Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 November 1897 — BRING GOLDEN CARGO [ARTICLE]

BRING GOLDEN CARGO

PORTLAND AND EXCELSIOR ARRIVE FROM ALASKA. One Has on Board $125,000 Worth of Dust and the Other 8,000 Ounces, All from Dawson City—Bradstreet Reports Business Slow. Alaskan Riches Come. The steamer Portland arrived at Seattle from St. Michael’s, Alaska, with $125,000 in gold belonging to the North American Transportation and Trading Company. The Portland left St. Michael’s Oct. 18, stopping only at Dutch Harbor. It brought down confirmatory news of the release of the river steamers Alice, Merwin and, Mare Island, which were caught in the iee in the Behring Sea off the mouth of the Yukon. The ice floes broke about three weeks ago, allowing the steamers to proceed on their way up the river? All the river steamers operating on the Yukon had left St. Michael’s and the Portland was the last of the ocean vessels to leave. About 150 white people will winter at St. Michael's. The steamer Excelsior. Captain Higgins, has arrived at San Francisco, fourteen days from St. Michael’s and eight and. one-half days from Unalaska, the only intermediate port at which she stopped. She brought 8,000 ounces of gold, all belonging to the Alaska Commercial Company. No miners came down on her. The rush to escape from the gold fields exceeds the influx, and the indications are that a large colony will winter at Fort Yukon. It is not expected that much, if any, more gold will come down this season, unless some of the miners succeed in reaching sailing points by land routes from the interior.

Business Somewhat Slow. Bradstreet’s latest commercial report says: “General trade retains most of the features of a week ago; with a continued check to the movement of staple merchandise. - At larger Eastern and central Western cities sales of seasonable goods have not equaled expectations, and at none of these points has the volume of business increased. At Chicago. St. Louis, Baltimore. New York and Providence there has been a decrease in the volume of business in some lines. The Northwest continues to make relatively more favorable reports ns to trade, withough at Milwaukee anti Minneapolis mild weather has checked distribution. Wheat is again above a dollar, on continued heavy exports. Our wheat export movement, aggregating more than 70,000,000 bushels within thirteen weeks, is unprecedented, and points to a keener appreciation of the statistical strength of wheat by European importers than by many American traders. Exports of wheat, flour included as wheat, from both coasts of the United States and from Montreal this week amount to 5,991,391 bushels, against 5,552,000 bushels last week. Exports of Indian corn amount to 1.589.193 bushels t his week, compared with 1,177,000 bushels last week.” Thanksgiving November 25. President McKinley has issued a proclamation apirointMig Thursday, Nov. 25, for natkr.al thanksgiving and prayer.