Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

THE WHITE PASS AND YUKON RAILWAY. 27 the foreman, and to post them- selves so as to take advantage of the temporary absence of the men in order to steal the con- tents of their dinner-pails. At some of the camps the bears be- came so tame that they would eat out of the men’s hands, and would even stand to be photo- graphed. Actual construction commenced in June 1898, and trains were running by August 25 over the first 14 miles of Labour the line. The Troubles. working force had increased to near- ly 2,000 men on August 8, when the news of the gold discoveries at Atlin reached the construction camps and reduced the numbers to under 700 in two days. It was October before the working strength could be restored, by which time the work was almost entirely above the timber line, and exposed to the full force of the Arctic winter storms. In many places the men had to be “ roped ” while working, in order to prevent them being blown off the steep mountain-sides, where the granite was so smooth and slippery that the only foothold was often obtained from logs chained to iron bars Working drilled into the rock. The tinder cold and tlic action of tlic Difficulties. wind was so intense that the men had to be relieved every hour, as longer exposure numbed not merely their bodies but their minds, so that they had not sense enough left to tie a knot securely, or do other simple things of similar nature. Throughout the winter the thermometer ranged from 20° to 40° below zero, and sometimes ROCK WORK ON A SLOPE. Tn the foreground is seen a rough bridge giving access to the ledge. even lower, at the construction camps. Never- theless the work was pushed continuously, and on February 18, 1899, the first train reached the Summit of the White Pass, 2,865 feet above the sea-level, and 20 miles distant from Skaguay. After the Summit had been reached, the working force was transferred to the compara- tive shelter of the timber at the Bennett end of the line for the remainder of the winter, as there was no special object in continuing to expose the men above timber line on work which could be done more easily when spring