ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE. 163 



could not remove the children until the Board of Health condemned 

 and closed the building under the provisions of the sanitary code. 

 The minor abuses in the way of aiding undeserving persons extend 

 to nearly all the private societies that receive city money. Those 

 that exercise care and have been long established are often deceived 

 by professional beggars. 



After his investigation of the subject the city comptroller estab- 

 lished in his office a bureau of examination for the purpose of placing 

 a check on the many small societies that indulge in indiscriminate 

 charity at the expense of the city, but he soon found that he was 

 powerless to correct all abuses. The present condition can not be 

 corrected and public charity placed upon a practical basis and limited 

 to the real necessities of the deserving poor until the city govern- 

 ment begins to deal with each society and institution upon its merits. 

 Changes and reforms to the present system will come in time, but 

 progress will be slow because charity is a valid excuse at the bar of 

 public opinion for the reckless expenditure of city money, and for 

 that reason it appeals strongly to the average politician and law- 

 maker. Charity will cover with a mantle of commendation a mul- 

 titude of abuses and crave pardon for gross frauds. It is the pastime 

 of the rich and their gratuity to the poor. The magic of the word 

 seems to move a Legislature and open the treasure vaults of city and 

 State. 



ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE. 



A JOURNEY TO THE NEW ELDORADO. 

 BY ANGELO HEILPRIN, 



PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY AT THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA, 

 FELLOW OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



II. SAN FRANCISCO OF THE NORTH. 



A FIEST impression of Dawson, in August, 1898, could not be 

 -j- other than one calculated to bring up comparisons with strange 

 and foreign lands. As we saw it, approaching from the water side, 

 it persistently suggested the banks of the Yang-tse-kiang, or of some 

 other Chinese river, on which a densely apportioned population had 

 settled. Hundreds one is almost tempted to say thousands of boats 

 were lined up against the river front, and so packed in rows back 

 of one another that exit from the inner line was made possible only 

 by a passive accommodation from the outside. There were steam 

 craft, house-boats, scows, and a variety of minor bottoms, ranging 

 from the hay-packed raft to the graceful Peterboro canoe. Many 

 had canvas spread over them, giving house quarter to those who pre- 

 ferred the economy of an owned estate to the high-priced cabins of 



