Chapter 10 Chapter 10 The Uncertain Longitude
"A settlement of board houses, fir houses, and tents in a swamp, a camp constantly threatened by the floods of the Yukon and the River Rivers, with cluttered, muddy streets, and pits at every step; not a city at all , like a big kennel, fit for at most a few thousand dogs, barking all night long. Mr. Skinner, this is the Dawson City you imagine from listening to the gossip. But the kennels are changing. , several fires burned dilapidated houses to make room. Dawson is now a city with Catholic and Protestant churches, a bank and a hotel. Two theaters will soon be built, one of which has an opera house 2000 seats, blah, blah...you can't imagine what my 'blah' means! …”
These words were delivered by Dr. Piercox.He was a British-Canadian, about 40 years old, chubby, muscular, active, methodical, physically strong, never sick, and seemed to enjoy an incredible immune function.A year earlier, he had been named superintendent of Dawson Hospital.He settled in this city which was favorable to his practice, for it seemed that all the contagious diseases converged here, not counting the ever-ravaging golden fever, against which only Sammy Skinn was vaccinated. .
Dr. Piercox was also a surgeon, pharmacist, and dentist, and since he was known to be both skilled and virtuous, his comfortable hospital on Front Street, one of Dawson City's principal streets, was full of patients. The door is closed.
Bill Steer knew Dr. Piercox.Usually, he used this connection to refer his immigrant families from Skagway to the Klondike to doctors.This time, forty-eight hours after their arrival, he couldn't wait to put Ben Rado and Sammy Skin in touch with the well-known figure in the public.Is there another person in the Klondike who knows better what's going on in the area? ... If there is one person who can both see a doctor and give medicine, and can also give good advice, this person is a very good person.
Sammy Skin's first problem had to do with their kindly traveling companion.How are they doing now? ...Did Dr. Piercox see them? ...
"Don't mention it! She's incomparable!" cried the doctor in poetic language, but to Sammy's dismay he meant her in the singular, not them. "She's a pearl, the little girl, A real pearl, I couldn't be happier to have drawn her here. She has transformed the hospital after only two days in her presence. I opened a cabinet this morning and it was neatly packed , took me by surprise, I should admit. I rarely see this happen. I opened another cabinet out of curiosity; I opened 10 cabinets in succession, all equally neat. Even better: my instruments It was clean and tidy, the operating room was clean and spotless, it had never been so clean. In short, it was unbelievable that this child had a huge influence on the rest of the staff in a few hours. All the work seemed to be directed by a magic wand. The nurses and nurses were at their posts. The beds were artistically made and made to look very comfortable. So that the patients, God forgive me, seemed much better! … "
Ben Rado seemed pleased with what he heard.
"Doctor," he said, "I am intoxicated by your compliments to your new nurse. It proves that I was not mistaken about her, and you will have many more surprises in your future."
Sammy Skinn didn't seem so happy.There was even a disturbed look on his face.
"I'm sorry! . . . I'm sorry, doctor! . . . " he interrupted the doctor, "you're talking about a girl . . . two girls, if I'm not mistaken."
"Yes, indeed," admitted Dr. Peelcox, laughing, "except that I knew very well the girl who became my nurse, and I have just had time to look at her. She came to the hospital with her cousin, left 10 minutes later, and came back at noon; when she came back, she was dressed as a miner, with a pick on her shoulder and a pistol on her belt. Yesterday morning, when I asked her how she was doing , I realized that she was on the road almost immediately, without saying hello to anyone. I learned from her cousin: She is going to prospect for gold like a man."
"Is that how she left?" Sammy asked again.
"It is indeed gone," said the doctor with certainty, and then added:
"I think I've met so many unique people in my life, but I admit I've never met anyone like her!"
"Poor little girl!" murmured Sammy, "how can you let her take such an irrational risk?"
But the doctor no longer listened to Sammy Skin.He opened the chapter on Dawson to Ben Lado, and he spoke eloquently.He's proud of his city, and he doesn't hide it.
"Yes," repeated the doctor, "the government of Dominion has established it as the capital of the Klondike, and it has deserved it."
"The new capital, doctor," said Ben Rado.
"If it hasn't been built, it will be built soon because the number of residents is increasing day by day."
"How many residents are there now?" asked Ben.
"Nearly 20,000, sir."
"Twenty thousand passers-by, doctor, not twenty thousand residents. Dawson must be deserted in winter."
"Forgive me. 20,000 residents live here with their families and have no plans to leave like me."
While Ben Rado looked through Dr. Peelcox's living dictionary and learned a lot, Sammy was morose and silent.His mind had followed Jane Egerton.He saw her alone, helpless, on that long, desolate road, with no protection but her own indomitable will... and yet, anyway, it had nothing to do with him, the mad girl It is her freedom to be self-willed, to ask for hardship, to seek death... Sami shrugged his shoulders, put his troubles aside, and joined the conversation.
"However," Sammy said, trying to provoke the doctor, "I don't see Dawson having the characteristics that should be expected of a capital city..."
"What!" exclaimed the doctor, puffing up and rounding him up, "this is the residence of Major James Walker, Commissioner General of the Yukon Territory, and a series of government officials who you Not in the big cities of Columbia and the Dominion!"
"Who are they? Doctor."
"A member of the Supreme Court: Justice MacGuire, a Commissioner of Gold: Mr. Th. Fawcett, a Commissioner of Crown Lands: Mr. Wade, an American Consul, a French Consular Officer..."
"Sir," Sammy Skinn finished the doctor's words cheerfully, "there are some important people, indeed. . . . Commercially?"
"We already have two banks," replied the doctor, "the 'Commercial Bank of Canada' in Toronto under H.-I Wells and the 'British North American Bank.'"
"That's enough. And the church? . . . "
"There are three churches in Dawson City, Mr. Skin, a Catholic church, a Reformed church and an English Protestant church."
"How good it is to save souls! If only the body could assure salvation!"
"What do you think of the following two people, Mr. Skin, one is Captain Stern, the commander-in-chief of the Mounted Police, a Canadian with French ancestry; the other is Captain Harper, the postmaster, and there are more than 60 people waiting for them dispatch."
"It seems to me, Doctor," replied Sammy Skin, "that, given the number and quality of the inhabitants of Dawson, there are not enough policemen."
"It will increase as much as needed in the future," the doctor reassured them. "To ensure the safety of the residents of the Klondike capital, the Dominion government can do anything."
You should hear the doctor say these words: the capital of Klondike!
Sammy Skin replied:
"All is well, then... I don't know why I'm asking you these questions, though. I hope my short stay has made it difficult for me to properly appreciate Dawson's many advantages. I wish there was a hotel in town, It's not appropriate for me to ask any more."
There were at least three inns: the Yukon Inn, the Klondike Inn, and the North Inn, Sammy Skin would not have been unaware, since the brothers rented a room at the North Inn.
Besides, as long as the miners continue to come, the owners of these hotels will surely get rich.A room is 7 dollars a day, a meal is 3 dollars, a service fee is 1 dollar a day, the price of shaving is raised to 1 dollar, and the price of haircut is 1 and a half dollars.
"Fortunately," said Sammy Skin, "I never shave! . . . And as for the hair, I'll leave it untouched until I go back to Montreal!"
The aforementioned figures show that the cost of living in the Klondike capital is high.People who don't get lucky here and get rich here are almost certain to go bankrupt here in the short term.According to the food price list of Dawson Market, it can be judged: 2.5 francs for a glass of milk, 5 francs for half a kilo of butter, 12.5 francs to buy a dozen eggs, 1 franc for half a kilo of salt, 25 francs for 12 lemons.
Ordinary bread costs 12.5 francs, and Russian bread costs 160 francs!
Sammy Skin announces his decision to eat nothing but plain bread.
At that time, Dawson City stretched two kilometers along the right bank of the Yukon River, 1,200 meters from the nearest hill.The Klondike River, which empties into the Yukon there, divides the city's 88-hectare area into two blocks, intersected perpendicularly by seven avenues and five roads, flanked by wooden sidewalks.During the long winter months, when sleds were not used on these roads, it was huge vehicles, carts with heavy solid wheels, rumbling along among the dogs.
There are many vegetable gardens around Dawson City, one after another, in which radishes, blueberries, lettuces, celery, and radishes are grown, but the yield is insufficient.Vegetables therefore need to be shipped in at a premium from the Dominion, Columbia, or the United States.The meat was brought up the Yukon from St. Michelle after the lingering period in refrigerated ships.From the first week of June, these Yukon boats appear downstream, their whistles blaring from the pier.
In winter, though, the Yukon becomes trapped in a crust of ice and becomes unnavigable.Dawson was in isolation for months, months.At this time, there is only living on canned food, shut in the house, and the cold climate makes outdoor activities almost impossible.
Therefore, when spring came, infectious diseases raged in the city.Scurvy, meningitis, and typhoid killed a large number of residents who stayed at home for a long time and became anemic.
Especially this year, after an extremely cold winter, the clinics of the hospital were full of patients.There was not enough manpower, and in a very difficult situation, the new and precious nurses were of great help to the doctor, and of course he had every reason to be secretly grateful.
What a state of toil, cold, and poverty have made these poor people come from afar!The number of the dead is increasing day by day, and the dog-sleds are constantly carrying the unfortunate in coffins to the cemetery, where a simple grave awaits; and for these poor people, their graves may be dug in gold mines!
Despite this harrowing scene, the Dawsons, or at least the passing miners, kept entertaining themselves.Amusement parks and casinos were filled with loud noises from first-timers returning to make back the money they had spent in months.When epidemics decimated cities, restaurants and bars were packed.Seeing hundreds of able-bodied drunkards, gamblers, and adventurers, it was hard to believe how many poor people, whole families: men, women, children, died of poverty and disease.
All these people who yearn for intense thrills and regenerated passions gather day and night in "Crazy Shepherdesses", "Monte Carlo", "Dominion", "El Dorado".There is no day and night, firstly because it is close to the second solstice at this time of the year, so there is no difference between morning and evening; secondly, because these entertainment venues are open 24 hours a day.There, gambling methods such as poker and roulette are played non-stop.What people bet on the gaming table is not dollars, pounds, or gold coins, but gold nuggets and gold dust.Among the noise were shouts, provocations, violations, and sometimes even a few shots.There were often disgusting scenes that the police couldn't stop; scenes in which the Hunters, Malonas, or their ilk played the leading role.
In Dawson, restaurants are open 24 hours.At any time, you can eat a chicken for $20, a pineapple for $10, and a dozen eggs for $15; the cigars you smoke there are 3-5 francs, and the wine you drink is $20 a bottle. The price is as expensive as a house in the country.
Three or four times a week prospectors come from the surrounding lands to these restaurants or casinos, spending in a few hours all the gold that the soil of the Bonanza and its tributaries offers them.
It was a tragic, heartrending scene, in which the most deplorable vices of human nature were laid bare; and Sammy Skine, having seen a little of it at first, could hardly contain his growing distaste for the adventurer's world .
He hoped that he would not have the opportunity to study this issue in depth. He must seize the time and mobilize all factors to shorten his stay in Klondike as much as possible.
On the day of arrival, immediately after having lunch at the North Hotel, Sammy said to his cousin:
"Let's deal with our affairs first. Since a big company has proposed to us to buy land No. 129 in Sishilihe, let's go and have a look at this company."
"You are welcome," Ben Rado replied.
Pity: At the offices of the American Trade & Transportation Company, they learned that the General Manager, Captain Healy, was touring the surrounding area and would not return for a few days.The two heirs had to wait patiently.
Here, they intend to understand the general situation of their industry.Bill Stell was an excellent guide in this regard.
"Is the Forty Mile River far from Dawson?" Ben Rado asked him.
"I've never been," replied the scout, "but the map shows that this tributary joins the Yukon near Fort Kudahi, northwest of Dawson City."
"Based on its number," said Sammy Skin, "I don't think Uncle Josiah's lot is very far away."
"It won't exceed 30 miles," the scout explained, "because the border between Alaska and Dominion is within this distance, and Block 129 is on Canadian territory."
"We'll go as soon as we see Captain Healy," Sammy announced.
"Agree." The cousin replied.
Days passed, however, and Captain Healy never showed up. On the afternoon of June 7, Ben and Sammy left the Northern Hotel and walked for the tenth time to the offices of the big company in Chicago.
The streets were flooded with people.Hundreds of immigrants have just disembarked from a steamboat on the Yukon River.Before they dispersed on the various tributaries of the sea (some to develop their gold mines, others to sell their labor at a high price. Crowded in the town. The streets where the principal offices were most crowded. Crowds There are also packs of dogs, these poorly domesticated animals whose screeches are deafeningly piercing at every step.
"It's really a city of dogs," said Sammy Skin. "Its first officer should be a tall collie whose real name should be City of Dogs!"
Ben Rado and Sammy Skin bumped, shoved, berated and abused their way down Front Street to the company's offices.Captain Healy had not returned, and they had to see Mr. William Broll, the deputy manager.The latter asked about their intentions for their visit.
The two brothers announced their names:
"Mr. Sammy Skin and Mr. Ben Rado of Montreal."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, gentlemen," assured Mr. Broll, "a pleasure indeed!"
"We're happy too." Sammy Skin replied politely.
"Are you the heirs of Josiah Lacoste, owner of No. 129, Forty Mile River?" asked Mr. Brower.
"Exactly." Ben Rado replied.
"Unless," Sammy added, "after we set out on this long journey, the accursed plot disappears."
"It has not disappeared, gentlemen," replied Mr. William Broll. "Be assured that it has remained where the cadastral administrator has appointed it, on the dividing line between the two countries . . . at least, probably on the dividing line."
possible? ... why is it possible?What is the role of this sudden adjective?
"Sir," continued Ben Rado, who didn't pay much attention to Mr. Broll's geographical restrictions, "we learned in Montreal that your company intends to purchase the 129th lot on the Forty Mile River..."
"It is indeed intended, Mr. Rado."
"Therefore, I have come with another heir to find out what the land is worth, and we want to know if your offer is still valid."
"It works and it doesn't," replied Mr. William Broll.
"It works and it doesn't!" exclaimed Sammy Skin, startled.
"It works and it doesn't!" repeated Ben Rado. "Please explain, sir."
"It's as simple as that, gentlemen," replied the assistant manager. "If the plot is defined in one way, it's valid; if it's defined in another way, it's invalid. In a few words, I want to..."
Before he could finish, Sammy Skine said aloud:
"Anyway, sir, the facts are there. Wasn't our uncle Josiah Lacoste the owner of the land? Now that his estate has passed to us, can't we take his place?"
In order to prove this statement, Ben Rado took out the documents proving their right to the 129th Lot of the Forty Mile River from the bag.
"Oh!" said the deputy manager, pushing aside the papers handed over, "these property certificates are in order, I have no doubt. Gentlemen, that is not the problem."
"What's the problem?" Sammy asked, impatient with Mr. Broll's mocking attitude.
"Plot No. 129," Mr. Broll replied, "occupies a place on the Forty Mile River, which is just on the border between Dominion, which belongs to the United Kingdom, and Alaska, which belongs to the United States..."
"Yes, but it's on the Canadian side." Ben Rado said accurately.
"It depends," replied Mr. Broll. "If the line of demarcation between the two countries has remained where it has been established so far, the land belongs to Canada; otherwise, it belongs to the United States. Our company is Canadian." The company can only mine gold mines that belong to Canada, so I can only give you a conditional answer."
"So," asked Ben Lado, "there is currently a dispute between the United States and Great Britain over the border?"
"Exactly, gentlemen," replied Mr. Broll.
"I think," said Ben Rado, "that a line of meridian, the 149th meridian, was chosen as the dividing line."
"The line was indeed chosen, and rightly so."
"Then," said Sammy Skin, "I don't think the meridian changes position, even in the New World. The 149th meridian doesn't walk east to west on crutches."
"Of course not," replied Mr. Broll, laughing at Sammy's scathing newspaper, "but perhaps it wasn't quite where it was drawn for it. For two months the question had been hotly debated." The national border may be eastward or westward."
"Off by how much?" Ben Rado asked.
"No, it's only a few hundred meters off."
"Arguing about it!" cried Sammy Skin.
"There is reason to argue, sir," retorted the deputy manager, "that what is American is American, and what is Canadian is Canadian."
"Which of the two countries made the request?" asked Ben Lado.
"Both countries have proposed," replied Mr. Broll, "the United States claims a piece of land to the east, and Dominion a piece of land to the west."
"Hey! God!" cried Sammy. "What's the matter with us anyway?"
"That means," replied the deputy manager, "that if the Americans win, a part of the Forty Mile River will be owned by the Americans."
"Including Lot 129?..."
"Undoubtedly, since it is the first parcel from the present border," replied Mr. Broll, "in which case the Company withdraws its offer of purchase."
This time, the answer was clear.
"However," asked Ben Rado, "has the work on amending the borders begun?"
"It has begun, sir, and the triangulation is being done with admiration and accuracy."
Both countries strongly claim the strip along the 149th meridian, and that's because gold lies beneath the disputed area.Who knows if there is not a vein of bonanza in the long stretch from Mount Elli in the south to the Arctic Ocean in the north?America can benefit from it, and so can Dominion.
"As a conclusion, Mr. Broll," Ben Rado asked, "if Lot 129 is on the east side of the border, will your company stick to its purchase intention?"
"Of course."
"If, on the contrary, it goes to the west side, there is no need for us to talk to your company?"
"exactly."
"Well, if that's the case," Sammy Skinn announced, "we'll find someone else. If our land becomes American, we'll exchange it for dollars, not pounds, just That's it."
The conversation ended here, and the two brothers returned to the North Hotel.
They meet Scout at the hotel and tell him the situation.
"Whatever the case may be," he advised them, "it would be wise, gentlemen, to get to the Forty Mile River as soon as possible."
"That's exactly what we intend," said Ben Rado. "We're leaving tomorrow. Bill, what are you doing?"
"I'm going back to Skagway and leading another team to Dawson City."
"Will you go?..."
"About two months."
"We are waiting for your return."
"That's settled. But, gentlemen, if you plan to leave the Klondike before winter, hurry up."
"Trust me on that, Bill," said Sammy enthusiastically, "though, really, we hit a snag in the first place!"
"There will be buyers who are not so picky," Ben Rado assured. "In the meantime, we'll see for ourselves..."
"Oh! I remember," interrupted Sammy, "we'll see our lovely neighbors there..."
"That Texan Hunter." Ben Rado finished speaking.
"And Mr. Malone. Very distinguished gentlemen."
"Or are you the most heinous villains, Mr. Skin," corrected Bill Steele, "who are notorious in Skagway and Dawson. They are indeed your neighbors, because although Lot 131 is now On the other side of the national border, it still borders with you, this is a very annoying neighbor."
"What's more," Ben Rado added, "Sammy has already taught one of them a harsh lesson, which will not be good for future relations with them."
Bill Steer seemed worried.
"Gentlemen, your business is not my business," he said in a serious tone, "but allow me to give you a suggestion. Have someone accompany you to Lot 129. If you need Neruto, I can put him at your command. Be sure to go with arms."
"That's the adventure!" Sammy exclaimed, throwing up his arms. "I figured if we'd just stayed in Montreal, we'd have sold our lot by now because it was traded before these nasty border disputes." It's done. Me, I'm living a comfortable life in Green Valley?"
"I hope you don't repeat the same old story," Ben Rado retorted. "Sammy, you promised me. Besides, if you stayed in Montreal, you would not be participating in this interesting, fascinating, strange I'm traveling..."
"I don't mind at all, Ben!"
"You wouldn't have come to Dawson..."
"I can't wait to go, Ben!"
"You would not serve Edith and Jane Egerton."
Sammy shook his cousin's hand firmly.
"Ben, is there something you want me to tell you? Well, honestly, that's the first sensible thing you've said in two months." A sincere smile.
Notes:
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