Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

THE YUKON ADVENTURE 165which has been described, the pack trains of the Governmentbringing in the royalty on gold and those of the larger minersfrequently arrived outside the bank, the horses or mules loadeddown with gold dust which it was no brief task to weigh andinspect. It will therefore readily be understood that thesituation was one which did not permit of nice discriminationas to methods of office routine; the conditions which existedhad to be met in the best way possible. On June 23 the firstconsignment of gold, valued at $758,520, the result of amultitude of individual assays and purchases, was shipped outby the North American Transportation and Trading Company'sdown-river steamer, the "P. B. Weare." The wholestaff worked on this first shipment until four o'clock in themorning, when the gold was put on board the steamerpacked in strong wooden boxes clamped and banded withiron, and with the screws countersunk and sealed. 1 It wasinsured under an arrangement made at head office before thedeparture of the first expedition from Toronto, and Ross, themessenger, accompanied it as a guard to St. Michael, wherehe met the bank's third party coming into Dawson by theup-river route. The senior of the two incoming officers thentook over the shipment, and the other officer and Ross proceededup the river with the safes and main supplies, reachingDawson on July 26.During the remainder of the summer and the long wintermonths which elapsed before Dawson was again brought intocommunication with the outer world, the staff of the bankhad much reason to appreciate the extreme care and attentionwhich had been given to every detail, even the slightest, in organizingthe expedition. Before their advance party arrived at LakeBennett, the members of the expedition of the Bank of BritishNorth America, which had stolen a march on them by makingan earlier start, had reached the head-waters of the Yukon1Early the following spring a supply of boxes built of steel and designed speciallyfor carrying gold shipments, which had been made in Toronto, reached the Dawsonbranch.