The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-07-26
Ont OF a Party Of Seventeen who Left
on the kotxebue sound Expedi.
ton All but One Died.
RICH CAPE NOME DISTRICT
ANOTHER GOLD FIELD THAT WILL
ATTRACT THOUSANDS.
One Man Took Ont $4,000 I'm Four.
teen working Days, and Labor
Worth 81 an Hour.

SAN FRANCISCO, July &-The steamer
Bertha arrived this morning from St
Michael's, via Unalaska, with ninety-seyen
passengers and about 100000 in gold. The
largest amount brought down by one per-
son is $4,000. The purser says that there is
wealth in the Cape Nome district. Details
of the loss of the Bens expedition are told
by passengers. Out of a party Of seventeen
people who left Port Townsend June IL.
1898, for Kotzebue sound TO prospect for
gold, only one survives, and that is Mrs. II.
w. Bens. OF Clay City. Ky. For twelve
weeks she watched over her sick husband
with no one TO aid her. and when he died
she was left alone in the wilderness. After
walking nine miles she found a cabin in
which three fishermen were wintering. She
became sick of scurvy. She was tendery
cared for and finally reached ST. Michaels
and took passage for San Francisco on the
Bertha.
1t was not until Mrs. Bens reached Nulate
on her way south that she heard that the
members of the party which had been left
behind on the steamer Elk had all died dur
ing the winter ane spring from scurvy. and
that all had been buried on a small island.
These unfortunates were as follows:
Captain Smith. First Mate Frank Johnson,
Earl Piummer, young man from Port
Townsend; John Morrison, Of Duluth;
Peter Johnson, Johnson House. James Hut
ton, Z. Cowder. Bay City. Mich; Daniel
Mccall. of Illinois; Captain Hibbard and six
men from the steamer Eckert.
OF the gold brought from the Klondike on
the Bertha half a million dollars belongs to
the Alaska Commercial Company. and $780,
900 is said to be in the hands OF three for
fa-
gett, G. d. McMirs and N. Mercier.
Henry Smith, of Fresno. Cal, brother-in-
law of Clarence Berry. one Of the first to
make a big strike at Dawson, is reported to
have about $4,000 OF the nlnety-seven pas
sengers. only thirty-five bring out more
than a few hundred dollars cash. while
about twenty are without cent. Previous
stories of privations at ST. Michaers are
confirmed by the passengers who say there
are hundreds, If not thousands. of men there
without beds or money TO buy food. The
rush from Dawson. where labor can now be
obtained at the cheapest rates, continues
and is sure to add TO the restitution at the
coast ports.
The reports from Cape Nome are ex-
tremely conflicting. The officers Of the
Bertha. s. NJ. Liggett and several other
miners, say that the district is even richer
than has been stated. but others declare
that nothing of value has yet developed DR..
Southwell, OF this city. boarded the ves-
sci at Cape Nome and presented many OK
the passengers with valuable nuggets. w.
b. Judson of Los Angeles. says 1t viii take
SO 900 to work a hundred-foot claim at Gold
Hill.
The steamer Schooner Albion is reported
to have sold an entire cargo of liquor at
Cape Nome in one day. the price ranging
as high as 81 a bottle for whisky ana " Tor
beer The settlement grew from a dozen
tents to a city OF several thousand people
within a few weeks. There has been con-
siderable disorder and fifteen soldiers have
been sent from ST. Michaels TO that point.
All the claims on the water front for two
miles on each side OF Anvil City have been
taken up and the mountains back of the
place are staked of. There is nothing left
for newcomers, who must purchase claims
from those already on the ground.