The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-12
TIE CRUSH AT CAPE NOME
A Million Dollars Worth of Freirh
Piled Oh the Beach.
Thousands of ProsPectOr< without
Sheltcr-A Rush for Which Every
one Was Unprepared-The Tundra
Avoided by Canpers-Few Miners
mt WOrk-Thc Methods Employed.


/ mt work-The Methods Employed.
correspondent Of the New York
Evening Post writing from the Corwn
Trading Company's camp at Nome, uader
date Of June 49, says:
In the pale grey of a misty Arctic mid
night. the United States revenue cutter
Corwin dropped anchor in the open read
stead that Is the only approach to Nome.
after buffeting the Arctic ice for week. A
few vessels were already at anchor there.
vessels that had been fortunate and found
leads that opened the way for them and
then closed behind with the ever-shifting
turbulence of the pack that guards the gol
den sands until we'll into June. but the bulk
OF the Nome bound fleet still coasted IN
easily without this barrier. not daring to
enter 1t with hulls untitled for ice-break-
ing. few had tried 1t, some to meet With
utter disaster. and others 70 creep back to
Dutch Harbor for repairs in crippled con-
dition.
The waters were placid and there was
scarcely ripple of surf upon the treacae.-
Gus beach where but a few days before the
Stanch bark Alaska had been wrecked and
had strcwn the sands with the fragments
of her hull and miscellaneous cargo. over
which the beachcombers fought with enc
another and the police for the possession
of common Iuxuries that within Two weeks
were to flood the town and be at any man 8
command.
At one moment the msts shutting down
showed only narrow strip OF sand as Ges-
olate as when. two years ago. no mans foot
tired 1t; again, lifting. they half revealed
through their folds city that seemed as
vague and unreal as did the pinnacles o;
Canelot when Gareth Of the Arthuiian le-
gend drew near to them on his first quest.
The winds of sunrise blew in from the west
and carried these mists away. ard tn.
magic city OF Nome lay before u.s. revealed.
A tumble of Tents.
A long stretch of level sands, jumbo Ct
tents and miscellaneous baggage, people,
lumber. and boats. behind these tumble
OF wooden and sheet iron houses, one, two.
and three stories high, with big tents like
those of the circus-all these In loag,
narrow ridge. wider than the beach slras.
but not very wide. and dribbling away to
the north into the gray green of the tu-dIa
that slopes gently back to the rounded
snow-clad hills four or five miles away
That is Nome as it was week ago.
Since then thirty steamers have crowded
the open roadsteld and have landed TO-.
coo people and million dollars
worth of freight and baggage. There are
no docks and no wharves. Every bit of
this freight has come ashore in lighters
and lies in inextricable confusion Just
above high water mark. Tents grow every
where as mushrooms grow in summer.
They crowd the beach to the waters
edge. they rise like the tide upon the
soggy tundra, and they ripple and roll
white line OF living human froth as far
up the beach as the eye can see.
The weather has been pleasant and the
sea propitious. otherwise the misery that
these reckless pilgrims have suffered
would have been augmented beyond en-
durance. 1t has been bad enough. Thou
sands have been days and nights without
shelter and many have applied to the au-
thorities at Nome for the protection they
have been unable to give except in a small
way
No one in Nome expected such an inva-
sion or was prepared for it. and though
the people in general and the authorities
in particular struggle to take care of it,
they are not very successful. There are
but two or three tugs available for the
bringing ashore Of these loaded lighters,
and they command s25 an hour and more.
Mobs Of people crowd the sands about the
incoming lighters and watch for their de-
layed baggage or Chamber over the
mountains of freight already piled around
and seek for it, generally in vain. The
few who are fortunate enough to find it
shoulder what they can. and bowed to
the earth beneath its weight, tramp in |
long lines up the beach for a mile or two |
to find an open space big enough to pitch |
their tents on. Men who are willing |
to work on the beach or in the surf hand |
ling this freight earn a dollar an hour.
Methods of Transportation.
cart and pair Of horses are worth |
so an hour. and handcarts are earning
phenomenal wages. There are many dog
teams in service. generally attached to a |
pushcart. behind which man or bow |
shoves while the team pulls. Very well |
trained and intelligent are these dogs. and
they obey the orders of whoa and haw and |
gee with despatch. They pull surprising
load. too, but their use in summer will |
soon end. Horses are coming up on almost
every steamer. and some very good outfits |
are already here. two and four horse teams
with large, wide-tired carts, that get all |
The heavy traffic
But the human being is still the most
common luggage carrier. You will see two
men with huge trunk on a pole across
heir shoulders their knees bent beneath
is weight, toiling along by short stages up
he beach to some distant camp Some
lines another follows with tent, camp
Utensils. and n rocker upon his bowed
shoulders, bowed like those of Atlas with |
he world upon them
But between the high-tide mark and the |
tripping edge of the tundra the greatest
Wonder after all is the ever-rsing sea of
ents Few men care to live upon the
undra although it is done. A sponge.
veil saturated with icy water that you
annot squeeze out as you would sponge
hat is the tundra. You may ditch ii IL
'ou will. but little water drips into the
itches.
You cannot drain it this way any more
han you could drain a saturated sponge
~ cutting creases In it. Hence the
ampers avoid it. but on the dryer strip
I land they stand shoulder to shoulder
Ike disordGrly crowd at a fair. and If
Gu would travel among them you must
OPP over an amazing tangle Of suyropes |
here are people who stayed in Nome all
ginter that they might hold title to some
Il these spots that are now pre-empted
y incoming thousands
mile east of the town is a sandy bar
erhaps three hundred feet wide, between
he tide and tundra, and running up the
each ten times that distance. This was