Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-09-11
SHE DESCRIBES THE WONDERS AND BEAUTIES OF A SEA
JOURNEY II ALASKA.
TELLS OF THE INDUSTRIAL PRO mise AND RAPID development
OF THE CITIES OF THE FAR N0RTH-PLEASED
WITH THE COUNTRY.

AAAoS AA1SS WIS., "AAoAA 49,
readers of the Inter Mountain, in an
exciting vote contest, selected to &c to
Nome. and who later decided to go to
Dawson, has reached her destination,
and sends the following interesting letter
descriptive of her trip:
A trip to Alaska is the trip of a life
time. The wonders have been dWelt
upon by many writer's, but it is impossi-
BILE to understand and appreciate the
grandeur and VastnesS of this region of
the world without having We've it.
Winter and summer for the past rs
years the Pacific Coast Steamship COM
pany has been running to
Alaska. At first one small steamer the
Eureka) made one trip per month. Dur
ing the excursion season, from May to
August, this company puts on the splen-
did steamers, Queen, Cottage City, City
of Topeka and others. The Queen has &C
c~ommodations for $50 first-class passen-
gers. She is supplied with all modern
appliances, including electric lights in
every stateroom. The Queen is a world
famed steamer The Cottage City, the
boat upon which we had the pleasure Of
travelling, is a large and elegant steam
err, having recently been brought from
! the east on account of being especially
adapted for the Alaska route. Her ac-
c~ommodations are frst-class and she is
a very comfortable vessel. The inland
trip from Seattle to Skagway is a
stretch of 1000 miles. The wildness Of
the bays, straits. channels and narrows
Is OF constantly increasing interest. The
beauties of ~ever-changing scenery, the
bright, warm sun, water smooth as a
pond, catching an occasional sight of an
Indian village on the islands nesting
at the base of mountains with a look of
being about to tumble into the sea, ice
bergs and glaciers the color Of %vitriol,
80 -, - 80 r~1y f~~ ~ ho1G
ground. are all a dazzling and interest
ing sight to the traveller. There is MOTH
ing like it. The wealth of fish, timber
and mineral, the queer customs of the
natives the novelty and many incidents
make this trip the object of a lifetime,
for Alaska is a wonder and a mystery.
The first town touched in Alaska is
Ketchican, a much-tangled town Of
about 600 people. There is only one mine
of Importance at this point. The devel-
opment work has proved very encourage
ing this season. There are many Indians
among the inhabitants. The indian wo-
men sit on the sidewalks and sell all
sorts of curios.
There is a mission on Annette island,
established years ago by Father Dun
can. He has been teaching the Indians
Industrial and moral ideas until they
have quite a civilized community.
The town of Wrangle is now almost de-
serted. In the spring of SO, during the
Stickien river stampede, there We're 5000
people there. The population is now
mainly fishing people. There are two
salmon canneries at this place.. The
most interesting thing about Wrangle
is the totem poles" They were made
by the Indians. and they prove an inter-
eSting curio to the tourists.
One hour from Wrangle we sail into the
famous 'NarroWs," the scenery at this
point is most magnificent. the channel is
so narrow that it makes navigation diff
cult.
nesting up against the mountains where
the rain is almost continuous. Despite this
fact the town is very attractive, there is
a population of about 1000 and a great
variety of business. The stores are re-
markedly we'll stocked and prices sur
prisingly reasonable. There are many
comfortable and cozy homes and we had
the pleasure of meeting some charming
people. Juneau is the second oldest town
in Alaska. (Sitka is the oldest). The
famous Treadwell mine on Douglas Is
land is situated just opposite Juneau,
! there is a ferry plying between the two
towns. The Treadwell mines employ
about ZOO men, the miners receive $3.50
per day and board, the lowest wages
paid being $500 and board for white
men. Many Indians are employed, one
popularity in connection with this fact
is they demand their wages every night
and usually succeed in gambling Off the
amount received before they can be in
duced to return to work.. There are $50
stamps in the mills at Douglas, they are
!, five in number. We visited one building
alton. The ore is very low grade, running
from 50. 90 to $4.O 90 per ton ,on account OF
/ the facility for cheap and rapid work the
cost of quarrying and milling has been