Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1898-03-11
DUNHAM'S STORY
Interesting Report of Governments
Ohicial on the Klondike.

States government has sent out to
gather information regarding the Klon-
dixie which the public may know is ac-
curate-Samuel G. Durham. Mr..
Dunham is under the direct iurisdic-
tion of the commissioner of labor at
Washington. All the long winter
months he has lived in room in
$50, 900 house at Circle City, a house
that is made of logs and boards, and
whose real worth seems preposterous.
Mr.. Dunham has sent some valuable
information to Washington-or to the
United States, as he puts it. While
| Alaska is a part of the United States
you never would think so if you lived
there ;Nd heard the people talk. They
always refer to the rest of the nation
as:' Back in the States"
II is safe to say that OF the thousands
already en route to the new Eldorado
only small percentage are actually
aware of the real conditions that exist
in the land of their destination. As
gorgeous pictures of wealth have been
painted for their edification as imagin-
alton could devise. and that is why
the cold facts that have come to us by
the aid of carrier, dog and sledge, and
finally the United States mail, create
something of feeling of astonishment.
Mr.. Durham tells us that there is
not work for the people who are al
ready in the Klondike, and that before
the spring rush is half over the coun-
try will TEEN with the destitute and
homeless. However, the destitution
is not now SO great as it was imagined
would be the case, and this because it
has been found possible for the differ
ent camps to help one another.
When Mr.. Dunham's report, which
is now on its way, reaches Washington,
it will be sent to congress at once,
but owing to the fact that the report is
not likely to reach the department be-
fore March, after the Klondike emigra-
tion has passed food tide, Mr.. Durham
has deemed it best to forward the more
important facts here presented. In
his latest letter to the Commissioner of
Labor Mr. Dunham saws:
II am making fair progress on my
report, and have reached point where
| can give an outline of it's practical
features. | have completed an intro
duction, giving Il short sketch of the
stampede as | saw it from the other side
Of the mountains; a chapter on the
klondike containing the first accurate
account of the original discovery and
the development of the mines, and
what l hope will prove an approxi-
mately correct statement of the output
IAN exceedingly hard subject to handle);
a chapter on Dawson and its surround
ings, giving full information relative
to wages, cost of living, opportunities
for employment, ETC., and ending up
with an account of the food famine and
the exodus, and chapter on navigation
Of the Yukon.
II have well under way a chapter on
Circle City and the Birch Creek dis
trict, and have all necessary data for
one on mining laws and local regula-
tions, incidentally touching on the only
form of government that has been
known here previous to the present
year-miners' meetings. In addition
to these l shall give considerable space
to the trails and the best means of get
ting here, expense, etc. the best routes
for railroads, which we assume are
bound to come within few years, al
though we do not know what is going
on outside; the possibilities in agricul-
ture, which are considerable in the
Yukon valley. as wheat, oats, and veg.
etables of many kinds can be grown
here successfully; the outlook from the
commercial point of view, etc.
"A thousand pages could be written
on the situation without exhaustng the
subject or the reader; but | shall stop
short of 400 typewriter pages. 1t is
exceedingly difficult to get information
here, on account of the great distances
and the unsettled condition of the pub
lie mind on the food question. 1t is
hard to work when one hears constant
ly on every hand stories of starvation
and death from exposure. ] consider
the situation grave, but not desperate.
There is food at Fort Yukon for 600
more men than are wintering there,
and this can be freighted to Dawson
or part of Dawson can go to it. 1t may
be that the transportation companies
can feed the population next year, but
1t is doubted here.
II have secured an accurate state
ment OF the amount of freight landed
in Dawson by the steamers during the
season, made up from the manifests OF
| the boats and from information obtained
from the agents Of the companies
Less than 2,700 tons reached there. and
between 700 and 800 tons Of this con-
sisted Of furniture, whisky, hardware,
etc.-less than 1000 tons for 5, 900 men,