Daily camera., 1898-05-10
THE FROZEN-EGG MAN
A Portland Mans Business Ven
ture in the Klondike.
He Cleaned Up . Good Round sum
ON what Seemed to the Miners
Foolhardy Speculation
His Adventures.

ON what Seemed to the Miners
Foolhardy Speculation
His Adventures.
Nearly every man vino has come out
of Dawson during the past two months
or more has had something to say OF
the ''frozen-egg man." They met him
at various points between the Chilcoot
summit and the Yukon river, trudging
along with one companion and four
dogs, pulling a cargo of frozen eggs
bound for the Klondike. Eggs at Daw-
son are worth one dollar or more each,
and this high price proved such an in
centive to a Portland man that he re-
solved to freeze lot of them and take
them in. The egg man has been the
source of no little amusement for the
Klondikers who have come out. They
have frequently laughed at his fool
hardy speculation and often predicted
his failure. He has been prolific land
mark, and one of the stock questions
which Klondikers have asked each
other here has been: "Where did you
meet the egg man?"
The egg man is in Seattle. He has
sold his eggs and returned with sack
which many Klondiker might well
envy. His name is Charles Vest. Vest
left Portland last October on the steam
er Elder. Before leaving he obtained
1,743 dozen eggs. He broke and packed
them in tin cans holding one gallon
each, or six dozen. The cans were
sealed, frozen and put on ice. They
weighed 2,o25 pounds in cold storage.
With one man to help him and his
dogs Vest hurried the eggs up to Sheep
Camp and buried them in the snow. He
put four cans in sack and tied the sack
over the dogs backs. Each dog carried
20 pounds in this way. Once over the
summit the cans were piled on sleds,
pulled by the dogs, and the journey con-
tinued.
Several adventures befell Vest and
his companion on the way. On Decem-
Ter 81 they stopped at cabin and
bought supper and lodging. They
bought some moccasins of one of their
hosts. In the morning one can of the
eggs, now becoming more and more
precious, was gone. Vest had his sus-
picions, but had no evidence. He asked
his host about the missing can, but got
no satisfaction, although his suspicious
were confirmed. There were others
camping at the cabin, and from these
two or three days later Vest obtained
corroborative evidence as to the guilt
Of the suspect. The thief had gone TO-
ward the coast, but Vest followed him
and took him before the police. Con-
fronted with the evidence OF his crime,
the fellow confessed. The police de-
creed that the man should be punished
by giving up his outfit to the man he
had wronged. This was done, and Vest
got s1s5 per dozen for the can of eggs, or
81, ,11O in all.
At Thirty Mile river an adventure of
a different sort overlook the egg man.
A raft was built to float down the river.
Vest, stayed on shore to line the raft
down, and his companion was aboard
the raft. The ice at one place was not
strong enough to support Vests
weight, and he was forced to let the line
go. The raft went spinning down the
river at fearful rate, the anxious own
er running along shore to keep up with
it. Suddenly rock rimned with ice
appeared in the track of the raft. In
a moment the raft had dived under the
ice, the rider had jumped for his life to
the rock, and the cargo had spilled into
the swift stream. The stove and tent
of the men sank, but the sacks of egg
cans went floating down stream.
It was bitter cold, but the situation
was desperate. Vest did not ponder
long upon what to do. He plunged into
the stream and pulled out the sacks one
at time. To do this ne had to run
along and into the stream for mile and
q half. His clothes froze TO him, but
he saved his eggs. Then he went back
to his companion and threw out rope
and towed him ashore. Three men, who
happened to be camping near by, gave
the two wet men shelter until they had
dried and warmed themselves.
Sixty-dive miles further down Vest
reached the Big Salmon, where Maj.
Walsh was camping. Maj. Walsh want
ed supplies, and he bought Vests eggs
at three dollars per dozen. The eggs
yielded $5,211, which, added to the
$1,110, amounted to $6.321 as the total
prcduc. of Vests undertaking.-Seattle
Dos4 Tntnll;roraar