ICY BAY, TREADWELL, AND JUNEAU.
JUNEAU, July 13, 1892.
Yesterday we were moving through the straits, and looking upon the
majestic scenery which distinguishes Alaska, for a thousand miles from
Tacoma. We passed the great Davidson Glacier, and during the afternoon
and evening were constantly seeing immense ranges of mountains, until
we reached Icy Bay at seven this morning. Here the steamer took in her
supply of ice, fishing it out of the water and hoisting it on board,
several tons at a time. Coming into Icy Bay, the scenery was of
extraordinary grandeur, mountains many thousand feet high, the bases
of which were near the water, and numerous waterfalls and glaciers.
Some of us sat up nearly all night to see the wonders, the like of
which cannot be seen anywhere in the world, except, perhaps, in
Greenland. After midnight the moon came up in all her glory, and the
northern lights played fantastic tricks in the sky. The great glacier
in this bay is a wonder, a mile wide and several hundred feet high,
the ice falling off every few minutes in great masses. Once I saw two
great ice towers, looking much like those of the Church of Notre Dame
in Paris, and I called the attention of a lady to them. Hardly had I
made the remark, before they both crumbled down into the water with a
tremendous crash, making our big ship feel the force of the waves
caused by the fall. After leaving Icy Bay we touched at Treadwell at
noon, where are located some famous gold mines. Most of the passengers
went ashore and were permitted to go through the large buildings of
the mining company, and see the operations of getting gold from rocks.
The blasting was going on a short distance off. The ore was
transported by rail to the mill, and then pounded into powder by
several hundred powerful steam hammers, which made a prodigious din.
This powdered stone was mixed with running water, and we were
informed that the gold was obtained in that way, but we saw none of
it. An hour was quite sufficient for Treadwell, so we steamed over to
this place, nearly opposite, and went ashore. There are several
hundred houses in this town, built at the base of the mountains. Near
the water there was the usual number of Indian women squatting on the
ground and offering baskets and curios for sale. The stores are well
supplied with skins of foxes, bears, and other wild animals, and the
usual goods required in country places.