After having made a trip which is without a rival in the history of the Yukon country, traversing twenty-six hundred miles over ice and snow, many times in a wilderness hitherto untrodden by the foot of man, suffering agonies of pain, and meeting with difficulties which to many a less hardened and experienced man would have been insuperable, Jack Carr, ex-United States mail carrier, arrived in the city this morning by the steamer Centennial. Carr is probably the most talked of man in the world at this moment, the telegraph wires having been kept hot during the last twenty-four hours with enquiries as to the news he brings from the interior of the Alaskan continent, wherein the fates of hundreds of travellers from all parts of the States have been hanging upon a
slender chance, and news of them has been long and earnestly desired. Speculation as to the possibilities of the passengers on the ice-bound steamers on the Yukon have been rife for months and the news that Carr brings will come as a welcome relief to thousands of those who have friends in that forbidden region.
Mr. Carr imparted this morning to the Times the full details of his trip, telling his tale with an unaffected simplicity indicative of the qualities of the man. That he is
A Daring and Intrepid Traveller
his experiences prove, that he realizes the importance of the journey he has successfully accomplished and the value of his news he has proven - but withal he is a plain man, who would impress one as being full of resource, capable in an emergency, and equal to utilizing every opportunity offering on a trip in which life and health were in peril every day. Carr's sufferings at certain portions of his long tramp were great. Frozen, bitten by a dog and suffering incalculable pain from his wounds, aggravated as they were by the Arctic cold, plodding patiently along hundreds of miles with the thermometer at times 80 degrees below zero, living on short rations, and yet being compelled to devote more time and attention to the treatment of his dogs, the creatures upon whose endurance his own safety depended, than the petted poodles of many well-to-do people receive, Mr. Carr deserves to go down to history as a man who encountered great difficulties and surmounted them, with but little prospect of a financial return equal to the importance of his task, to emerge into civilization with news of the safety of those whom news had been thirsted for by thousands of anxious friends.
Carr, who has spent three years in Alaska, left Seattle on August 10th, on board of the ill-fated Eliza Anderson, the vessel whose many trials and tribulations and ultimate fate have been published some time ago. The Anderson, Mr. Carr says, has already received all the newspaper notoriety she deserved, and he sums up his experience on that vessel by saying that after drifting and
Monkeying About For Two Months,
he left the Anderson with the other passengers at Dutch harbor, about one hundred of those who had been aboard chartering a schooner to take them up to St. Michael's. From the schooner at St. Michael's the whole party embarked upon the river steamer W. K. Merwin,
having on board all told 123 passengers and crew, and proceeding up the Yukon river, their hearts high with hope, they found on reaching a point sixty miles up the river, Nunavak river, there was absolutely no chance of their getting through the impenetrable fields of ice which surrounded the boat. They were not alone in the trying condition in which they found themselves, two other boats sharing the same fate, the A. C. Co.'s steamer Alice, with a barge loaded with 500 tons of freight but no passengers, bound up river for Dawson, and the Thomas Dwyer, a Sacramento outfit owned by Dr. Wolf, with about forty passengers and crew. All the people on these boats were in good health and there was little danger of their going short of provisions, their cargoes being sufficient for all possible emergencies until the ice broke up. Mr. Carr says that "unfortunately" he had his wife aboard and this naturally made the idea of his starting out for Dawson City over the ice distasteful, Mrs. Carr not being strong enough to undertake the trip which possessed no terror for her strong partner. However, building
A Comfortable Cabin For His Wife
to stay in during the winter, well provisioned and supplied with money in case she decided to continue wp the river in the spring, Carr started out on the trip, being compelled to return to St. Michael's to secure his outfit. Leaving the Merwin on November 16th, 1897, Carr started for St. Michael's, his outfit consisting of two dogs, a robe, a borrowed sleigh, $16 in cash, plenty of experience and perseverance, a strong constitution, and last but not least a reserve stock of "gall and cheek," some of which, Mr. Carr adds, he still retains after the trip.
The first stop after leaving the Nunavak river was at Fort Hamilton, 16
miles below where there is a new supply station of the N. A. T. T. Co., where he made arrangements to take as a "passenger" to Minook creek, a distance of a thousand miles, Chris. Keenan, whose company during the trip for that distance was an appreciable boon to the sometimes weary traveller, to whom the terrors of the trip would have been added to four-fold by the absence of human company. Fortunately, too, another dog was secured at this point, and thus with his outfit a little added to and with a companion to assist in cheering him on his way, Carr left on the 18th November, heading for St. Michaels. At Cutlik, a trade in dogs was made, with the result that the team was improved in condition and another one added at Bill Moore's trading post the following day. It seems perhaps at this distance a small matter to make much of, but to hear Carr say that at such a place he had the good fortune to secure another dog is to gain some idea of
The Importance of That Accession
to him when his life depended upon the endurance of his four-footed companions. Two days later, at the mouth of the canal separating St. Michaels from the mainland and distant eighteen miles from St. Michaels, the N. A. T. & T. Co.'s steamer J. J. Healey, with 300 tons of freight and the old Mare Island with forty tons of freight aboard, were found frozen in but in safe quarters for the winter. Both boats are bound up river and will proceed as soon as the ice is out of the river. A list of the passengers on the Mare Island was brought down by Mr. Carr and is published in another column. Here another dog was secured, increasing the team to five, and on the 21st of November St. Michaels was
reached. Here four days were spent in preparing for the trip up the frozen Yukon, and here Mr. Carr obtained the news he brings of the daring aeronaut Herr Andree, the whispering of which by Mr. Carr created such a furore in newspaperdom throughout the world. Including the U. S. troops there were 150 white people at St. Michaels, all in good health and comfortable circumstances. Lieutenant-Colonel Randall is in command of the U. S. troops and the officer entrusted to Carr dispatches for the adjutant-general at Washington, D. C. Here also Carr's reputation as a reliable mail carrier stood him in good stead, as he collected a large lot of letters for delivery at $1 each, which put him in funds.
Not the Least Interesting News
Mr. Carr brings is that the new large river steamer building for the C.P.N. Co., 173 feet long, with a 32½ foot beam, was nearly ready for planking in, and the men employed upon her all in good health. A list of them is also published elsewhere in this issue. The A. C. Co. are also building a new river steamer at St. Michaels, not quite so large as that for the C.P.N. Co.
The kindness and the courteous treatment received by the travellers at St. Michaels, and the knowledge that the undertaking upon which they had embarked left little hope that similar kindness would be met with for many weary days, made the task of leaving St. Michaels distasteful, but on the 25th November, all arrangements being completed and there being no longer anything to detain them, they started out, after eating their Thanksgiving dinner. Another dog had been added to the team by this time, but one of them getting away they made but eight miles, going around the end of the bay and arriving at the Alaska Exploration Company's post, which was started late in the fall, but was then well under way under the able management of Mr. Paulson, who made the travellers at home.
More Trouble With the Dogs
was experienced here, one of them slipping from his collar and starting helter-skelter for St. Michaels. Chris, the "passenger," in full pursuit. The chase was a long and stern one, but at noon the next day the truant canine was brought back in safety. November 27th the Alaska Exploration Co.'s post was left. This post is opposite St. Michaels, and from this point Mr. Carr says his troubles began. Had the bay been frozen over the travellers could have gone to Unacleat on the coast north of St. Michaels in two days, the distance being 65 miles, but there being no ice or snow they were compelled to follow a circuitous route, making a distance of 90 miles, and being obliged to haul over bare ground, rocks, grass and nigger heads, (large tussocks of roots and grasses from four to fifteen inches high). Arriving at Unacleat on November 30th, a day was spent in making harness for the dogs and buying three more, making a team of eight. In Unucleat the pilgrims were made at home by Rev. Mr. Carlson, the manager of
The Swedish Mission at That Point.
and Mr. Carr speaks very highly of the condition of the natives and of their dwellings. A finer lot of people or cleaner houses he says can not be found on the Alaskan coast, all the credit being due to Mr. Carlson and his wife, who is ably assisted by a lady teacher.
Elsewhere along the coast the natives are living in dug-outs, and the sanitary conditions and filth are most repulsive, but here all were above ground and living in comfortable surroundings, all due Mr. Carr says, to the untiring efforts of this persevering, kind-hearted and God-fearing man. On December 2nd, with regretful feelings the travellers turned their backs on the little band of isolated Christian workers and started up the
Unacleat river for Olekok, where they were prepared to take the portage to Ko-Ko-Ka-Ket, or Sultag, on the Yukon river, a distance of 100 miles. On the morning of the third Olekok was left, an Indian guide having been secured, this being the one and only time during the whole trip that Carr attempted to find assistance from the Indians in the matter of piloting them on their way. The result was sufficiently discouraging to justify him in arriving at the decision that he would have no more of them. There was no trail, however, and yielding to the persuasions of others the Indian was engaged. One mile proved sufficient to discourage Mr. Indian, and
Seeing a Storm Coming Up
in the mountains he complained of being sick. Asked if he wanted more wages he acknowledged the soft impeachment; Carr lost patience with the too evident shamming of the noble savage, and sent him back with the assurance that he would be considerably more sick if he stayed around. He went. Then began a trip through a mountainous country hitherto untrodden by white man unaccompanied by guides, a country un-traversed by any trail, an unknown, forbidding mountain pass wherein lurked unknown dangers, and yet pushed on
undeterred, the travellers made their way safely to the river. But as though the circumstances were not sufficiently discouraging, Carr met with a misadventure which added a hundredfold to the sufferings on that journey, one of the dogs getting his leg entangled in the harness and
Biting Carr's Hand
in a frighful manner while he was endeavoring to release it. The cold was intense, and within an hour the whole hand was swollen up to such an extent that it seemed likely to burst, the blood oozing out of the finger tips under the nails. Keenaw wanted to return to St. Michaels, where surgical assistance could be secured, but Carr was made of sterner stuff, and binding it up as best they could the wounded hand was carried in a sling for five days of that memorable tramp. The snow was so deep that Keenan was compelled to go
ahead on his snow shoes to break a trail, Carr following with the dogs, walking between them and the sleigh on snow shoes, astraddle of the pulling lines, handling the "gee" pole and driving the dogs with one hand. This performance, wearisome as it was, continued for five days, until the Yukon river was reached at Rokokoket, the travellers having struck
across from the coast, and reaching the frozen Yukon on December 5th. Forty miles were covered during the next two days, when Nulato was reached and a day spent at the Roman Catholic mission in charge of the Rev. Father Munroe and two brethren. To say that they were royally entertained at this place, Mr. Carr says, would be to mildly express the kindness shown them, as a more courteous gentleman than Father Munroe could not be found anywhere, and least of all expected in the inhospitable region wherein he makes his home. Although not too well stocked with provisions, the kind-hearted Father gave the travellers sufficient to carry them on their way to the next post at Kockorans, at which place they arrived on the 18th. Here they found that the Indians were all
Suffering From an Epidemic
apparently resembling the grippe, and which is very prevalent among the natives, old and young being alike attacked by it, and many of them dying.
From the mouth of the river to Tenan, a distance of 900 miles, the epidemic was raging, being confined to the natives, white people being exempt. At Nunavak five out of fifteen Indians died of this disease, at Fort Hamilton seven of of eleven succumbed, at Nulato nineteen died, and all along the river no Indian house was visited in which some sick natives were not found, the Indians in Mr. Carr's language, "dying like
sheep."
Kokorans was reached on the 19th and here we found about twelve white men who had been frozen in the river and unable to proceed, and the following day a small creek was come across where the propeller steamer Governor Stoneman with passengers was laid up in winter quarters. Another day was spent here and on the morning of the 21st, upon resuming their journey, more trouble was experienced with the dogs. One of them
became sick and a delay was made until noon in the attempt to "doctor" it, but it proved to have contracted a disease very common among the Malamute dogs which causes the animal to go crazy and blind. The poor brute having a warm place in the affections of his owner he did not wish to destroy it if there were any possibility of its recovering, and it was decided to tie the animal in a bag and strap it on the load, but while the loading was being done the dog took a bad spell and
Jumped Into the Fire
so that his destruction became absolutely necessary for the safety of the men themselves and the other dogs. This reduced the train to seven dogs, and it was not
until Christmas eve that Woodworth was reached. This is ninety miles below Minook creek, and here three boats were frozen in, one of them being Mayor Woods' boat, Seattle No. 1, which was lying across the point of a bar opposite Tusecoket river badly twisted out of
shape and in very dangerous position. There were 250 passengers aboard this yessel, most of whom are now scattered along the river, a good number having reached Minook, or Rampart City. The May West, owned by Professor Richardson, of Seattle, was also lying inside of the bar in a safe place, and the propeller steamer Hattie B. was also fortunate enough to find a safe location. It should be mentioned here that two other boats are frozen in on the river between this point and St. Michael's, the A. C. Co. boat Marguerite, six miles below old Andresky in the middle of the river, bound down light. At that point the river is very sluggish, so that there is not much danger of her going to pieces.
At the Russian Mission
the Charles W. Hamilton, bound up, with a full load of freight for Dawson is also in a perfectly safe location.
Christmas Day was spent with Capt. Frank Worth, of the May West, and Mr. Carr speaks with loving remembrance of the bountiful fare provided for that Christmas dinner, for he says upon that night at least he did not go to bed hungry, an experience almost as rare as it was enjoyable. On the 26th the couple started for Minook creek, stopping nine miles above Woodward to have dinner with a Mr. and Mrs. Frye. At Woodward and Tanana there was an abundance of provisions to last until spring. Minook creek, dignified now by the name of Rampart City, was reached on December 29th, the travellers enjoying the hospitality of the famed, fat, jolly old-timer, Al Mayo, who is running the only store in the place. New Year's dinner, another milestone of good fare amid that long and wearisome succession of scanty and hastily-cooked "grub," was eaten with Mr. Hubbard, of the N. A. T. & T. Co., who are going to open a store at Minook in the spring. Next to
Dawson, Mr. Carr thinks,
Minook Will Be the Largest Town
on the Yukon river next summer, already containing 500 inhabitants, and its people being very enthusiastic over the district. The mines in this camp are looking well, one sale for $10,000 cash being made while Mr. Carr was there, and numerous others ranging from $10,000 to $15,000, part cash and part payable as soon as the money is taken out of the ground. Good as the showing is, however, it would have been better but for fact that the weather had been so warm that the miners had been unable to get to bed-rock owing to water. Nuggets valuing $140 and $40 have been found, and smaller ones innumerable, the claims being all likely and yielding good returns for the work done upon them.
The location of Rampart City is spoken of as being excellent, and the
likelihood is great that during the summer large numbers of people will make for that town from Dawson. Carr met here ex-Governor McGraw, of Washington, and also Generall Carr, who were
"Rustling" Like Any of the Rest
and "stampeding" with the best of them, carrying their packs like little men.
Four days was spent in Rampart City, and here the two who had travelled so far from the mouth of the river parted company, Chris. Keenan staying at Rampart City and his place in the travelling partnership being filled by Lon Cooper, who was going up to Fort Yukon. Leaving Minook on January 3rd, Fort Hamlin, a distance of 80 miles, was
reached on the 6th, a day being spent there at the A. C. Co.'s post with Mr. Walden, the genial and accommodating manager, an old-timer on the Yukon with thirty years Alaskan experience. There is here 150 tons of provisions, which will be taken up to Dawson in the spring by the Bella.
From Fort Hamlin to Fort Yukon, a distance of 160 miles, is spoken of as
the dreariest portion of all that dreary journey, desolate, depressing and discouraging. The travelers were now in the Yukon flats, the river here averaging 15 miles wide and studded with low islands, which have the most desolate appearance. Good time was made, however, until within 60 miles of Fort Yukon where a very cold snap was experienced, the men being now within the Arctic circle. This intense cold continued for three days and on the afternoon of the third day so cold was it that the hardy Arctic dogs refused to walk,
Their Feet Being Frozen.
The imperative necessity for making camp quickly was recognized by Carr
who urged upon his companion the need of getting a fire on at once, but three miles had to be traversed before a suitable place was found, and when camp was made the dogs' feet were found to be in such condition that the whole of the following day was occupied in doctoring them. Still suffering, a start was made the following day and at last a wood choppers' camp was reached where the travellers made the discovery that they had been travelling with the thermometer at 80 degrees below zero.
Fort Yukon was reached on January 22nd, where the men came across the army of men of whom Carr says, the "cheap" newspapermen have written so much, in the attempt to tell the people of the outside world harrowing tales of hardships which never existed. Carr's opinion of newspapermen gained under, perhaps, not the most favorable conditions is not of the highest, and he says that the members of the fraternity on the Yukon river are not the most admirable representatives of their class. He says there were some good newspapermen on the Yukon in the fall of last year, but they have all gone out, leaving a few "cheap guys" who are too lazy to rustle for news, but stand ready to pounce on everyone coming into their vicinity like Siwash dogs in the hope of getting all the information they can for nothing. The tales which have been published regarding the
Condition of Things at Fort Yukon
have been greatly exaggerated, and Mr. Carr bears no good will to those men who attempted to use him for their own ends at that place.
A stay of five days was made at the fort to doctor the feet of the poor brutes which had been frostbitten, and Mr. Carr was by this time feeling in need of
some treatment himself, having worn snowshoes almost continually for over 1,100 miles and the straps having chafed his toes in spite of all precautions so that they had been bleeding for the last hundred miles, the blood oozing out through five pairs of heavy woollen socks and his moose hide mocassins.
There are within a radius of forty miles of Fort Yukon, 150 people all with plenty of provisions and all who wished to work could find employment cutting wood. Here it is that Captain Ray and Lieutenant Richardson, of the United States Army are quartered, and it was here that the much talked of "seizure" of a cache of provisions was made.
Carr Ridicules the Tale
told in this connection, regarding it as having been very highly colored. On January 27th four of the dogs being able to travel, and a new cuticle having grown
upon his own toes, Carr sold three of the dogs which were unfit for continuing the journey, for $100 each, which was less than half price. Here too, Lon Cooper, the passenger from Minook, was left behind, but company was obtained in the person of Captain Geiger, bound for Circle City. The train reduced to four dogs caused the rate of travel to be somewhat slow, and the feet of the animals were still far from well, which necessitated continual treatment and the wearing of mocassins. On January 30th Circle City was reached, and here, Carr says he felt himself at home for the first time on all that weary tramp, a distance of 1,700 miles through a country he had never seen before, and therefore at a
great disadvantage: the people, the lay of the country and the distances being altogether unknown. From Circle City to the coast, a distance of 900 miles, Carr had, while connected with the United States mail service made six times, so that it is not to be wondered at that when he arrived at Circle City he found his time well occupied exchanging greetings with old friends.
Captain Mariner, of the N. A. T. & T. Co. took the new arrival in hand. This gentleman is also captain of the P. B. Weare, and he told Carr in good round forcible language that he must accept his proferred hospitality, and so well did the traveller fare that he prophesies the company will have to build state rooms on the smoke stack of the boat this summer to accommodate all the passengers the captain's geniality will attract. The A. C. Co.'s boat, the Bella, a small boat called the Victoria and another still smaller one the St. Michael's are wintering at Circle City.
Carr Contradicts the Reports
sent out to the effect that Circle City is dead, by some of the newspaper men for whom he has so warm a regard. There are about 300 people there, and before the discovery of the Klondike diggings those at Circle City were the richest on the Yukon river.
Some of the diggings yield as much as $100 a day to a man, many others will average $37 a day to a man, while others again in plenty give from $12 to $25. Carr believes that when the people at Dawson find this spring that there is not room for all of them there will be a rush down to Circle City, which will be a surprise to everyone. The people there have an abundance of provisions, and at the time of his visit all were enjoying good health.
On February 3rd Circle City was left behind, the number of passengers having by this time been increased to three, these being Charles McGagy, Peter Hather and Fred Schroder. Coal Creek was struck the second day out and at this place a new townsite called McQuestion has been located, the town being named after old Jack MeQuestion, who has been well called
The Father of the Yukon.
Without stopping to stake lots the party pushed on to Mission Creek, sometimes called American Creek, where another townsite having been located the party contracted the staking fever in a pronounced measure and, became owners of real estate in the new Eagle City, which being close to the boundary line will, in Mr. Carr's opinion, be a "screamer."
The boundary line was crossed on the 11th, and on the 12th Forty Mile was
reached, the party stopping on the lower side of the river at Fort Cudahy, leaving the following morning and arriving at Dawson on the 16th February. Carr had not been in Dawson since June, 1897, and the changes made in that time naturally astonished him. At that time
there were not over ten houses in the place, and now there are many streets solidly built up and the population in the town and the gulches being fully six thousand. Between Dawson and St. Michaels including both places, there are fully 7,500 people on the river, and
between Minook and St. Michaels, a distance of a thousand miles
There Has Not Been a Single Death
among the white population.
Carr's opinion of Dawson is distinctly bad. He says it did not take him many hours to arrive at the conclusion that in this new capital of the Klondike region there are more rascals, confidence men, would-be-lawyers, mining brokers and shyster real estate men than there are in London, England and Greater New York combined, and for wolfishness and general greed it would be an insult to the coyotes to compare them with the gang at Dawson.
In regard to the starvation talk Carr has some encouraging news. In a nutshell he says the case is that in the fall some parties bought up all the provisions they could and, to use a miner's expression, started a "grub scare," which had the effect of sending quite a number of men down the river, and other people who had sufficient food for the winter were not unnnaturally afraid that their provisions would be divided up, so
that they sold out to this "band of vampires" and came out over the ice by way of Dyea. When he left there on March 2nd there was
Enough Food to Last.
everyone until spring. There was a shortage for sale of butter, rice, sugar and oatmeal, but there was plenty of these articles in town, the owners holding it for their own needs. On March 1st Carr says there were fifteen restaurants running in the city where meals could be obtained for $2 and upwards; 400 pounds of bacon were sold the same day for 75 cents a pound.
Plenty of Flour
could be got at $35 a sack, and dried fruit at 40 cents a pound. It is probable that by this time these prices have been very much reduced, those who had bought up provisions finding that there would not be the shortage they calculated, are letting go of their stocks every day. Many of those who came out with the alarming tales of certain starvation
were the very people who had sold their provisions to others for speculation, and Carr is of the opinion that those who came out have been misrepresenting the condition of affairs. He says when he was leaving he was told by certain parties to say that the condition of affairs in regard to provisions was "so-and-so" to which he politely answered that no
syndicate or corporation had any muzzle on him. and that he would take care that they never had, and that he would state things just as they were.
Carr speaks very strongly of what he considers is being done by many people in there who are sending out
Worthless Claims for Sale.
Claims, he says, for which many thousands of dollars are asked on the outside that would not sell at all in Dawson City. There is plenty of money there, and if the claims were of any value a purchaser could be easily found. He prophesies that those who purchase
some of the claims on the representations of those who have come out here to sell them will be very badly swindled. Everybody should be cautious in negotiating about Klondike claims.
There has been a great amount of trouble experienced in regard to the mail service, none having arrived since last fall until February 26th when the Northwest Mounted Police arrived with 1,200 pounds of mail matter. During Carr's stay at Dawson he gathered up a large mail for the outside, in the last day and a half receiving 500 letters at from $1 to $5 each.
Klondike Gold Harvest.
At the Big Salmon, Carr made special enquiries in regard to Walsh creek, and the news he brings from there is of the most encouraging nature. He says he talked to one miner who had put down six holes without finding anything and who told him that he was prepared to state on oath that there had not been $4 worth of gold taken out of the creek.
It is possible, of course, he admits that the creek may be all right when the men get sufficiently far up, but the report that two men had taken out $30,000 he
Brands as a fabrication.
As an instance of the cynical streak which exists in Mr. Carr's nature it may be said that he mentions having sold gold dust to some men there, "whether for salting purposes or not" he does not know. He also sold some at Tagish lake to parties who were going down there to stake, and he seems to think it not unlikely that tenderfeet will stand a good
chance of being "roped in" by some of these whe know how to make believe that all that glitters is gold, and that it came from Walsh creek.
Carr likens the Skagway trail to a lunatic asylum with the door open and the patients escaping. He says the conditions are simply indescribable. Men are piling up over each other in the mad rush to get through, too intent upon making headway to answer a question or to turn out of the road to make room for others, and he estimates that fully 20,000 people are scattered between Lake Tagish and the coast.
Perhaps the most important of the statements made by Mr. Carr is that to
the effect that all the estimates made by these who have come out from Dawson relative to the amount of gold which will be shipped out of the country in the spring. He says that those who have come out have grossly exaggerated the case, some of them having stated that
$40,000,000, $50,000,000 and even $60,000,000 would be sent out. Carr made it his business to enquire from both companies and from all the leading miners, and in fact from all persons likely to be in a position to know, and the majority placed it at from four million to five million dollars, but very few thought it would be over that amount. The
exaggerated ideas of the possible output have been occasioned by the misstatements of those who have come out with money, and who have stated when they had $1,000 that they had $10,000 and $15,000, when they only had five. Carr says these exaggerations are keeping up the excitement not warranted by the facts, and laughs at the idea of referring to a man as "the Klondike Millionaire." He says there is
Not a Millionaire on the Klondike
and lots of the people who are posing as such on the outside could not, he thinks, raise $25,000 if all their debts were paid.
Leaving Dawson City on March 2nd, Carr entered upon the last portion of
his long tramp and found a good trail as far as the Stewart river. The Canadian mail was to leave Dawson the same day, but he heard nothing of it since, and he experienced very heavy snow between the Stewart river and Big Salmon, making travel hard and almost impossible. He brings a very complete map of the Stewart river and its tributaries prepared by Mr. A. E. Mackay, who is up there, and says that thirty cabins have been built by men awaiting the opening of the spring preparatory to making a thorough exploration of that little known river. About the middle of May the river will be open unless they experience a severe cold spell, but there is not as much ice as usual and the chances are favorable for an early opening.
On March 31st Carr reached Skagway, having completed the longest trip on record by dog sleigh, stayed there about an hour and took passage on the Centennial south, arriving here as previously stated this morning. He speaks well of the treatment received on the steamer and says that courtesy seems to be the motto of all hands. The whole trip occupied 125 days, of which all but 34 were days of hard travel. Carr says that lots of people imagine that travelling by dog sleigh affords lots of opportunity for riding, and yet during the whole of the 2,600 miles covered by him since November 27th,
Only Ffty Miles Were Ridden,
and that was from Lake Le Barge, where the sleighing was good. He brought a passenger, T. J. Sunny, from Dawson, who paid him $1,000 for the privilege of walking behind the sleigh. Leaving Dawson the men invested in thirty dozens of doughnuts at $4 a dozen, which lasted them just twelve days, another item in their commissariat consisting of 30 pounds of Hamburger steak, which cost $2.50 a pound.
That Carr has accomplished a wonderful journey cannot be denied, and his
arrival with news of the crews of the vessels frozen in the Yukon river will relieve the intense suspense occasioned by the dearth of information from those beleaguered prisoners. Carr's apparently none the worse for his long journey, and would probably undertake it again with little or no hesitation, if sufficient inducement were offered.
The Andree Story.
In regard to the Andree story, Carr says that a little paper published at St. Michaels printed a short paragraph to the effect that news had been received by certain officials at St. Michaels, but what the news consisted of or who the officials were the paper did not state.
