San Francisco Call, Volume 82, Number 133, 11 October 1897 — RAID AN OFFICIAL'S TREASURE [ARTICLE]

RAID AN OFFICIAL'S TREASURE

Burglars Break Into the Gold Commissioner's

Cabin

AND SECURE DUST

AND NUGGETS.

'New Stories of Impending Starvation at Dawson Are

Brought Down.

FEARS FOR THE SAFETY

THORP'S PARTY.

Men Who Are Drlvlnß In Horses and Cattle Are In Danger of

Perishing.

Sp«clal Dispatch to The Cau»

SEATTLE, WA6H , Oct. 10.— No roseate hue of promise, such as is commonly supposed to hover over the El Dorado of the Upper Yukon goldfields like an aurora boreahs. tinged the account brought down from Alaska by passengers on the steamer City of Seattle, which arrived here tonight at 9:30 o'clock.

On board v:ere two more pilgrims from the land of mld to the land of etuo. Tney are C. A. Brown and James Clarke. 'These men are the last two to arrive from Dawson City. They left that unfortunate town September 6, and after a hard tramp through fords and over mountain passes covered with snow reachea Haines Mission October I.

Clerk and Growen bring the news that on Axign^t 25 the office of Gold Commissioner Fawcett was entered by burglars and asum of money approximating $4500 •was stolen. This i the rirat serious robbery to be reponei at Dawson.

. Clark says that every effort is being made to locate the thieves who roobed the Gold Commissioner. Tims Jar the efforts of the poiice hare been unsuccessful. ' Ent ranee was jjnined throiijrh a window.

Returning Kondikers report that bad luck has overtaken the Thorp party, which left here on the steamship Farallon on September 3. According to toe narrative given The Call correspondent tonipht, the Ihorps were camped ou the summit of the terrible Cuilkat Pass on September 28, with snow to tne depth of more than a foot on the ground for miles in front of them. They had lost fifteen of their horses going over the mountains and eleven head of cattle had succumbed from exhaustion. Three men who accompanied the Thorps turned back at the bummit, convinced that they were throwing their lives away if they attempted to proceed further. They were E. A. Tnrockmorton and L. EL Kadchffe, two newspaper correspondents, and C. A. Hoffman, whom they employed to help them pack their outfits to the Klondike. They say that there is no possible chance for Thorp to get hn party and their outfits through this winter, and that if they persir-t in the undertaking they will surely perish in the blizzards that prevail in the iutiosritabie region from early in October umii May.

The gravest fears are entertained for the safety of the Thorp party, which included Willis Thorp, a man 50 years of age, and experienced in traveling over Hie pains and mountain ranges of Ala-ka; his son, Edward Thorp; George Siew;srt of Tatoma; L. Winienho.en ; W. C. Tnorp and E. Thorii, the iatier nephews of the Y*?)der Thorp; A. Stewart of Puyaliup. H. i-'ietcner, G. W. Roberts and L. Harding. The last three were employed by Witlifl Thorp. They *.rove with them a band of nii;ety cattle and sixty horses. The cattle were fat beeves and cows, and the larger of the steeis were to be used as pack animals. They took a quantity of provisions and feed for the hories. but depended on the stock grazing along the rou;e.

Throckmorton and Radcliffe left the Thorps on the summit of the ChiiKat Mountains September 2S. They had then been out seventeen days. They had lost Jifteen horses from exhaustion ana eleven head of cattle baa succumbed. Radcliffe and Throckmorton intended going through to Dawson. Tliey were well supplied with pack horses and provisions. They sold the food and supplies to Thorp and made him a present of the horses.

It had snowed for several days before Throckmorton and Itadcliffe determined to forsake the trail ami return to civilization. On the summit was at Jeast a foot of snow. They were told by theGaly.n j>arty that the snow line was extending fbr at least iilty miles beyond the summit, and was growing larger as additional storms piled up the drifts on the mountain sides. As the Galvin party came upon the Thorp t>arty tuey were budaled behind the sheiter 01 a peak and seemed almost distracted. At Dawson City tho situation crowo more serious daily. The inhabitants <i the place had maintained a vigil of weeks watching for the arrival of a steamer loaded with food that would save many a knan from actual starvation. They did aot Know that the steamer Hamilton, on ■ft- inch they had based their hope, had gotr^en only as far as Fort Yukon and was there compelled to turn back to St. Michael. At the Alaska Commercial Company's at Dawson a crowd of men number"ing so me fifty were to be seen daily lined up in front of the doors, begging for an opportunity to purchase sustenance for themselves and their partners in the mines. As fast as one man was waited on the doors were unlocked and another would be admitted. Then the ciick of tbp latch would.be heard, bolts would slide in

place to make impossible a raid from the f.miine-'-tncKen men, and a -sck of flow would be doled cat, 104. ilier with a few pound « of bacon.

Noonecoulu secure more than barnly enough to su-tain life f < r a few werk -. Ti i those who wer* preparing to leave, fi-od enough wa« given them to last them over the trails to salt water. Everything possible was being done to encourage men to leave.

Clark and Brown brine out about $5900. They have Jieavy interests on Buroh Creek, and own a few claims on El Dorado and Bonanza.

Tiny admit that th<? scarcity of food drove them from Dawson. When th>-y left Dawson the people were looking daily for the arrival of the Hamilton. They did not know that she had been unable to go up the Yukon ao i that she would not in all probability reach l>n\vson until Spring.

Clark says that there will undoubtedly be starvation at Dawson this winter. William Mizner of Sun Francisco came down on tne City of Seatile. He and his brother own chums on El Durado and are worth at least a m.llion.

Wuk Yap and Yon Yens Yacic, two Cmnumen, cam* down on the City of Seattle from Wrangel. They have been !u;nin>r ior several years and broucht down draffs on the Hudson Bay Company for $40,000.

Mizner brings out about $2000. His claim on El Dorado cost him $50,000.

Wyatt Earp and wife, who went north on the Rosalie September 21, returned on the City of Seattle. Mr-. Earp will make a flying trip to San Francisco and reiurn north as soon as possible. It is his intention to build a sawmill at Like Bennett

and saw lumber and build boats for the -pring rush into ihe Yulccn.

The s.ejimer brought down among other thing* the :mporiant news o: the drowning of two men on Shallow Lake, September 30 Three men were taking the:r goods down by boat when a squall struck them, capsized their boat attd ihrew them and their outfit into the lake.

As nrar as Could Le learned two men were drowned and the third managed to keep :ifljat and was picked up by another boat. The mimes of the 10.-t were Con way and Adams. It was impossible at tlic time the City of Seattle left to pet at any of the detail-) of the affair. Kelly is s.iitl to be the nxmeol the man Who was res-eni-d., It was sai l that Adams was an arr.v il from Illinois.