Abnormally low water, and accompanying heavy frosts early in the month have contributed to bring about the most disastrous season in the history of the British Yukon Navigation company. Up to this date hopes have been entertained of straightening out the tangle, but every day adds difficulty to the problem. Every boat of the service was yesterday in difficulty between here and Dawson, and two are probably total losses.
The White Horse and Casca left Dawson at 11:15 the morning of the 14th, and the same day the Nasutlin got out of Stewart river at 3:15 p. m., after nine days fighting her way down from McQuestin, running in heavy ice all the time, tearing out half her wheel on Wildcat slough, and badly damaged all over, particularly in the rudders. The ice tore her barge away from her in Jackman Chute. The barge sank and is a total loss.
The White Horse, Casca and Nasutlin left Stewart river at 6:30 a. m. Saturday, the 16th, the Selkirk being abandoned on the bar where she was beached after
striking. Nothing more was heard of the three boats until Monday, the 18th, when Aubrey
Simmons purser of the Selkirk, who is an operator and carries an instrument, cut in at Kirkman and reported that the White Horse and Casca were lying just below Steamboat slough, which is about a mile below Kirkman. He reported they were unable to steam over Steamboat slough without the aid of a line, and were unable to run lines on account of heavy ice, and that the river below Selkirk was full of heavy ice. They asked for the
Washburn to be sent down to assist them, and stated they were running short of supplies. He also reported that the Nasutlin was stuck in a nest of rocks, with rudders so badly damaged she was unable to stear, and in the heavy ice and shoal water, she ran away on them, and piled up in this nest of rocks.
The Washburn was sent out at daylight on Oct. 19. On the evening of the 20th the pilot of the Washburn reported from Carmacks that the boat was sunk two miles above Little Salmon, and her condition was such that they considered her a total loss. The Washburn carried only fresh meat and supplies for the big boats tied up at Kirkman.
Later advices reported that the White Horse and Casca had succeeded in getting over Kirkman bar and past Coffee creek and were on their way up with good hopes of reaching port, and that the prospects for getting the Nasutlin off were also good.
The unusually low water has prevented the heavy boats from steaming, each having to be lined up, and this takes so much time that progress is extremely slow.
Seventy-three passengers are on the way up by the delayed boats.
Every steamer of the American Yukon Navigation company now below Dawson is frozen in on the Yukon river and will not be able to reach its destination at Dawson. Four river steamers and one large gas-powered mail boat are stuck in the stretch of the Yukon between Dawson and Tanana, at least three of which had passengers aboard bound for the States. No fears are entertained for their safety.
The two largest passenger steamers of the company, the Alaska and Yukon, have been forced to stop at Tanana on account of ice conditions and low water.
Conditions_on the Yukon are very unfavorable, much worse than those existing last season, when two of the boats, after a fight against the ice for several
days, finally succeeded in winning through several jams and to Dawson. The situation is complicated this year by an extreme stage of low water prevalent on both the Yukon river and side-streams.
There were passengers on the Alaska, Yukon and Seattle N. 3. The first two named were scheduled to sail from Nenana on Oct. 1, with the last outbound passengers by the river route from the interior.
The Alaska is lying in the mouth of the Tolovana and the Yukon has gone into winter quarters at Tanana, it being considered useless to attempt to buck the ice run and low water from there to Dawson. If the passengers from the Seattle No. 3 get back to Tanana, it may be possible to send them all back to Fairbanks in small gas boats and from thence over the trail to the coast. No great inconvenience is anticipated to those aboard any of the ships, as everything they need in the way of food and other supplies will be available at either Rampart or Tanana.
The downriver route from Tanana to St. Michael will not offer any solution to the difficulty. The Victoria, the only outbound boat scheduled to sail from
Seward peninsula points, is already on its way south.
In case it proves impossible to transfer the passengers from Tanana to Fairbanks by small boats, those who are familiar with conditions say that it will be necessary to make a hard overland trip over rough trails for a distance of 275 miles to
Fairbanks. This trip, it is believed, would be almost impossible for women and children before sufficient snow has fallen to make sledding possible, which may not be before sometime in November.
The crews of the Kestrel and Hazel B. are now getting ready to mush from Cirele to Fairbanks, to connect with the stage line. They are all young and husky fellows, and will not be likely to experience any trouble.
