Patrick J. Ingoldsby, the well-known boat bulider, has just returned from Alaska and was seen at his home, 512 Arch street, Allegheny, this morning. He is a member of the firm of James Rees' Sons company, of Water street, city, and has been engaged in building boats for many years, principally in South America. He went to Alaska early in the summer to construct a steamer for the Canadian Development company, and is favorably impressed with the country.
The party from Pittsburg was made up of Ingoldsby and 20 boat builders. They took with them the boat in sections. It weighed in all 125 tons. On their arrival in Seattle they shipped it by steamer to Skaguay. Here the sections of the boat were transhipped aguin by the White Pass railroad to the summit of White pass. The railroad on the northern side of the hill was not finished and the party had to walk 25 miles, and the material for the boat had to be drawn the entire distance on sleds. The pass was filled with over 10 feet of snow and the journey was tiresome and tedious, and the men suffered extremely from the cold.
Arriving at Lake Bennett three large camps were erected and the work of constructing the first steel hull, up-to-date steamer in Alaska was began. The Rees company had built three boats before for the same company, but they were of wood and only ordinary boats. Ingoldsby hired a number of men met along the route who were homeward bound after having lost their all in prospecting for gold. They were only too willing to work and were paid at the rate of $6.50 per day for unskilled labor, and for skilled labor $2 more.
The work of building the boat was rapid and five weeks after the arrival of the materini it was well under way. When completed it was 130 feet long, 30 feet wide, 52 feet high, with a light draught of 16 inches and heavy 42 inches. It was fitted throughout with electric appliances and had accommodations for 100 first-class passengers and twice that many in the lower cabins. It was named the Australia. As soon as the boat was completed Ingoldsby and the owners made a trial trip and went to Dawson city.
"Now that the White pass railroad is completed to Lake Bennett and the steamer line from there to Dawson and many other points along Yukon river in first-class shape, traveling in Alaska is a pleasure, and not the arduous and dangerous trip it used to be," said Ingoldsby. "There is no necessity for walking. Everything is in first-class shape and I am certain that the development of the country from now on will be rapid. Alaska is a great country for gold and there are fortunes awaiting many. But no man should try the trip unless he is an experienced prospector and is backed up by plenty of wealth. It takes money and plenty of work to get the gold out of the ground. I met hundreds of poor fellows who had gone to the gold country in hopes of making a fortune. They were in
pretty bad shape when I met them and were doing all they could to get home. I took a trip through the entire country and had a chance to study the conditions of things. The cities are growing and are really very business-like."
