The Nome nugget. (Nome, Alaska) 1919-1934, 1924-12-27
STROLLER WHITE TELLS
OF EARLY RUSH TO NORTH

The following appeared recently in The Stroller's
Weekly, published in Juneau:
Our cabins near; could could hear.
But between us there rippled the creek.
And all summer through with rancor that grew.
He would pass and never would speak
Probably there is hatred more bitter. more
deadly cherished than that which is bred
by familiarity and close association, That this is
has been demonstrated since the morning
sang together by those who, through crcum-
stances. have been thrown in each others company
and forced to bear with each other on account of
conditions that render separation practically impos
sible and entirely inexpedient
In the rush the godfelds of the North
than quarter of century ago who had been
friends for many years became deadly enemies
the trail through being too closely associated in
partnership and through seeing much of each
other And yet their interests were interocked to
the extent that they forced to remain together
until their destination reached The Stroller
has in mind two who had been neghbors in the
State Of Washington for many years The Kon-
dixie excitement developed and they pooled their
terests and started for the goldaelds BY the time
they had packed their outfits the Chilkoot Pass
and built boat Bennett their friendship had
turned to hatred amounting deadly loathng
And yet they could not dissolve their partnership.
For many days they maintained sphinx-like silence
the toward the other. When they arrived at
Dawson they tied up their boat and unloaded the
contents in two separate piles the bank of the
Yukon river. One of them picked up saw and
cut the boat squarely in the middle and each man
turned his half of the boat over his provisions.
This done and without spoken word the
squared off and fought until both exhausted
and both badly beaten though not to the point
OF surrender.
1t was not unusual for partners to their
boats in two split tents, stoves apart cut a
candle when reaching Dawson after spending. in
some cases. months together on the trail The
Stroller has in mind the of Ham Grease Jimmy
and the No Shirt Kid who left skagway with their
joint possessions a handsled in January of 1900.
following the lakes and rivers from Bennett Daw-
son They thirty five days the trail days
filled with hatred the for the other. But they
could not separate and their arrival in the gold
metropolis they too tired and exhausted to
fight. They hired double bed the old log Sc
attic Hotel and slept for three days and nights
They awoke refreshed went out and had square
meal and returned to their room and had a square
fight
"Take dat fer pertendin be sick and gettin
me to haul you de sled from Hellgate Selkirk"
said Ham Grease he landed a haymaker on No
Shirts jaw.
"And you take dat fer de time you harpooned
four of de six slices Of bacon an den spit in de
fryn' pan when you tot l warn't ookn'." counter
ed No Shirt as hooked one to the kidneys Of Ham
Grease.
And the Of Ham Grease and No Shirt
but in thousands Some who coward
ly by nature to indulge in physical combat would
invoke the law in their efforts to humiliate their
erstwhile partners and the result that many
innocent hailed into some trumped
up and trivial complaint only be discharged by
the fact that he discharged would compen-
safe for night spent in Jail before his
up for hearing
Two men, both of whom had been well known to
the Stroller before any of the three had
the North. cabin mates in Dawson the winter
held prominent positions the outside. but neither
doing anything in Dawson One day OF
them called on the Stroller and confdentally told
him:
81 fear Joe is losing his mind He has quit
taking off his clothes night-even crawls into his
him to write outside for enough money to take him
back home I would do it but know he would
tell to attend to my business"