The San Francisco call., 1898-08-12
SOLDIERS ID
 ID ID TIE
 GOLD FIELDS Battery A to Garrison Fort Yukon. TO KEEP PEACE IN ALASKA WILL BE DISPATCHED WITH ALL POSSIBLE SPEED. It Is Said That One Company of the Sixth Regiment May Accom- pany the Expedition to
 the North.
TO KEEP PEACE IN ALASKA
WILL BE DISPATCHED WITH
 ALL POSSIBLE SPEED.

No time will be lost by Major General Merriam in dispatching troops to Central Alaska He will gazette an order this
 morning relieving Battery A, United
 States Army, from duty here, with tn- structions to make ready to proceed at any early day to Alaska Lieutenant Me Manus will be the officer In charge. Sev
 eraI subordinate officers will accompany him. The battery will number one hun dred and ninety-three men. The full com pIement of arms will be taken, except, perhaps, heavy guns. which 1t would be difficult if not impossible to transport In addition there will be large quantities of
 supplies for the troops and such needy
 miners as may require assistance during
 the winter.
 It is possible that one company of the
 Sixth Regiment will also be dispatched,
 though this is not known to be necessary as yet.
 The announcement that troops would go
 to Alaska, as made exclusively in the
 Call yesterday, aroused much speculation and interest in army circles and there was
 a noticeable anxiety to find out which
 company or companies would be designat-
 ed by General Merriam for the Alaskan service In part this curiosity is now set at rest. Later developments may require an increased body of troops either in the Copper River or Yukon districts.
 
 has not yet been set, but 1t will probably be within a week. The notice is sudden one and much must be done in the way or preparation. A complete Arctic outnt for one year must be secured for all--a
 the men. The purchases of materlee-,
 clothing and provisions will be pushed
 with all possible dispatch and will not consume over four or five days.
 The matter of transportation will also in in port will take the battery to St. Mi chael There the real responsibilities Of Lieutenant McManus will begin. If he can, by the use of persuasive words, secure the services of all the river boats needed to take his expedition up the Yukon, good and well. If the boat owners are retrac- tory, or try a gouge game on the Govern ment, then McManus will have to seize the craft necessary for his purposes. He will press on up the Yukon with all pos sible speed, trying to reach Fort Yukon in September. as the floating ice later in the season practically puts stop to naVtga- ton before the final freeze-up. Having reached his destination, the Lieutenant's s first duty will be to secure the safety of his supplies and to build log cabins for
 his men. This of itself will be hard un- there. Last winter the few cabins al Fort Yukon were in such demand that the poor est kind Of a shack rented easily for S0O a month It Is possible that the lieutenant will see fit to establish headquarters some little distance away from the trading post
 where more suitable timber can be found. It is believed that the battery, with nearly two hundred men, will be strong enough 10 cope WlIn any IaWleSS mop that may attempt to make trouble on the
 river. Of course the Canadian mounted police will attend to the job of preserv- 1 ing order on the Upper Yukon in the De-
 minions territory. Lieutenant McManus will, however, have a stretch of over one thousand miles of the Yukon Valley under his control The chances are that mili- tary law will be declared, so as to enable him to act with the authority that the circumstances require.
 At the present time there are several boats in the harbor of San Francisco, either one of which would be available for the transportation of the troops General Merriam has the matter in hand. but will make no statement of his intentions at this hour. 'The battery
 will go as soon as I can send it. was his summary of the situation
 There is considerable excitement among
 the boys of Battery A over their assign ment to duty on the Yukon. Up to twen- ty-four hours ago 1t seemed as likely as not that they would be dispatched to the torrid Philippines for garrison duty, or possibly active service in Suppressing out breaks of the insurgents.