The record-union., 1899-07-26
Story Brought Down by the Steamer
Bertha From St. Michael.
New Facts Regarding the Loss Of the Bens
Expedition Related.
Out Of q Party Of Seventeen People
Who Left Port Townsend in
June Of Last Year for Kotzebue
Sound, Only One Survives, and
That a Woman.

That a Woman.
SAN FRANCISCO. July 25.-The
steamer Bertha arrived this morning
from st. Michael, via Unalaska, with
ninety seven passengers and some gold
dust.
The Bertha brings down an interest
ing story of hardship, disease and death
in the Far North. and new facts are
learned regarding the details of the
loss of the Bens' expedition are told.
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 a woman
Mrs. H. W. Bens of Clay City, KY. For
twelve weeks she watched over her sick
husband far from any habitation with
no one to aid her. and finally when he
died she was left entirely alone in the
bleak wilderness She then started
over the snow waist deep, in what
seemed a hopeless quest for human
help.
After walking nine miles she found a
cabin in which there were three fisher
men who were wintering. No sooner had
she reached this shelter than symptoms
of scurvy developed She was tenderly
cared for. however. and finally reached
ST. Michael and took passage for San
Francisco on the Bertha.
She will go to Bay City, Mich, where
she has a mother. brother and sister.
Her husband was Mason and an Elk,
and she will not lack assistance. 1t
was not until she reached Nulato on her
%I,ok el-
members of the party which had been
left behind on the steamer Elk had all
died during the winter and spring from
scurvy, and that all had been buried
on small island These unfortunates
were as follows:
Captain Smith, First Mate Frank
Johnson, Earl Plummer. young man
from Port Townsend: John Morrison,
Duluth;i Peter Johnson and John Stone
house of Seattle; James Hutton and E.
Cowder, Bay City. Mich; Daniel Nc.
Call, Illinois, and Captain Hubbard and
six men from the steamer Eckert.
Mrs. Bens is a small woman and told
the story of her terrible experience in
a voice choked by emotion.
I'VE arrived at Seattle in October,
1897, from the East, and after building
a little boat named Elk No. 1, started
for Kotzebue. reaching there July IA,
1898. We anchored several miles up
the Selewick River. In August Andrew
Moore, Frank Browen. Andrew Laird,
- Noble and three others went back,
their prospecting having shown little
or nothing. DR.. Better of Trenton, N.
J., then joined the party, and with the
others remained on the vessel during
the winter. Of their sad fate I have
only recently been told.
''Mr. Bens built boat and he and T
went some eighty miles up the Tagrag-
wick River in search of gold. Here
we found seven men. including Captain
Hibbard from the steamer Eckert We
erected a cabin and Mr.. Bens went
back to the Elk for provisions.
He was caught in storm and for
sixty hours was without food or shelter
This led to the sickness which caused
his death. Captain Hibbard and his
men joined the others on the Elk, and
I went with my husband to the Hoosli
River, a tributary of the Koyukuk
There we pitched our tent and there
after nearly three months suffering
from scurvy, Mr.. Bens breathed his
last He was buried by the three fish
ermen whose cabin I succeeded in
reaching. They are Charles Grant Of
Maine and Johnson and Hansen of Sc
attic. They made rude bier of furs
and saplings, and on it carved a rude
square and compass. a maltese cross
and his initials, so the remains might
be identified, if ever found"
OF the ninety-seven passengers, only
thirty-five bring out more than a few
dollars cash. while about twen-
ty are without a cent.
Previous stories of privation at st
Michaels are confirmed by the passen-
gers who say there are hundreds il
not thousands of men there without
beds or money to buy food. The rush
from Dawson, where labor can now be
at the cheapest rates. continue
and is sure to add to the destitution
at the coast ports.
The steam schooner Albion is report
ed to have sold an entire cargo of LIQUOR
at Cape Nome in one day, the price
ranging as high as 81 bottle for
whisky and Sc for beer. The settle
ment grew from dozen tents to city
of several thousand people within few
weeks.
There has been considerable 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 staked out. There is nothing
left for newcomers. who must purchase
claims from those already on the
ground.