The Press., 1911-01-18
WILMINGTON. South Wilmington.

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 The following letter from William shaffer, a Wilmington boy, to hi
 r-in.law, George H. Nichols we have permission to use and ar, pleased to give 1t to the readers ot The Press, especially his friends ir Willington. MT Shaffer has seen ex. tended service in the regular arm and in the signal service in tht Philippines
 l Fairbanks, Alaska,
 Nov 10, 1910.
 Dear George First chance have had to write you since arrival here, and will try and make up for lost time Left Seattle, Washington, in June and arrived at Fort Gibbon, Alaaka, second of July. Had one of the finest trips so far in my travels. We aane up on she steamer "Oity of Seas& Y and she is swell steamer. Landed at Ketohikan on the coast the 13tll of June and took in the town situated on sloping mountain, with trout stream in tte upper part that would make your eyes stick out. Water in the stream as clear as crys- tai, and trout laying on the bottom weighing from five to ten pounds. Captain of the ship had a trout rod along with him when we visited the stream and was afraid to try them, aa the rod was built for smaller fish. While we were here in Ketohikan the salnl n season was on, and the packers were busy with King Salmon for the German trade. King Salmon weigh ing thirty to forty pounds each are common, and they do look good. They pack them in large hogsheads to be shipped to Germany. They call them Salmon Bellies. !" We had a feed on the ship and 1t is certainly hne eating Just across the bay from Kstchikan is an Indian village. with large totem poles, and small gasoline launches take parties over for small sum Lofty mountains back of town make it great place for hunting the mountain sheep and goats.
 From Ketohikan we went to Wran. gell, Alaska, where the main industry is aalmon fl5hing. A few white people and Indians are the inhabi- tauts, and the tourists make this a point of call to see the totem poles also From Wrangell we stop at Petersburg, Alaska The old Russian fort and log settlement used in early days are still iu good condition, and the United States has wireless station and cahl5 ffloe here.
 From Petersburg we pass on up the coast and enter Lynn Canal, where the scenery is the greatest that human eye ever looked upon No joke about it. The Alps are great, but the Alas. kan mountains have them beat from any standpoint. The Lynn Canal is body of water similar to a canal and is formed by lofty mountains on either side, all snow capped, and mountain streams fall from them into the canal
 
 more beautiful scene. Some places the steamer goes so cl ,se to shore that one can throw a stone ashore, and at one point we had to anchor and wait for the tide to raise so we could proceed through the rapids Often the porpoise would blow near the ship, and several times whale were seen in the distance At various places the wild duck WouIl raise from the water in fooks and as soon as the ship had passed wouli circle back to the water. Indians in canoes were seen several times and camping parties were observed at one point be. tween two high mountains.
 We arrived at Skagway the 16th of June and had to wait for four days to make connections with the boat on the Yukon river at White Horse. The town of Skagway is situated between high mountains and is the point where the White Pass and Yukon railroad meets the boats for interior Yukon Territory and Alaska The road is only one hundred and twelve miles tong but passes through some of the srandest scenery in the world. We'll about skagway. This is the town where so many miners in the early ! Jays stopped to gather supplies for the big hike'' for the Klondike gold ! fields. At one time it had a popula- l 5ion of ten thousand and when we were there it could only muster about one thousand souls. The wonderful I geld strikes in Alaska have taken most | of the people and those that are left gain 8 living from the shipping | and railroad. Many cabins are va can't and the people are glad when } ship comes in. We stopped at the Fifth Avenue Hotel for four days and | very nice hotel indeed for this 'ountry; two stories, with one hun. fred rooms, steam heat and baths High mountains look down on the 'ity, and on the right hand side, lock. ng north, Is mountain some six thousand feet high, while about mid way up is slight depression which 'orms lake called 'Dewey, where 'rout can ba caught in abundance.
 had the pleasure of a days outing It this lake and had very good luck About three thousand feet up is a Chalet built by an contemplating in- labitant, where one may overlook the country, and 1t is beautiful sight I an assure you. If person so desires le may continue on up the mountain Q the snow line. Several in our 'arty did so, but 1t is a fatiguing limb On all sides are snow capped and Ahn -aAonn a.A..a Aha