Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-07-07
Conclusion Of Mr.. vinyard's Siberian
Letter.

ed our signatures to circular letter.
not so strongly worded AS the brst.
Al the risk of seeming churlish re-
fused again 10 sign. and told Captain
Armstrong that ! gave him the priv
lIege of retaining his opinion of me.
as | expected the like privilege of rn-
tanning my opinion of him. did MOI
ask signed statement Autographed
in seven colors to the effect that was
"A good fellow: neither did | propose
giving him one. Most OF the men act
ed as | did.
The next day | passed most of the
time In Nelson's room. getting from
him the story of his being landed III
irons. After the head lines had seen
in the Seattle papers. ! was sure his
statement would be wanted, and saw
no reason why should not secure Inc
story.
Manager Rosene promised Nelson
that he would be allowed to land at a
place of his own selection on the 81
berian coast 1t was on this condition
that he signed the contract, as he was
n sailor and had called that coast and
Udu iIlIbl ludAibh w A'' 'ii'N' ''''' 49,
natives at a certain place had been
known to have gold In their posses
sion Arriving at East Cape, Nelson
had been informed that he must lana
with the rest He refused, with the
result that after the rest of us hah
landed. the Russian officer had been
sent to his bunk to compel him to
land. Nelson refused to bulge, ana
the Russian had declined 10 use force
or to order his crew to lay hands on
him. Manager Rosene had then sent
Pnrser MCGOWAN with a crowd OF Chi-
nese coolies to force Nelson to the
lighter. Nelson had struggled des.
perately, and in the scuille his clothes
were literally torn from him and he
was handcuffed and lowered into the
boat and his clothes thrown after him.
This is his own story, and he also
said that sixty dollars in currency had
been taken from his pocket. All this
trouble was accepted rather than to
take the man back to Nome, whittier
the ship was bound, which was all that
Nelson asked.
While Nelson who Is of Norwegian
birth. naturally felt aggrieved. 1t was
n surprise to him to learn on the ar
rival of the ship that the affair had
been made an International incident
In small way. and that the arm OF
the government was so long, or would
reach so far as to the help of one OF
its humblest citizens, and natural
lZed one at that. He was proud of his
citizenship.
At l o'clock, October 10th, we an
chored off the Nome beach. The Gus
toms officer soon came aboard. he
questioned one or two of the men as
to the contents of their luggage, and
on their statements that they were
landing nothing more than few Gu
rios, we were all allowed to land with
out the formality of "A search. while
the company's own supplies were sub
jected to rigid inspection. Natural
ly. we were delighted. and really be-
lieved for the time being. at least, In
a government of, by and for the peo-
pie.
At the Office of the company | re-
newed acquaintance with some OF the
employees with whom | had worked
during my months stay early in the
season. Mr.. Coler invited me to share
his room until secured passage to Sc
attle, and | gladly accepted his invi-
tation as the town was fun OF people
and two of the last outwardbound
boats were in the harbor. waiting their
load of passengers and freight.
Nome is n cosmopolitan little city.
resembling with its narrow streets ana
crowded ways, some little coast town
ON the continent of Europe rather than
what il really is, a thriving American
village The population of about three
thousand in the winter is doubled,
trebled and quadrupled during the
four lively summer months, and It's
accommodations are taxed to the ut
most to care for its many visitors. The
rush commences during the middle OF
June when the first boats arrive from
Seattle, and continues intermittently
all summer. eliminating in the middle
of October in the mad rush of the peo-
pie getting out for the winter
This rush was now in full swing
and the men who had put in the sum.
mer out in some of the mining camps,
were back in Nome, with their sum
mer's wages in their pockets, home
ward bound. The saloons and dance
halls were in brilliant array; crowds
jostled in the streets, and one was Ii
able to meet in unexpected places ac-
quaintances from far corners of the
world l met many Siberian com
rades. and Joined one party In sa'
loon, who We're clinldng glasses to the
merry strains OF My Country 'Tis of
Thee, Sweet Land of Liberty" only to
desert them later for stroll on the
beach.
The lights from three steamers
shown over the dark waters, while
many smaller craft could family be
discerned. The lighterage company
had a big search light in operation,
and its stream of light was slowly
played about guiding the men in
charge of the scows to the vessels to
which they were destined.
The hull of the Mananense loomed
up midway between the two passen-
senger vessels and possessed an odd
attraction for me. strolled slowly