The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-12-14
WHITE PASS BRIDGED
NEW RAILWAY LINE NOW RUNNING
FROM SKAGUAY TO LAKE,
BENNETT
ROAD SURVEYED TO DAWSON

1
KlOndike-OnIy Eight Days From
Seattle to Dawson City-Gigantic
Feat of Engineering-Back by
| "A London Company.
Mr.. George M. Rice, purchasing agent
OF the White Pass & Yukon Railroad
| company, is home from Alaska, to pass
ne holidays with his parents, No. $40
Beech street. Mr.. Rice first went to
the Yukon country in 1897, and In May,
$685. assumed the duties of purchasing
| agent for the company.
| The White Pass & Yukon company is
financed by London capital The line is
now completed from Skaguay, over White
pass, to the head of Lake Bennett. The
road is surveyed and graded to Closely,
via Caribou, about forty-five miles fur
| ther, making eighty-f1ve miles In all from
Skaguay. Trains are running daily from
skaguay to Lake Bennett By July l
| trains will be running to Closely. This
| latter place is named after the Close
brothers, of London, who have already
expended $2,65O,0OO on the road. Over
| Z,ooO men are employed today on the ex-
tension from Lake Bennett to Closely
l.. H. Graves, of Chicago, is president Of
| the company; E. c. Hawkins, of Seattle
| general manager, and M J. Heney. gem
| eral contractor.
During the past year the road has had
| all the business it could handle and is
! now hauling 600 tons of freight daily
! Mr.. Rice says that the outlook warrants
| all the heavy investment that Is being
made
have recently been made, and the Rookie
fellers already have their agents on the
ground looking up mines and properties
around White Horse. The company an
ticipates a large business hauling ores for
delivery at the Seattle smelters, and Is
now building $50 extra box and cattle
cars. number of new locomotives have
already been contracted for at the Bald
win works. Nine locomotives are at
present at work between Skaguay and
Lake Bennett.
Mr. Rice says that the company looks
for a large increase of business the COM
Ing year of 1900 A considerable quantity
Of mining machinery is now going into
the Yukon country over this road. From
Lake Bennett the company runs what is
known as the Red Line Transportation
line, which delivers freight and passen-
tant. Arrangements have recently been
completed whereby a person can pur-
chase ticket in st. Paul, via the White
Pass & Yukon railway and Red Line
Transportation company, clear to Daw-
son City The new line is the outgroWth
of the old tramway line over White pass,
which was owned by some San Francisco
people
Commenting upon the vast difference
hatm +.
Rice says that a man can leave Seattle
and reach Dawson City in eight days. 1t
used to require nine months and year
to make the trip, at an immense cost OF
money and life. Where freight over the
pass was once 40 cents pound, 1t is now
40 and 60 cents ton. Fare from Seattle
to Dawson, via the Red Line Transporta-
ton company. is now Silt second class
and 1892 first class. The line Of the Red
Line TRANSFORMATION company extends
over the graded roadbed of the railroad
extension down Lake Bennett and the
river to Caribou, and thence to Closely
| thence to Dawson. There are stations
| every twenty miles for eating and Sleep
| ing. Relays Of horses are furnished at
| these stations, and the trip Is quite ex-
| peditious and pleasant. New tariff sched-
ules will be issued about Christmas.
| In the opinion of Mr.. Rice the output
| of gold next year will be largely In eX-
! cess of any previous year. In 1883 1t
| was $4,000 000 In 1885, $4,000, 900, and WILL
doubtless, reach $25 100000 in 1900. New
| discoveries of rich placer diggings are
! being made daily. The new railroad
crosses the boundary line, now under
| dispute between this country and Can
| ada. about twenty-five miles from Skag-
| uay, on the summit of White pass.
| Thence on the road covers British ter
ritory.
| The work on this new line over White
pass, Mr.. Rice says, has been extremely
| difficult AS a feat of engineering 1T
has already acquired a world wide repu-
ta+ion, and Contractor Heney has re-
ceived merited praise for the general ex-
! pedition with which he accomplished the
| task. AS an illustration of some of the
difficulties overcome, Mr. Rice said:
"Workmen were swung over cliffs 800
feet below the edge by a single rope at
tached to a chair. After being lowered
this distance If they dropped tool it
| fell 1000 feet further into a chasm. Sus-
pended thus the men drilled holes into
the face of the rock and inserted long
irons Then heavy timbers were lowered
and rested on the irons. This Afforded
a standing place for workmen, VINO
then drilled other holes for blasts which
were fired by electricity after the work
men had been hauled to the surface. In
this manner they worked themselves into
! the rock until they could continue oper-
| ations In comparative safety. In spite
! of all precautions several lives We're lost
in the perilOus undertaking.
There is one tunnel on the completed
line from Skaguay to Lake Bennett. An
other company is said to be making
! bluff at railroad building over Chilcoot
pass chiefly by tunneling. but 1t is
thought that the result will be COM
| bination with the White Pass & Yukon
company. Mr. Rice says that wages on
the new roads run from So to Sc per day.
None are receiving less than 80 The
7 building of this road has enabled many
q stranded miner to earn money enough
! to carry him back home. 1t was quite
/ a surprise to learn from Mr.. Rice that
work was being prosecuted on the road
at this time as it was generally sup
posed that everything and everybody in
! Alaska had now gone into winter quar-
tiers. Mr. Rice brought back with him
! a number of large and elaborate photo
! graphs of scenes along the new road at
Skaguay and Lake Bennett. One of
them represents the scene of laying the
last golden spike. There is also pic
ture of a fleet of steamers on Lake Ben
nett some of them nearly as large as
upper Mississippi boats. Mr.. Rice also
has beautiful photograph of the totem
pole said to have been stolen by
! Seattle editor and erected In the public
! square at Seattle. 1t is said that Alas
| kan authorities are thinking seriously
/ of arresting the man whose public spirit
induced him to desecrate an Indian ceme-