The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-01-11
DAWSON A CITY
OF DEST|TUT|ON
Thousands Will Perish
Unless Aided.
LIVE IN STACKS OR CAVES
ARE WITHOUT MEANS AND
CANNOT GET OUT.
In the "Unfortunates' Row" District
the Deaths Number Three
or Four Each
Day.
ARE WITHOUT MEANS AND
CANNOT GET OUT.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

VANCOUVER, Jan. 10.-"There is
dire restitution and sickness that
means death to nearly 5000 tenderfeet
on the outskirts of Dawson City should
they not receive immediate help"
This is a startling statement made by
M. A. Mahoney of Montreal who came
out from Dawson in fourteen days.
breaking all records and being the last
man to come out. Mahoney was to-day
shown dispatches from Seattle denying
reports OF restitution. He said:
From personal observation. L know
that from 1000 to 5000 men will require
help at once or they will die like dogs.
l never looked upon such hopeless dis
tress and reckless abandonment to
cruel fate as l witnessed just before
1 left the Klondike when walking
through what is called 'Unfortunates
Row. on the mountainside outside of
Dawson. The destitutes are living in
caves and dugouts on the mountainside
and in tents covered with blankets and
trees to check the terrific icy blasts
that blow up through the valley.
Most of the unfortunates are Amer
leans. They went into the Klondike
last spring with good grub stakes and
high hopes. Hundreds l know from
personal observation have never done
a stroke of work since going in there
In the first place they were totally I'M
fitted for the country, many of them
being professional men and a majority
of them hailing from a moderate cli-
mate. They failed to get a claim, being
pushed to one side by more vigorous
miners. Unable to buy ground in Daw-
son and erect shacks they went in
hordes to the outskirts of the city, up
in the mountains and along the Klon-
dixie River. Rude shacks, and, in many
cases, dugouts are now their places
of abode; they are as helpless as babies.
Good hearted mine owners gave
many of them employment. They lasted
about two days and then struck, una
BILE to stand the terrible strain. Re-
turning to their huts they apparently
gave up hope and settled down in the
mountains to wait for something to
turn up. Living on a diet of pork and
beans and taking very little exercise.
they were bound to be affected by
scurvy. Then typhoid caught many of
them. Dozens of poor fellows now fill
nameless graves on mountain sides.
Although it is not generally known,
even in Dawson three or four deaths
occur daily in this hopeless commu-
nifty.
Il have time and again recently
passed through what is known as the
unfortunate district and know what I
am talking about when l say that they
will have to get help soon or meet a
terrible fate. Just before l left a sub
scription list was sent around Dawson,
the object of which was to raise money
to send representatives to Washington
to obtain government help for the
starving men. 1 refused to sign it, as
did many others, on the ground that
when such aid was obtained 1t would
be too late. l advocated the raising of
money on the spot and think that is the
only way in which the unfortunate men
can be relieved. About $1,000 had been
raised to send out representatives when
l left. This money will pass through a
number of hands, and, to be straight
forward, l don't think it will be all de-
voted to the purpose for which it was
subscribed.
Il have not overdrawn my picture of
the condition of these wretched, starv-
ing tenderfeet. You would have to be
right on the spot to realize the full ex-
tent Of their misery Mind, 1 do not
say that there is restitution in Dawson.
1t is on the outskirts, in places seldom
visited. Unemployed men living on
the mountains occasionally make
known their condition, but, as long as
they can merely exist, will not beg.
Affairs with them are reaching a
climax, however They must get help
soon or spring will tell a terrible tale
when their shacks and dugouts are
visited"
Mahoney says he will if necessary
swear to the details of the statement
he has given.