The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1898-01-08
BACK FROM THE KLoNDlKE
Geo. A. Bracket. Narrative of the
e .lNu
Alaskan Gold Fields.

he was once mayor, mas returned TO the
city after several months absence in
the Alaskan wilderness and in an in
terview spoke as follows:
"If could have foreseen the hardships
which 1 would be forced 10 undergo he
fore starting" Mr.. Bracket said. Il
would have concluded that 1 was not
equal to the task. The extreme physical
eXertion to which l have been subjected
would have appalled, me- But | got
through safe and sound, without a
scratch, and now the work which | set
out to accomplish is fast nearing COM
pletion Two and a half miles CT the
road are yet to be finished. When l
left Skaguay the foreman who has
charge of this last stretch near the sum-
nit told me that it would be finished
by the middle of this month. That
means that we will commence doing
business by Feb. !. when the great rush
to Dawson City and the other points of
Interest will set In. Every one who goes
over our road will pay us for the priv
ilege. It's construction has been very
expensive. but it is good investment
and bound to prove a great money MAX
ing enterprise
eve commenced work on the road
Nov. s. 1t runs from Skaguay to the
summit of the pass. We have had 225
men at work with large number of
teams and all the apparatus necessary
for excavation and blasting. The dis
lance to the summit is seventeen miles.
The route is along the north side of the
Skaguay river for the entire distance.
Nine toll stations, log buildings, 22A4O
in dimensions, have been constructed.
During that seventeen miles the eleva-
ton Is 1900 feet. The road lies along
the base of the mountains. | have
greatly lessened the expense OF the nv
dertakng by avoiding the construction
OF bridges across the river at a number
of points where the engineers insisted
followed my own instincts and by per-
sonal investigation managed to map out
route around canons which apparent
ly presented insurmountable obstacles,
thus doing away with the necessity CT
the proposed bridges. In many instances
we have been forced to blast our way
through solid rock, which will give
you an idea Of the difficult nature uf the
work. The road will be one of the
finest thoronghfares to be found in the
world. 1t is macadamizcd for its entire
distance and will be high and dry and
open for business the year round. The
road is bound to accommodate the great
bulk of the travel toward the gold cc,n-
try and. will give a decided impetus to
the human tide which is finding its way
over the pass.
After leaving Skaguay you, are no
longer in Uncle Sans territory That is
the jumping-off place. Consequently we
have been in disputed territory for the
seventeen miles. There is no chance Of
any one disputing our claim to the right
Of way. First come first served Il rule
which every one respects in that cour-
try. The only question which may
arise would be an international affair
and that is no particular concern OF
ours. Let lis operate that road for ten
years. That's all we ask What we
will realize in that time will satisfy lis.
Prom the summit to Lake Bennett, a
distance of twenty-six miles, there is IL
descent of but 451 feet. We expect to
continue the road to the lake, but will
not undertake it this spring, as a good
road has been beaten through the snow
and ice. This end of the task will be
easy compared with what has alrca ~
been constructed"
Mr.. Bracket says there is no ruth
in the reports which have gone forth as
to the destitute circumstances Of the
miners He has not heard of a. single
case of actual suffering and states that
there are sufficient supplies at Dawson
City to accommodate all corners
throughout the winter.
CAS- for the climate" he continued,
ut is no worse from Skag,ay to the
summit than you are enjoying here in
Minneapolis. The miIdncss Of The tom
perature is accounted for by the Japan
stream, which washes the coast o?
Alaska, and by the Chinook winds
which prevail along the coast or
course. the mercury goes down after
you get over the divide. But cold as
it is there it can be withslool as easily
as the coolest in Minnesota.
"The general opinion is that F'cbrn-
airy is the best month in which 10 make
the trip to Lake Bennett But even
now the people are flockng there by tho
hundreds and they are getting through
all right. The steamer Seattle, which
left Seattle while | waB there, was
loaded to the guards. Every berth was
taken and standing room was at a pre-
MUM in the steerage- Nov. %, six
men came through the Skagnay trail
from Dawson City. They made the trip
in "a days, walking every foot of the
way. While working on the road
encountered five hundred men return
ing. They were back simply on bust
ness and every ono of them expressed