Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1914-01-22

we all got our rlu6e Oub anu puOduOua
d dozen bullets into him. The cap
tain heard the firing and came on deck
and made us quit, for he said the
whale might run into the ship and
damage it.
The eighteenth day out, we sighted
the Aleutian Islands, about sixty miles
off. On the nineteenth, we we're close
Iup and making for Univac Pass. This
is the pass that goes through the
Islands from the Pacific Ocean to
Behring sea. The pass is about ten
miles wide and ten miles long. The
mountains here are about four thou
sand feet high, snow capped, and a
smoking volcano on either side.
Early the next morning we arrived
at Dutch Harbor. The North American
Transportation Co. has a station
here, where ships coal, water and get
supplies. The agent was President
Garfield's SON in law. We laid over
here one day. And got some fresh
goat meat. And here is where we
saw the first of the Alaska Indians
They belong to the tribe of Siwash,
which means coast. We yet had a
thousand miles to go before we reach
ed St. Michael's up through Behring
sea, which was the most dangerous
part of the trip, owing to the ice foes
at that season of year. Two days
out from Dutch Harbor we passed
the Pribaloff Islands. This is where
all the fur seals stay. The captain ran
in close enough for us to have close
look at them, and l must say that the
islands were literally covered with
them. After passing the islands, |
was ON deck, and, looking over, l saw
a seal swimming close to the vessel.
He followed us for two or three hours.
The captain called him pup and that
he thought the ship was his ma mmy.
The ship became calmed-not a
breath of air to carry us on our way.
| We got out our hooks and lines and
caught about thousand pounds of
Goldfish. In the early morning the
wind came up and we started again.
We could see dozens of white whales
every day now. The captain took
his glasses and climbed into the rig
ging and looked far ahead and he
could see the ice foes coming down.
We went ahead as close as safety
wonld allow, but could see no open
ing to get through. We skirted the
ice on the left for about hundred
miles, but could see no opening to get
through. We then turned tail and
went to the east, and finally found an
opening and went ahead. We were
caught in the ice twice, but strong
wind came up and broke it and we
got loose. You could see this ice foe
as far as the eyes could reach and all
covered with snow. And here is
where I saw my first polar bear. He
was on the ice foe, and had probably
come down from the arctic region
We were now within about twenty
miles of st. Michael's and could soon
hear the cannons at the fort. But the
ice kept us off all that day.
The next morning we ran into st
| Michael's bay, which was clear of ice
at this time, and cast anchor about 8
mile from shore. We made raft O.
the timber of our steamer and put al
our other stuff on the raft and the
sailors started with small boats opul
it to shore. But our troubles were
not yet over. The wind blew thu
floating ice back from the sea, fillini
the bay and almost overturning thu
ship, but we finally landed withou
the loss Of anything, and our oceal
trip was ended.
I will now bring the first part o
this story to close, but the most in
teresting part is yet to be told.
description of st. Michael's and 1t
surroundings, the building of the boat
the trip up the Yukon, the eigh
months Of horrible winter, the hunt
ing and fishing, will all follow late
on. W. HI. WEBB.