ALASJ^A AND THE KLONDIKE. 173 



storied, bow-windowed log cabin of Alexander McDonald, the recog- 

 nized " King of the Klondike " — intended primarily as an office build- 

 ing. It is a truly fine expression of the art of log-cabin building. 

 In many ways one of the most interesting buildings, if such it can 

 be called, was the air space, with canvas top, which adjoined one of 

 the theaters and was used by Signor Gandolfo for a fruit store. 

 There was no architectural quality to commend this space; nor, in- 

 deed, was there anything else in its favor, except that it was in the 

 right place and brought both lessor and lessee fortunes. For the 

 privileges of this space of five feet width the occupant paid the hand- 

 some rental of one hundred and twenty dollars a month, or twenty- 

 four dollars per single foot of frontage; his profits were, however, 

 such as to justify this payment, and before leaving he confided to 

 me his plan of renting one half of the establishment. Conceive of 

 the character of a store five feet wide, the opposite sides of which 

 are devoted to quite distinct interests! Other sites rent for very 

 little less, and the singular part of it is that much of the rental 

 goes to the pockets of certain assumed owners, whose actual rights 

 are largely in the nature of a '' grab " or of squatter sovereignty 

 alone. 



Dawson extends up the river for about two miles, virtually 

 coalescing with and taking in what has been euphoniously called 

 Lousetown and also Klondike City. These more southerly parts 

 carry with them certain characteristics which are either wanting in 

 the main city or are there but feebly represented. The closely packed 

 tents remind one of an army gathering or of the furniture of some 

 religious camp meeting; walking between them might almost be con- 

 sidered to be a branch of navigation. Inscriptions on the canvas tell 

 us of certain '" brothers from St. Louis " being occupants here, and 

 of " the Jolly Four from " occupants elsewhere. Representa- 

 tives of the press, physicians, and attorneys all have their inscriptions. 

 But the most interesting constructions, picturesque as much as they are 

 instructive, are the elevated platform caches, diminutive log cabins, 

 which on high stilts store a multitude of articles in safe keeping and 

 beyond reach of the army of hungry dogs which are everywhere 

 prowling about and carousing upon all manner of odds and ends. 

 Their appearance, especially where they are placed among trees 

 and bushes, is such that the observer can hardly resist the feeling 

 that he is traveling in a region of primitive pile-dwellings — it may 

 be the interior of New Guinea or the forest tract of one of the 

 Guianas. 



Dawson, which now owns the right to celebrate its third anni- 

 versary, is destined before long to assume a modern garb. It already 

 has its electric plant, and before many months have passed electric 



