very wearisomc Job. The old
timers have got used 10 20 degrees be
low zero In tents: and even II the rob'
over them freezes solid. match b
struggled from under the bedClOthe7
q FIRE somehow lighted In the shoe iror
stove. and there they lie until the stove
IA red-hot before they dare emery,
from under the skin rugs hut how
are the newcomers 10 survive the crue
exposure the lawyers. clerks DOCTOR
and mechanics Dawson City Fesm'
like a Joke Eighteen hundred and ~
~ miles from s. Michael Island ,hil
Is where they have gold millions n
gold. and nothing better than mud
dy swamp 10 live In. gold-dus' an,
nuggets IN profusIon and yet the no
groes In the cabins n Southern plan
tatlon live better than tho richest maj
IN the country Our arrival NJ Dawson
was at very critical time We IA,
brought with "a nearly four hundre,
tons Of provisions and this fact s-ryc'
20 allay the anxious fears n many VIII
were becoming panlc-sirlcken al M
idea that there would be- a scarcity o
.iOd during the winter No news hai
come 10 M by way % the ocean " late
date thar June 10. but newspapers hat
been received over the summit AZ Daw
son uf date as late as July 90 and 4,
the report that crowds were swarminl
into the gold-nelds had relrhed them
bat was news 10 u.s. The town wa
thoroughly scared. and was oyerrui
with men who had come down from M
diggIngs. often twenty and twenty-nv
miles. 10 make sure of their outfits ~
the winter. and 50 determined wer
they 10 procure them that they 20
themselves down calmly In line ill.,
men waiting 10 buy seats al first
night performance determined 10 wal
until the goods were PIT up md So
aside In their names. An OUTFIT N
miner means everything That be- u.s.
during the winter. and this being 70
duced ~ itR lowest terms. means ha
con and beans There arc Other thing.
~ course. In tins and IN gunny-Fcks
-four SUGAR. ralt. pickles. dried fruits
desiccated potatces-tO suit tho tgs'c
but the work Is done and tho gold
found and cleaned NO. and miles an
miles Of the wilderness conquered. IN
cold weather and winiry winds with
stood. on bacon and beans II Is m
easiest food TO pack. the quickest .
prepare. and the most lasting and sui
tanning The miner usually r-cScns %
getting his OUTFIT In November. beclu'
he can carry on a slcdge. after m
snow has sct In. four times as much a
he can pack on his back and II he
fortunate enough 10 have dogs he ca
A.