Amador ledger., 1903-08-14
ALASKAN EXPERIENCES.

tion of the year; the ice in Lake
Lebarge being the last obstacle in the
spring. This year it did not 60 out
until the 18th of June, as there was but
little snow last winter. II was more
than feet in thickness in February.
On the 18th of June l left Skagway
at $3.50 a. M, with q party of friends,
for the interior. We bad bought lum
Der to build a barge, had it framed and
sent by rail to White Horse. The
train had baggage and mail car, two
express and three passenger cars, be-
sides two freight cars filled with second
class mail which had accumulated in
Skagway since the ice began to break
up in the river and make winter travel
impossible. During the winter mail is
carried regularly down the river by
dog teams. About $50 passengers were
on the train, for the spring travel to
the north had fairly begun.
The trip over the w. P. & Y. R. r.,
while nothing new, was of no less inter
est than when first made, for the noun
tains, glaciers, and canons seemed like
old friends.
The Canadian Custom House was
taken away from Skagway two years
ago by order of Col. W. j. Ivey, then
Collector of the Port, but who was re-
moved soon after, to the great salts
faction of the Canadians and their ad-
mirers. ct was Ivey who refused to
obey Secretary Hays orders in the
boundary dispute, and declared that a
Reed, an Olney or Blaine, never
would have demanded such humilia-
tion.) The car containing checked
baggage is allowed for convenience
sake, to be sealed in Skagway by His
Majesty's official. The hand baggage,
ETC., were examined at the summit of
White Pass. From this point to Skag-
way, in a direct line, is less than Is
miles, but the waters of Summit Lake
flow more than two thousand miles to
reach tide water at the mouth of the
Yukon.
After running down the craggy slopes
to Bennett, where we had a good din
ner for 70 cents, and along the eastern
shore of the lake % miles, crossing at
Caribou, where the railroad leaves the
river and passes nearly 80 miles of hot,
dusty rolling sand hills, we arrived at
White Horse at 4:30. This is a hustling,
growing young city, and it seemed like
dream to realize that it had all grown
from the small beginning | saw three
years ago. The town seemed full of
people in spite of the fact that two
steamers were leaving for Dawson every
night. More freight is passing over
the road than at any time in its his
tory. | counted twenty y-nine (29) large
stationary engines on the platform all
marked Dawson, besides all sorts of
hydraulic and mining machinery. One
pump, the three largest pieces of which
weighed thirty seven 80 tons, two II
and one 13 ton piece, will give an idea
of the styl of work that is being done
in the Klondike district.
We found our barge nearly COM
pleted, width 9 feet, length 80 feet,
with 5 feet outriggers at each end for
the steering oars. We were three days
completing arrangements for the voy-
age, caulking and launching the barge,
rigging the mast and spars. (the sail
was II feet wide and Is feet long) get
ting baggage and freight examined and
loading our craft. We had to pay the
duty on our freight, which was then
sealed by an official, the duties to be
refunded when we crossed into Alaska
with the seals unbroken.
There were ten in our party, two
doctors, one with his ten-year-old son,
photographer, two miners bound for
Dawson, a Swedish woman who was
taking two new milch cows to the in
terror, and the wife, mother, and
daughter of a miner who would join US
at Dawson. By careful packing we
had plenty of room for our freight,
baggage, stable, feed room, kitchen,
dieing room, observatory, and two
sleeping apartments. Every day we
saw people leaving for different points
down the river in canoes, large and
small row boats, barges and scows, in
fact anything that would float. The
North West Mounted Police mum bered