The herald., 1898-02-13

I "As nearly all these men are Ameri-
leans, l think that the army has rightly
been called upon. The distance from
water communication in an air line tC
Belle Isle is as follows: From the mouth
of the Yukon river, 700 miles; from Chill
koot Pass, 420 miles, and from the mouth
of the Copper river, $40 miles. The dis
tance in following the windings of the
great Yukon river. navigable for 200(
miles. is 1900 miles, and from the Chill
koot Pass, us miles. The latter course
also follows the windings of the Upper
Yukon. The distance from the mouth
of Copper river is much shorter and more
direct, but as the route has never been
fully explored. it is impossible to give
the exact distance"
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
OLYMPIA, Wash, Feb. 10 have
/ just reached this place from Dawson
City, the center of gold and starvation.
To set at rest any doubts on the subject
this opportunity to write the facts as l
have seen them. First. word about
myself. / had great trouble in getting
| back to this place. l did it by selling all
had, and with the proceeds purchasing
Il Sltll, anu dS HluCil VI tHe tACeSulllSly
lhigh-priced provisions as my little cap
ital would purchase. Iarrived poor, but
l escaped starvation.
While in the Klondike I made careful
and thorough investigation into the sit
uation there. On my arrival at Dawson
was surprised to see thousands of ex-
cited and idle men in groups all along
the streets. Go which way 1 would, the
same view confronted me. After lis
tening to the general conversation, l
learned that the excitement was caused
by the fact that it was considered i'm
possible for boats to get in with provi-
sions. One small boat had come in with
a partial load of sugar and whiskey. 1t
brught word that no other boat could get
over the bar at Fort Yukon. Notices
were posted advising those who were
short of provisions to go down there and
winter. the N. A. T. & T. Co. offering to
carry all who wished to go, free.
About $50 men availed themselves of
this opportunity, and afterwards 25O
more went in barges and boats.
About october 10th the river COM
menced to run clear of ice; then the
spirits of the men began to tighten, as
day after day came and went and the
river kept getting clearer. Every one
expected to see the boats pull in with
supplies. I heard one man offer to bet
10 to 1 that the boats would be in Daw-
son by the 25th, and so confident was
every one about this that the bettor
could get no takers.
But alas. the 25th came and no boats.
and the river soon filled with ice, and
the last hope Of supplies getting in died
The excitement was now greater than
ever. In the meantime, old timers who
had money enough had started out to
get supplies from those who were COM
ing down the river. OF course the new
did not intend to SELL but when
they were tempted with $3.50 a sack for
flour, or SO pound, great many were |
induced to part with it.
In this way all who had money enough |
TO pay this price soon got enough AS
there were great many who had made |
up their minds to go out, there were
quite a number of outfits offered for
sale, and prices soon fell to 81 a pound |
for everything comprising an outfit,
it was flour, sugar or a crow
bar.
But as those who were going out had |
to keep about 200 pounds to feed them
IN the journey, and as most of them
had not over 500 pounds altogether, it
ook quite a few outfits to supply one