The St. Louis Republic. [volume], August 20, 1905, SUNDAY MAGAZINE, Page 15, Image 55

About The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919

Image provided by: State Historical Society of Missouri; Columbia, MO

                
SUNDAY MAGAZINE r AUGUST 29, IftS
IS
A SUMMER TRIP TO ATLIN
Interesting Out-of-the-Way Corner of the North
P? " ( . mbmm Nn hm
Bill Slwrt
Alii LnHo
The Kate
D
AWSOX has its chroniclers in his
tory and fiction, hut, except in
mining rctorts. little has liecn
said of Atlin. A two-weeks journcv
from the Xew-York Grand Central
Station, the forth-faring traveler is inclined to brag
of the arduous c.jclition to which the hand of
the North is lieckoning. Returned, however, one
brags that it has lice-n a far easier task than to pay
a call in Brooklyn, or to set fool in any mentionablc
comer of the lrough of The Bnnx.
Acnss a summer-endued continent by modern
train was a (light of pure enjoyment, with its won
lerful panorama of cities, rose-clad prairies, snow
cappol mountains. Vancouver, the Canadian oint
tf debarkation, reminded ne of Buffalo, or Toronto,
with its! tine water-line, well-gardened homes and
splendid trees. An air of hustle ervaded it, mark
ing it oljviously as a i:it of arrival and departure.
Victoria! the Capital of British Columbia, was seven
hours aijross the bay. and out of our way; but one
must see Victoria, for it is a venerable
city, measured by the standards of the
Pacific Coast. Approaching, it seemed
all hartjor. so intricatclyl did the sea
curl alxjut its shores. Beicon Hill was
a brilliant patch of color with the bonny
broom, raised from seeds from the
country that the Colonist never ceases
to call home. In the distance the white
eaks of the Olympic Mountains cut
through fleecy clouds into .a turquoise
sky. Many French-Canadians and not
a few Indian half-breeds are among the
leading families of Yktoria. nevertheless
the city speaks in the Knglish voice, with
the provincial accent, ami prides itself
on its. close kinship, socially, to the
mother country. Its naval harlior Es
iiim.ilt is one of the gems of the west
coast.
Back to Vancouver to cmltark for
Skagway: and then for three days wc threaded a
winding way up the Alaskan coast. Let those
who yearly turn their faces to Ivuropc only and
always to Kurojie rememlier that a wonderful
section of their own country lies waiting to be ex
plored. Dense wnm!s covered the islands by which
we glided, so close that a stone's throw would reach
sonic of the tall totem j-oks that marked the Indian
villages u;on the shore. Thon the waters widened,
and we came ujon glaciers that cast wonderful
rellections as from mirrors in the snow king's palace,
bedded lietwccn white-capped, purple-shadowe-d
mountains, while eagles screamed eerily overhead.
Then up the Lynn Canal to Ska;jway.
Over the White Pass 1 I'ailwav! What a great
M
By Marguerite Meiington
Illustrated From Photograph Teh
by the Author
sense of height those wonts convey! We had
thought ourselves on exalted ground when our
train danced through the Sclkirks and nimbly
climlied the KocLics: twit here we were riding on
the riilge-jwle of the world, where waterfalls and
rivers had their source. A marvel of engineering,
this nad. We never hit our sense of security,
no matter how dizzy the eminence from which
we gazed. Up. up, up, till wc paused at
Summit, whence one stream hurried with
greeting to the United States, and from the
same spring another stream hurried with greet
ing to British North America, and the sister
flags and sister customs buildings stood amicably
side by side.
A mounted policeman told us of a woman who.
I
I
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Son of Alia
Nd
-4jijSSB -VP jfilj3l
&
A Swell" Kmtouranl
coming out from British territory, was so moved
on seeing her own Stars and Stripes again that she
wept for joy, and sang "America." while hugging
the flagpole. On returning to the train, however,
she discovered that one of Uncle Sam's men had
confiscated her sealskin jacket for revenue, which
so enraged her that she turned right lack and
married the first miner who showed a willing
heart.
Speaking of willing hearts, at this joint we met our
first miner as fiction always pictures him: the rough-and-rcady
soul in top I ootsand corduroys, who pulled
forth a Mkc, a narrow chamois lag, full of gold ilust
and nuggets, samples from hiselaims. and told our
party with impartial invitation that he was looking
for a '.life. Mining ejcrts m the party assured us
that the samples showed royal vjj'ies: but we
let the chance slip by. and went on to Atiin.
The live-hour journey over the White I'as; brought us to the steamer
that was to take us on the all-night passage across Lake Bennett. His.
comfort here at last, you suggest? I assure yo-i. not aboard an Atlantic
liner is one more gently lcrthed or more palatal ly fed.
Morning found us at a jxrtage. which we crossed in an ojcn car
hitched to a sparky and skittish locomotive, and then we were alo.ird
a sm.ill ste'.imer roving Lake Atlin. A wide expanse, this inland sea.
eoMlv blue, as are all glaiier-fe'd streams, walled on the west by a stu-pen-1
iu ils of natural masonry. And smiling at us from the low
lake-shore opposite, a pretty httle jort of entry to the gold-fields among
the hills 1-eyond, was Atlin.
Hood roads, characteristic of the Dominion Government, whose
loamy earth is mixed with building chijs, divide the township into
sit-''""- Here am! there a poplar or spnue has liecn spared the ax to
tell from what primeval leginmngs the camp has sprung Inclnstircs
al-out the tents and cabins there are none, but willow buhes form a
slight screen that enables you while doing your washing in the open to
appear unconscious of your ncighlor cleaning his tc-cth at his bark door.
Yes. you v. ill have to do your own washing, if, with a light purse.
the tastes of c'Tcte civilization still
cling to you. One modest dozen at the
laundry cost me four dollars and
ctghtv-fivc cents for it must be re-
mcml'crcd that Chinese and JaiKinesc
che-ap laIor is forbidden the precincts, that all
service commands live dollars a day. and that the
married women who come into camp come to wash
for their own men. and l!ie single women to find
men of their own to wash for. Water, moreover,
has to tie liauh-d up from the lake, or paid for at
the Rite of live ex-nts the pail, when the waterman
brings it by dog-te-am to your door.
I)og-te:'.ms fonn as pic t tires' iie a feature of the
life as they are an essential one. A waiter at the
hotel in Victoria said to me: "You've ticen
fetched up to think that dogs hadn't oughter do
manual lalxir: but you'll soon get over that." And
get over it I did, the moment of our arrival, on
seeing a fat child in a soap-lox on wheels teaching;
a fat "husky" how todraw! Descendants of northern
wolves, tliese valuable memliers of a
Klondike household have lost all trace of
their savage ancestry.
Two thousand feet atove sea-level,
only sixty degrees north latitude, yet there
is a "crack o' doom" appearance in the
fiery sunsets, a glacial brilliancy alotit
the moon, an intensity of color in the
Northern Lights, giving one a sense of
being in the workshop of the world.
The celestial phenomena have justified
the journey a hundredfold.
The climate reminds me of that of the
coast of Maine exaggerated. From June
through Septemljcr I slept t-etwe-en fur
roles. but under mosquito-netting to es
cape the northern est. which attacks with
songless st ing. The days were warm, but
with a hint of chill, as if the sunlight
had passed through icy corridors.
Living was primitive, but cxiicnsive.
live-cent lamit-chtmnev cost lift v cents, the
dealer unbltishingly stating that the extra charge
was for freight. A small loaf of bread sold for
ten cents. A well-intentioned dinner, mostly of
canm-d things, could lc obtained at a popukir
restaurant for half a dollar. Its style was its
attraction, for it Wxstcd pajier napkins, also every
tahlcstood in its own "cabinet partk-ulier," screened
from its ncighliors by curtains of blue-checked
gingham.
Vegetables grew readily: but few had time
to spare from gold-hunting to . grow them. One
lh-ifty(nrnn:in gained a desvrveal A vogue for hi
lvnch-e-otmter by adding a let tuce leaf, or a
r-dith. to every plate of bacon v and eggs. Anel
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