The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-02

gets appeared from some mysterious
source and passed from hand to hand The
faces Of claim holders broadened. The
voice of the doubter was whelmed In the
rush Of confident Boosting.
And then on the last day of August
came the news OF the discovery of the
quartz beds, for which the experienced
miners had been searching from the mo-
ment OF landing. or these discoveries lit
tie can be said as yet, There was a quiet
passing Of the word among friends on this
last night In August and on the following
morning both camps were nearly desert
ed. 1t was said that fine pieces of quartz
containing Jumps and seams of gold had
been found and the town site boomers
were as jubllant as the miners
The returning boat carried men whose
certainty of tone Indicated their convic-
tion that the country was rich and that
they were ''in It," Some of them felt their
need of getting drunk over the glorious
prospect Others were fastening home
with samples of gold In little boxes and
bottles. They were not prepared 10 devel-
OPP their claims this year; they were salts
fed merely with a test of their ground.
Others had men at work taking out pay
ing quantities of gold and would therefore
remain until the closing in of winter.
The character of those coming In had also
changed. They came on private dps
bringing rockers. pieces of grizzly and
plenty OF provisions.
The Beauties of AtIin.
The weather was very beautiful, like
middle of September in Northern Iowa.
The wildly blue sky was filed with soar
ing masses of neecy clouds and over the
hills and athwart the mountains long
clouds of smoke streamed like graceful
drapery The climate was utterly differ
ent from that of the coast. AS we sailed
down Tagish water and up Bennett and
came into that remorseless blast which
ceaselessly sweeps over the White Pass
and Chilkoot Summit as IL from some
sunless and dreary inferno. we shivered
with cold.
No words can exaggerate the beauty OF
Atln lake and It's shores. The water, so
clear one seems on wing rather than
afiOat; the CLEAN of enormous glaciers,
the gold and purple of the high slopes COW
cred with grass and shrubs, the copper
stained cliffs jutting forth into the water;
the sweeping lines of forest fires climbing
the mountain sides at night; the wondrous
pathway of the setting sun; the MINDLESS
sheen of the lake at morning-these form
a picture that once seen can never be for
gotten.
TerrOrs of the Trail.
To return from this country to the Chill
| koot pass is like entering upon land
scape in hell delneated by Dore. All day
/ faced the roaring wind filled with RAIN
| all day l climbed, slipping balancing, de-
| scending, wading streams, climbing logs,
| hurrying by the rotting carcasses Of muir
| dered horses. Mud was everywhere,
| greasy, treacherous, Shiny. About me was
weird, half-light walled by formless
| gray clouds, out of which the rain fell in
| slashes. The mist set the Imagination
| free. The pinacies were like those which
top the enormous walls Of the Black cam
on of the Gunison. We seemed each mo-
ment about TO plunge into cannons lad
| derless and abysmal. Nothing In Dore
| could be more singular and Economical than
| this summit under such a light In such
| darkness. IL would serve as the scene
| for an exied devil. The picture of Belize
| bub perched on one of these dripping crags
| with dhnly-seen and gaping CULTS OF space
| below and around In menacing form, sill
! houetted on the mist. would shake the
! heart I thought of Peer Gynt" wander
! ing in tho high home OF the Trolls. All
was crags, descending walls dimly seen,
and Wild waters roaring in obscure deeps.
There was no sky level place. no
growing thing, no bird or beast only
crates OF bones TO show where some heart
less driver had sent a faithful horse 10
his death. This Is a fair impression OF
the Chilkoot pass on a rainy day. OF the
White pass IL remains merely 10 say that
when one has taken the Chilkoot pass he
wishes he had taken the White pass. ana
when he has walked the White. pass, with
It's thousands of rottlng bodies of horses.
It's poisonous water and its dreary miles.
he resolves never again to take either
They are grim and grlevous ways. but
they possess a certain value in that thew
throw into fadeless and powerful relief
the calm, golden warmth and the proud
beauty OF Attn lake.