The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-10-31
MET DEATH
TWO HUNDRED
FEET BELOW
Tragic End Of Ru-
dolph Neumann.
DISASTERS ON THE YUKON
A DOZEN RIVER STEAMERS ON
THE SAND BARS.
The Steamer Portland Arrived Yes
terday With Some Miners
Aboard, but They Brought
Very Little Gold.
DISASTERS ON THE YUKON
A DOZEN RIVER STEAMERS ON
THE SAND BARS.

The last of the st. Michael steamers
the Alaska Commercial Company's Port
land-reached port yesterday. she mas
been expected for over a week, and there
was a very large crowd down to meet
her. She came into port with her nag at
half mast, and a gloom settled over the
people on the wharf. The gloom was not
lightened any when it was learned that
the flag was half masted out of respect
to the memory of Rudolph Neumann, the
able and popular manager of the Alaska
Commercial Company. The deceased was
one of the best-known and best-l1ked
business men in Alaska.
MIR Neumann's death was a very
tragic one" said J. Homer Fr1tch, the
well-known coal man, who was pas
senger by the Portland from st. Michael.
"He was the general agent for the COM
pany throughout Alaska, and after set
fling I'D his business for the year at
Unalaska went over to Unga on the
schooner Pearl to wind up affairs there.
In company with T. c. Mayor, superin-
tendent of the Apollo mine, he was going
over the company's property.
"a new vein had been struck in the
Sitka mine and Mayor and Neumann
were going down the shaft to inspect it.
AT the 1O0-foot level both men got out of
the bucket and were standing on a plat
form. Mr. Neumann holding on to one of
the uprights Mr.. Neumann made some
remark about the darkness, and Mr..
Mayor asked him, Can you seer YES
I'm all right was the answer, but the
next instant he got dizzy and went crash
ing to the bottom of the shaft AD9 feet
below How Superintendent Mayor got
out of the mine he does not know, put
he succeeded somehow and sent party
of miners down after the BODY II was
brought to the surface and embalmed by
the doctor on the island and sent to San
Francisco for interment.
1.-The Indians were broken-hearted over
the death of Mr.. Neumann. He was like
a father to them, and they We're still
weeping for him when we left the ISL
Leopold Neumann, the well-known
and Paul Neumann, Attorney General or
Hawaii under the monarchy, was his
uncle. The Messrs. Sloss, Mr.. Neumann
and host of the deceased's friends We're
down at the wharf to meet him, only to
be confronted by the Portland with her
flag at half mast.
in 1873 in the schooner Eustace with Cap
tain Blair. He became the Alaska Com
mercial Company's agent at st: Michael
in that year, but when Alfred Greenbaum
retired he became general agent for the
concern with headquarters at Unalaska.
The news from the Yukon is not very
encouraging. The labor market is glutted
and thousands of gold hunters are wish
ing they were home again. At least a
dozen river steamers are STUCK on the
sandbars of the river, and not one of
them will be saved. The Dawson City,
which left here in June last with a party
among which was "CharIey" Bruce of
the yacht Rover, was a total wreck.
She went on bar in the Yukon flats and
broke her back. The gold hunters de-
serted her and were making the best of
the circumstances at ST. Michael when
the Portland sailed.
The Herman and Tacoma of the Liebes
fleet were also on sandbars and IN dan
gerous positions. The Linda pulled on the
get her off, but failed. The other river
boats were all in bad positions, and the
chances are that they will go to pieces
in the spring when the ice breaks up.
The gold hunters who were to have gone
to Dawson on the river steamer City of
Paris played in hard luck. After waiting
nearly month for their vessel they gave
it up in disgust, sold all their outfits and
fittings for the steamer and left for Daw-
son to go home by the trail. Shortly
afterward the City of Paris arrived at
Dutch Harbor in tow of the tug Mystery.
They were forty-two days getting from
Nanaimo B. c., to Dutch Harbor, so 1t
was no wonder they were given up for
lost.
Ice was making in the Yukon and there
was thin ice at Dutch Harbor when the
Portland sailed on October H. The Port
land towed the Alaska commercial Com
pany's tug Sadie from st. Michael to
Dutch Harbor, and she is now in winter
quarters there.
The Portland brought very little gold
from the Alaskan mines.