DISMAL OUTLOOK

The spring of 1901, unlike its immediate predecessor, did not bring
forth general or even newspaper excitement about Nome and northwest
Alaska, and the average observer of events, even in cities so closely in
touch as San Francisco and Seattle, might have been warranted in
concluding that the remarkable stories of gold in this latest El Dorado
were but fairy tales, and that another bubble had burst. But this was
very far from the truth. On the contrary, nearly as many vessels as the
year before, and better ones, were scheduled to sail for Nome; more
freight and horses were being shipped thither; and in the northward
movement there was a confident and legitimate air which signified
genuine belief in the country and ample capital to back it up.

The dreadful and discouraging reports spread during the preceding season
by quickly-returned, faint-hearted fortune-hunters had served a useful
purpose in very largely eliminating the riffraff and rabble which had,
in great measure, contributed to make Nome in 1900 unsavory and unsafe.
This year, as last, accommodations on the first sailings were purchased
at a premium, or could not be had at all. Nearly every passenger had
some tangible proposition in view, and, whether or not it proved
successful, put himself on record as a firm believer in the wonderful
hidden wealth of the country whither he was bound.

Sailing from San Francisco June 1, and stopping two days _en route_ at
Seattle, the _St. Paul_, after an uneventful and satisfactory voyage, on
the 16th of the month halted on her long way at Unalaska. I was
fortunate in sharing my narrow cabin accommodations with two good
men--W----, a man of the world, with mining interests in Alaska and
possessed of a lively sense of humor; the other, a very gentlemanly and
well-educated "knight of the green table," who begged pardon whenever he
had occasion to enter our common quarters. When I first visited the
state-room, to appropriate, if possible, the best places for my
belongings, a bouquet of fragrant sweet-peas thriving in the basin
interrogated me as to whether I had not made a mistake. Later, W----
explained that one of his friends, in the bibulous enthusiasm of
farewell amenities, on the way to the ship had purchased this beautiful
but somewhat embarrassingly inappropriate gift, and had thrust it upon
him. It soon adorned the saloon of the ship.

Of course, the _St. Paul_ carried an assortment of curious and