ON THE TRAIL TO THE KLONDIKE.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 3436, 18 May 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

ON THE TRAIL TO THE KLONDIKE.

50,000 MEN ON THE MARCH. I left Seattle (says a correspondent in the Australasian), which is the U.S. outfitting point for the Klondike, on the 12ch of January, with 10001 b of provisions and a full outfit sufficient to last one man one year, which cost .£75, and the expense of freighting same to Skagway amounted to £2 ss. The passenger rate was £8 first class and £5 second class. Every available freight and passenger space on the steamer was crowded; carrying 823 passengers and 1250 tons of freight. The steamer left the docks-at midnight on the 12th of January, and reached Victoria, British Columbia, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon of the 13th, where a considerable amount of freight and 40 passengers wore taken aboard. At 9. o’clock of the-same day Vancouver, the outfitting point for British Columbia, was reached, where no fewer than 15 stowoways were put ashore, and some 20 more passengers came aboard. The accommodation of the steamer was by this time unable to cope with the passengers. Men and women were sleeping on the floors, tables and chairs, and every space was occupied \ whilst the meals were set up table after table, breakfast, lunch and dinner following in unbroken succession from 6 o’clock in the morning till half-past 7 o’clock in the evening. In the steerage matters were infinitely worse, the forward batches being blocked with horses, mules and oxen. After leaving Vancouver no fewer than 27 stowaways were discovered on board, and were set to work in various capacities. On January 15 Wrangel, in Alaska, was reached. A few of the Klondikers went ashore here to attempt to cross the Haulton trail to Dawson City; but the route is not a good one, and few have, so far, crossed it successfully. The scenery from Wrangel, through the narrows, is superbly grand. Towering snowy mountains, with glaciers on the top, rise up with fascinating grandeur, and icebergs almost fill the narrow channels through which the steamer ploughs her course northward.

On Sunday, January 16, Juneau, the largest city in Alaska, was reached, and as the steamer lay there five hours the majority of the passengers went ashore, and took in the sights of the city, which consisted of a number of wooden buildings, principally saloons, gambling-houses, dancehalls and restaurants ; all the streets being built entirely of wood and lit by electric light.

A tremendous lot of money is won and lost in the gambling-houses in this city. Quite a number of wealthy Klondikers come down from the interior to spend the winter in Juneau. Faro banks, poker, roulette-tables, wheels of fortune (or misfortune), dice-throwing and sundry other games are played by gamblers, no laws being enforced against them. Leaving Juneau in a very heavy snowstorm, the good ship steamed northwards 100 miles, and reached Skagway on Monday morning, the 17th January. I was much surprised at the general appearance and magnitude of the new town of Skagway, which, in August last, was a desolate, muddy beach. It is now a city with a population of 5000 inhabitants, and is being added to almost daily by the arrival of steamers bringing from 100 to 600 passengers. Skagway has a bank, post office, electric lights, laundries, a brewery, the United States recorder’s office, weekly paper, dance-halls, gambling saloons and hotels galore. Dyea is also an energetic and thriving

town, its growth during the past three months having been phenomenal. Buildings are going up in both towns as fast as men can put them together, and both are handicapped by the scarcity of lumber, even at the high prices of ,£l3 to per 1000 ft. The business of smuggling whisky seems to employ a large number of the citizens of Skagway, judging by the amount daily consumed. The United States Customhouse officials are very vigilant, and during the first week of my stay there seized between *£l£X>o and ,£3OUO worth; After the flist excitement of the steamer's arrival had subsided wo got our outfits on to horse sleighs, and wo sleighed along the wharf, which is about half » mile long, on account of the high tides, and skimmed over the frozen streets, with the sleigh bells jiugmg mwriJy, to a hotel, where we fob accommodation at £1 per day. The rst # day four of us sledded our outfits of 10001b' «ac.h about seven miles over a well packed sfidw/ find then made a camp and erected our tente, a?t£r clearing away about 3ft of snow off the fro/efl ground and ice, . About 5 o'clock we hcticod a somewhat silent procession slowly moving along down the trail. Investigation proved it to be a party carrying the corpse of a man, who, whilst it) cross over White Pass summit, had o’Cen frozen to death. He was a young man, a hf trade, from Michigan, IT.S. He had beeii caught in one of the storms which are of frequent occurrence near the summit, and in trying to save his provisions had lost his life.

After placing a layer of boughs on the ice in the tent, we got the stove going, and kept ourselves reasonably warm.. After supper of fried bacon and beans we each crawled into a sleeping - bag,- and endeavoured to keep the ioy air cat and to sleep in Spite of the terribly annoying howling of the innumerable hundreds of Klondikers’ dogs camped all around. Their prolonged; melancholy howling; however, made sleep almost impossible, and after spending a restless night rolling around in the bags we arose.' to find it had snowed about a foot during the night, and had frozen hard at daybreak. After lighting the stove, the first surprise was the bucket of water, which was as solid as rock. The meat also had to be thawed out before it could be cut; the canned milk was frozen ; and, worst of all, our socks and boots were like boards. The stove, however, straightened these inconveniences out in a very short time.

Next day we started for the pass, but four miles from the summit encountered a snowstorm, which blew for days, and made travelling impossible. Ono morning one of the party awoke with a lump of ice 3in thick On his coat,- where his breath had frozen as he slept. Numbers of men aro frequently niet with frozen ears and fingers; in spite of mitts and ear covers. The north winds blowing through the pass sire positively unfaceable by man or beast The steamer Corona, which left Vancouver on the 20bh of January for Skagway with over 230 passengers and with dogs, goats, horses, mules; oken, and a miscellaneous cargo of freight, struck On a rook off Dixon’s Entrance; and the captain, finding the pumps utterly unable to cope with the inrushing water, steamed full speed for a small island about a mile distant, and ran her ashore, where the passengers were safely landed. Many of the dogs, horses and other packing animals were drowned, whilst all the cargo was lost. She sank in six hours after the second strike.

The passengers had a very cold and unpleasant wait or about 10 hours on a desolate snowy island before the steamer AIM picked them up, and conveyed them to Skagway. Many of the passengers had invested all their worldly capital in Alaska outfits, and lost everything.

This is the second steamer which has gone down on an unknown rock in this vicinity inside of six months. On Feb, 1, about 1 o’clock, a row took place at the People’s Theatre, which consists of a large wooden building) with a cheap theatre and dance-hall in the back portion) and little boxes on either side where men can drink with the women who

“do a turn "on the stage; the front portion being used for gambling of all kinds, principally “dead-sure” games, as the American calls them, a saloon occupying the front entrance. A man named MoCredy, a teamster, had spent the evening there, and, when slightly intoxicated, entered one of the boxes, and got carousing with one of the “ Circassian .Beauties,” when she, with the adroitness usual to her class, picked his pocket of 50dol (.£10). He discovered his loss at the bar, and accused the girl before the bar-tender, who, by the way, was on very friendly terms with this particular maiden. The bar-tender wanted to throw MoC redy out, and in the tussle McCredy got considerably knocked about. He avowed his intention of fetching the XJ.S. marshal and forcing the girl to give up his money. He did so;; the bar-tender', awaited his return with a revolver handy, and the moment McCredy entered the saloon the bar-tender shot him dead. The United States deputy-marshal (the only representative of law and order in this town) entered the door immediately behind MoCredy, and was also shot dead, and the bar-tender was hustled away. At a meeting of the townsmen here to-night[lit was decided to lynch him ; the lynching to take place as soon as he is found. As it is impossible for him to go over the summit, and equally impossible to escape by boat, as the sea is too rough for small craft, he will, no doubt, be hanged. At a large meeting of the Vigilance Committee on February 1, it was decided to draw up a list of all the “crooks” in Skagway and run them out of town. If they made a good job of it, Skagway will be “ almost deserted.” There are quite a number of Australians here, more especially from Western Australia, though very few will attempt to go through. The report circulated some time ago that Slavin, the pugilist, had died at Dawson City is untrue. I interviewed him at Skagway some three weeks ago. He has made quite a stake in the K! ondike, though he does not like the country. He gave many exhibitions at xmwson City, and won several fights there. He made the most of his money steadily working on “ a lay ”

that is, working on a claim on the tributers’ system, or on a percentage of the 'gold obtained. He says he has made as much as .£2O a day, and never less than £2. When asked his opinion of the country, ho says—- “ In the winter it’s too cold to work, and the grub—bacon and beans—viU ruin a man’s health. In the summer it’s too hot to work, and the insects, more especially the ‘ skeeters ’ will ruin a man’s patience."