Iditarod pioneer., 1915-10-30
INTERESTING REMINISCENCE
 OF EARLY DAWSON DAYS

The following letter, dated Butte, Mont, August l3, 1915, is published in the Seattle Post -Intelligencer of August l6, and will be read with especial interest by early I.on- dikers:
 Dear Sir: In your issue of August you publish brief report of a stereoptlcon lec- ture by Edgar C. Rane, given on the gre vous evening at the First Methodist church. Mir Raine is credited with the statement that fin the spring of 1898 Sam Humes brought a consignment of Post -lntelligencers into the North country. A resourceful clti- zen purchased the entire lot, burned all but one copy, and then charged s2 to enter huge tent ard hear him read the news. Mir Raine tells that the tent was packed for three sessions each evening"
 In the interest of historical accuracy, and for the benefit of future generations when true history of Alaska and the Yukon territory shall have been written, l deem it only fair to give the facts connected with that S2 admission fake story, according to Mir. Raine.
 On December l, 1897, the Post Intelli- gencer published my departure from Seattle for Dawson, together with Q companion and equipped with 1000 outfit. We were both in the employ of the Post Intelli- gencer and under contract to make the trip over the ice as rapidly as possible, to write up the scenes and incidents of the trip, and my companion to illustrate my letters.
 We had four oxen and over five tons of supplies, feed and provisions. Owing to inexperence, storms and bllzzards 1t took us one month to make the foot of the sum init of White pass There my companion got "cold feet" and we agreed to disagree We divided the outfit and l went on alone, reaching Dawson after four months of un- told hardships early in April, 1898.
 l was under contract with the Post-ln telligencer (then under the management of the Piper boys to write up the trip over the ice, which 1 did in a series of thirty five letters of about two columns each, of which some thirty reached their destlna- ton
 The Post Inteligencer at that time was the only reliable paper from the Outside that was eagerly looked for in Dawson, and from which the Dawson papers secured their worlds news.
 The garbed incident referred to by Mir Raine occurred in Dawson, Yukon terri tory, and not in Alaska It took place Tn one of the large dance halls-the Tlvoh, l believe, and not in huge tent, and lasted only one afternoon.
 The occasion for this special excitement and patriotic demonstration was Admiral Dewey's great naval victory at Manila. The date of this I cannot recall, but it must l | thran oft 70 the fall of Manila, somewhere about the latter end of May, 1898.
 At any rate, the only copy of the Post Intelligencer with its first page devoted exclusively to brief bulletins of the naval battle, reached Dawson in the hands of a newcomer who had mushed 1t over the ice from Skagway This man, whose name l cannot recall, when he reached Dawson had all his interest in Admiral Dewey and his historical achievement lost to get in on the wild, insane hunt for gold, and SO, when asked for news from the Outside, he handed out this one precious pocket worn CODY of the Post Intelligencer, of course, the only one in camp. My memory for names is poor, and I cant recall into whose hands the paper fell. At any rate, he appreciated the full importance of that news to the Dawson camp, where fully seventy-hve out of every hundred were Americans. lie and two or three more secured the dance hall or the afternoon (for the reason that at night the dance halls were running full blast) word was sent around town of the reading from the stage, of the nature Of the news, and of 50-cent admission to be charged, and, it is needless to say, the hail was packed at the first reading each !nsn paying his 50 cents cheerfully, myself in- cluded
 If I recall it correctly, the hall was cleared and reflled three times Several hundred dollars were secured and divided among the damned smart Yankees" as the Cana dians dubbed the Americ ans, nor did l learn whether the newcomer who brought in this solitary copy ever got in on that 50-cent : admission deal One of the promoters of this scheme was a bright young lawyer, at i that time we'll known in Seattle.
 E. B. WISHAAR.
 Fresh Olympia and Eastern Oysters $50