Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1904-08-04
The Roar OF Dropping Stamps
Reminds One OF Distant
Thunder.

A. NJ. Heating, who left here some
time ago in company with W. II.
Hampton to take position with the
Jualpa Mining Company of Junea,
Ala ska, has written as follows to
friends in this city, concerningg his
trip:
arrived in Jusnea, after very
pleasant trip. would like to be
ablu TO describe the picturesque
beauties of the scenery along the
steamboat route, but words fail me-
when | attempt it and am afraid my
Vocabulary is inadequate to do it full
justice, as from the time you leave
Seattle, until your arrival at Junea,
it is series of panoramic surprises,
startling in their varied beauty and
grandeur reminding one more of some
projectoscopic entertainment, than
an actual every day sight, changing,
as il does, from the fairy like scenery
of the Puget Sound Islands to the
harsh, almost threatening ruggedness
of the Alaskan shores and mountains.
The route with two exceptions (the
Straits of Fuca aud Queen Char
lotte Sound) lies between the main.
land aud the Islands that parallel it,
and il is more like taking a trip on
some land locked canal than on the
"broad Pacific" " AT times it becomes
so narrow, that one could easily
throw stone from the steamer deck
to either shore, and although, to a
landsman, it looks perfectly safe for
any kind of boat, | noticed on
several occasions that our pilot stop
ped the steamer and let it drift idly
around, waiting for the tide to raise
or fall before entering some of the
passages as 1t attains tremendous
rapidity as it forces its way through
and sad is the fate of the boat that
gets caught in any of them, which
fact saw beautifully and vividly
examplified by the skeletons of several
lying on the rocks that, through the
ignorance or daring of their captains
ventured to pass through when the
tide was at its most dangerous stage.
After leaving Victoria and skirtlng
along the shores of Vancouver's s
Island, the scenery changes to more
solid and rugged kind, tho earth be-
comes solidifed and everything is
rock and rocky, the vegetation as
sumes a new character, the fir and
pine have given place to the more
hardy spruce and cedar and instead
of soil and grass covering the forma-
ton. it now has n blanket of moss
and ferns of several colors and
varieties.
On both shores are chains of snow
capped mountains with here and there
lofty peak which rears its hoary
head into the regions Of the clouds, AT
if sentinel guarding our waterway,
aud all, strange to say, shaped like
the Cows Horn of the Cascade range
in Eastern Oregon.
Every now and then along the route
= can be seen small villages, principally
inhabited by sturdy class of fisher
men, who earn their daily bread by
working for some cannery, built II
some sequestered nook, among th'
rocks near the mouth Of some rive
d, and is only visited occasionally BY
some small steamer with supplies
, which gets in return load of can
n ned salmon as cargo.
Here and there tiny Indian village
:. can be seen nest ling in some cove a
= the foot of some lofty mountain as /
q imploring its protection from the colt
blasts of winter overlooked b.
their Mission church and other build
II ings usually all painted snow white
!. making pretty picture with tn
green of the foliage as background
After passing the British possess
, ions and entering Alaska, the town
present a larger and more prospeTou
N appearance and the apathy Of IT,
q. Englishman has gwen place to th
restless rnstle of the Yankee-agai
, we are under the STARS and Stripes
.e Ketchikan is the first Alaska
! town of any size we stop at; 1t is
place Of about 1900 inhabitants an
has saw mill, cannery, severs
q. stores and residences, the balance {
n the buildings being saloons. Lii
,e all the towns on this coast, II
is principally built on piles over III
II tide fats, and is surrounded by pei
IL pendicular cliffs, that threaten to tot
a pie over at any time and crush It OF
r. Of existence The next place "
in touched at was Fort Wrangle, net
es the mouth Of the Stickeen ri yer
OF also is tide fat town, but (
e greater area than Ketchikan and
as about the same population, made O
m Of whites, halfbreeds and Indian
ty here we first got a good look at q
te famous Totem Poles" Of the Alaska
IN Indians, as there are great numb
,b all around the town. The poles al
20 about 20 feet high, by two
Id diameter, and are strangely al
9 grotesquely carved, each pole portra
se ing the history Of the family 1t b
of longs to. The carvings are Of raven
frogs, Lizards, bears, fishes, ct
wonderfully and cleyerly execute
each figure having some history a
as tached TO it, but 50 far. have n
r. the Interpretation thereof, 20 cam
10. give you any Of it in this lette
N. Near the mouth Of the Stickeen riy
ife Is situated large bank Of garneti
ey which are embedded in a sort