The daily morning Alaskan., 1899-02-21
Celebration Flags Completion of the Railroad to
the Summit of White Pass
BLUE SKY--BRILLIANT SUNSHINE
twenty .


Good Dame Nature, arayed all In virgin
white under bright sun and a eloudIeSS
sky, smiled and looked her prettleSt on the
mighty bleak summit Of the great White
Pass Yesterday, In honor Of the arrival at
that elevation Of the first through passnn7
ger train ever sent out from Skagway over
the now famous White Pass x Yukon
Railroad. Everything combined to make
the day a most ENJOYABLE one and one the
nature and surroundings Of which Will at
ways leave a pleasant recollection In the
minds Of the one hundred guests who were
invited to witness the completion OF the
gigantic undertaking Of building railroad
10 the summit, to the end Of the American
line and the commencement Of the same
line on British Columbia territory on TO-
ward Bennett. Not ahlteh occurred IN the
well.matured plans Of the several otflelals
having the excursion in charge and the
effort Of one and all was vlslbly eNerted TO
the end that every guest on the trip should
have roval good time. That they had u
was the verdict Of one and all, and upon
the return Of the train to Skagwav at 7;'o
last evening a hearty three cheers and
tiger followed a vote Of thanks to the ON
ciols Of the White Pass road for the eour'
tesles extended and the hOspi,alVles Of a
beautiful spread so graciously extended al
an elevation of 1880 feet and with the sher-
mometer standing pat at n degrees below
zero. While this may seem very cold, yet
II was not perceptlbly so for old Bofeas haa
rested from his Iabors even to the extent OF
calling in his band Of zephyrs, so that.'n
dead calm of the summit made the clear
sharp, lnvigoratlng ozone not only oeara-
bic but decidedly invigorating.
The only thing that may be said to have
cast t.nge Of regret over the occurrence
was the absence Of Chief Engineer t. l.
Hawkins, the one man above all others 10
whose skill, energy and perseverance Is
really due the construction and complexion
of this, the greatest engineering feat OF the
nineteenth century. He was in the minis
OF many in that gathering and was parueu'
larly missed by his CORPS Of engineers VINO
have learned to love as well as respect him.
uis .hsenee was also emphasized by the
fact that he had volunteered the sad task Of
accompanying the remains Of the dead en-
cIneer, Robin Dryden Jack. to Vancouver
B. c., and there to perform the still sadder
duty of breaking the news to the widow
and father'ess children, A silent toast
was drank for the two beloved absent
members Of the corps, the living Chief En-
pineer E. C. Hawkins and the dead engl-
neer R. B. Jack.
THE START.
Ten o'clock yesterday morning saw all
the invited guests assembled at the depot
In Skagway ready to take the first passen-
ger train out Of Skagwav through to the
summit. The engine and two coaches re-
eelved the crowd and promptly at 1905
new schedule time, Conductor N. B. Miles
gave the signal. Engineer meKinzie opened
the throttle and away went the first iron
horse to the summit. It was 4 degrees be-
low zero at the start with an unpleasant
cold north wind that intensified the cold,
and as the train whired along the side OF
the mountain and gained In elevation It
grew colder, until at the summit the mer-
curry had dropped to "a degrees below
The cars, however, were comfortably
heated and the tur coats, parkies and oth-r
Arctic wearing apparel worn by large
number Of the guests were only eomiorIa-
bic when on the summit and out In the
bracing air Of that elevation.
Traffic Manager Grav, who appeared to
have ha supervision Of the whole affair,
overlooked nothing, not even photog-
rapher, and Mr.. Hegg made It a business to
take number Of views Of the train and its
passengers at a number Of the most plet-
uresoue points on the road. These will
be souveniers Of the occasion, dear to all
participants, and the railroad In particular.
Beside Mr. Hegg there were kodaks and
cameras enough on board to have made a
good start for a camera club. These were
MIS-. Sehlbrede, Mrs. Battin, Mrs. CaSe'
MIS-. Dautrick, Miss Church, Mrs. Hollister'
Mrs. Thomas Braekett, Messrs. Case,
Frank Bracket, Hollister, w. A. Reid, F.
B. Flood, Bart Robinson, Mr.. Jones, c. II.
Stagman and Rev. J. A. Sinclair. All
these lined up at every stop and formed an
interesting, picturesque group Of them
selves, which It Is to be hoped was secured
by Mr, Hegg.
The grandeur Of the scenery as the train
passed the many wonderful panoramic
views proved a never-ending source Of
CALCULATIONS from the delighted passen-
sn. Unfortunately the frozen condition