The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-08-28


west.
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nexus Of thirty miles saves an ocean voy- |
age of thousands. or a journey on foot |
both dangerous and exhausGing.
Travelling Through Liquid Air.
For the first five miles the road follows |
the Skaguay river, traversing fiat val |
lsy, possibly a mile wide, hoorod with |
water~washed bouders scattered through |
a thin growth OF cotton wood trees, and |
shut in by gray walls of great hight
For a fourth of this distance the log !
cabins and board shanties Of The town Of /
SkaEUay spread out like fan. Then |
comes he climb of Porcupine Hin, a sharp /
prornontory juttng out into the valley |
from the north. Winding in and out of its /
irregular face on three ana nine-tenths
grade an hours climbing brings the train
10 the top and other edge of this ri9ge,
1900 feet above It's base.
Here with the forked head of Lynn
canal lying like a chain Of Alpine lakes in
che otiing, begins series of landscapes
which must certainly attract tourists by
the thousands. as soon as their fove-iness
and grandeur become known. California
aud Colorado must look well 10 their laur
els for with Mount Mckinley, one thou
sand feet higher than any other peak on
the American continent. and now the glo-
| rious scenery of The White Pass unlocked
| TO the luxury-1oping traveller, Baedecker
VIII do wen to give Alaska a special and
early edition of his gude-book.
Five miles farther and we draw up TO
! Glacier station, attached like a Swiss cha
! let to the rugged side of mountain. Here
| the first snow obstruc lion is encountered.
| The heavy coach is uncoupled, and the
| klondil1ers shouldering their packs, take
| TO the trail.
Here again an unlocked for courtesy was
| extended f. b. Flood. the brilliant young
| engineer in charge of the toughest five
| miles OF railroad construction in the coun-
! try" invited me into the locomotive cab
| to accompany him over his division, on
| tour of inspection.
Doubtless IL was disinterested kindness
| on the part of the fireman who proffered
| me his scenic corner but certainly my
| name was Ephram before we had proceed
! ed a mile one deeply interested in this
| particular piece of road might be eX-
| pected to endure the liquid air. which
| poured in through the cabs open windows
| but to be at the same time glued to the
| boiler and fried to a turn on the other
| side. was impossible. l escaped to the
! tender.
A large force of men had been strung
| along the line to keep the track clear,
| but do their best, the snow in some places
| drifted in faster than they could remove
| il. Nearing the summit, we bucked into
| q great white bank which had slid down
| tried 10 again. With sand box open. and
escape valve blowing. the engineer threw
her wide OPEN and away went the
| locomotive like a mad bull with its head
| down. A dun thud, a deuge of snow,
| and the engine stops midway through the
drift with wheels a-whirl. Another run
for IT," and we are through with a rush.
and out upon a creaking, trembling tres
| tie Here the science and skill of the
constructing engineer Is put TO Its sever
est test one month ago this gorge was
level full of snow. Shovels had first clear
ed the way and tossed the white blocks
down the mountain side then came the
rock men to prepare the foundation with
drill and dynamite, during weather so
bitter cold that the hospital tents were
filed with frost-bitten men. Then the
slender timbers were lifted 70 the level
of the grade and the rails laid across.
Cost of Building.
As I saw Mr.. Flood lean from the cab
and keenly watch every support as we
passed over, l thought of Kipling'
bridge Builders" Would II stand the
= test? Not of the roaring Ganges but OF
t the bucking. painting, sentient engine
Above, the almost perpendicular cliffs
down which men had dangled from ropes
while cutting the first grade below, the
: SCARED, hungry ribs Of granite, the inter
stices flied with glaciers i'm miniature
l But-we passed in safety. The builder:
{ calculations had been as true as his tim
] bers. Another mile and we drove through
s a tunnel under the backbone of the las
e | ridge: and. following the contour Of nat
r ural amphitheater stopped before a Ions
q line Of tents half buried in snow From
= one foated the Stars and Stripes, from
- its ...arest neighbor the Union Jackie
2 tween, passed the international boundar!
1 line We were at the summit Of Whit
I Pass
r. The cost of the road so far has beel
|. about $4,000 per mile. II is narrow gauge
Y hfty-siX pound rails being used. Their
G are more curves than straight lines. AC
e cidCnts are inevitable; but few have bee
e the fatalities considering The danger O
Ne the work and the severity of the weather
~ Two men lie beneath an immense bloc
i of granite too large to be moved, Other
" have died from pneumonia ana freezing.
1t Speaking Of these things. one of the on
e ginccrs told me that he believed moth n
lj short Of divine interposiuon had saved hiI
T. aud his men from an awful death last NJ
IF vember A charge Of giant powder Ia
20 been tamped home and the warning sie
e mai given He and his assistants steppe
II behind an 1S-inch tree, supposing that III
IS blast would be of the usual force wher
NJ 100 pounds of explosive is used. For som
M reason the spark machine failed TO il
lC mite the fusc-a most unusual occurrence,
in After waiting a sufficient period the er
~ giucer examined the batteries and foun
IS, that. instead Of l00 pounds the workme
Of uul in 500 pounds. Retiring 70 a great
lis distance. the spark machine was agai
er operated-this time successfully. tn
Of IMPACT was terrific Twenty-Five hundre
er Yards Of rock was dislodged and throw
~ into the air. One piece measuring invent
st feet by thirty struck the tree behind wnic
on the party had first stood, shatterlng It liI
ad a pipe stem.
rs --'--s--'---
NJ valuable Barn burned.
es Tbomasville. Ca. Aug. 27-Fire destroi