Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-11-09
HOME FROM ALASKA,
Capt. o. e. mckinley Returns to
Spend the Winter in Rock
Island.
PLEASED WITH THE COUNTRY

Interested in q Number of Valuable Claimi
at Cape Nome, a New Town. Where Colo
is Said to BE PIentifuI-Master of Steam
err Leah Running on the Yukon-Lookins
Well and Feeling Fine.
Capt Otis E. Mckinley has returned
from the Klondike, where he has been
employed for two seasons as master
on the steamer Leah, one of the seven
boats of the Alaskad Commercial
Steamboat company operating be-
tween st. Michaels and Dawson City,
on the Yukon river. Capt. Mckinley
left Rock Island May 15. 1898. in COM
pany with Frank Bledsoe, of this city,
and Capts. j. S. Moore, of Lyons,
Iowa; NJ. NJ. Looney, of La Crosse;
+. f. Dalson. of Dubuque, and F.
Boleman, of Paducah, Ky, all Missis-
sippi river pilots, who were engaged
for three years to guide steamers on
the Yukon river. Capt. coleman re-
turned to the states last year. The
remainder of the party except
ing Capt. Mckinley and Frank
Bledsoe, who is expected shortly,
! the latter stopping off to visit at
San Francisco, is still in that
country. George Hakes, who was
also formerly of this city, was engi-
neer on Capt. McGinlev's boat.
The Klondike, Capt. Mckinley says,
is a country of riches and has not
even been half prospected- The
great est horror of the winter, lack of
food, has been removed by the supplies
sent to Dawson City by the three
transportation companies, which are
influential and owned by wealthy
syndicates, which monopoliZe the en-
tire trade on the Yukon, in which no
private boat can compete. A steam
boat operating on the Yukon river.
says Capt. Mctiinley, is under heavy
expense as cord wood sells at $40
per cord. and Indian pi OTIS who know
the 800 miles of river between St.
Michaels and DIwson City demand an
enormous salary, as the Yukon is
dangerous stream TO navigate.
Three Tips in = Season.
The ] 800 miles were covered three
times in round trips by Capt. Nc
Ginley and the Leah in the naviga-
ton season of three months.
At Five Finger rapids in White
Horse rapids it is an every day hap
pening for some boat to be smashed
to pieces in the treacherous channel
The size of the ordinary Yukon river
steamer is 225 feet in length with So
foot beam. All boats tow 170-foot
barges with freight cabins. The
captain has gained 16 pounds in
weight since his departure, and says
he has not been sick day, and his
appearance bears out the statement.
That country is the place for me. -
said the captain at his home today.
II wore the same clothes up there as
| did here, excepting combination leg
gings and shoes, with the soles stuffed
with hay, and two pair of heavy
wooden socks. The sun in summer
never disappears, while in winter the
days are about four hours long and
the nights are still and bright"
The latest and greatest strike. Capt.
Mckinley states, is at Cape Nome, in
the Behring sea. Last summer a few
tents was all there was to what is
now a town of 1000 people. Capt.
Mckinley owns an interest in valuable
claims at Cape Nome. He will re-
main here until about May 10 next,
having come to spend the winter
with his family at 531 Twentieth
street.