The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 30, 1897, Page 2

3 FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, AUGUST 30 1897 ' COMMISSIONER OGILVIE ON ALASKA MINING. ST. MICHAEL, Aug. 11 (viay steamer Portland to Seaitle, Aug. 29).— | By far the largest personality that has come out of this northern wilderness since it began to attract is William Ogil AvLAsKA, vie, Dominion land-survevor, the man | who, upon the part of the Dominion Gov- | ernment, r the boundary line between | the Nor! Territory and Alaska. He is also Police Commissioner,’ an office : means much in that country. Me ast boat with the band i out on the E way to. Ot ummons to transact the nature of which he . but which no doubt has | new revenue ations affecting the Terri- g to be done is the estab- a monthly poswal service, the opening of communica- i at the rate of regular postage nother thing er law, about | anxiety and | some | of y some considerable among the b Tte for fuel and the bu z of cabins and boats is cut with- ¢ nse, and already it has become 10 go long distances from Daw ) obtain it. Some restraints upon the indiscriminate The whisky traflic wiil d in scme measure. is & scholar and gentleman | ype that lives much out- or hearty docrs and is not e knows the upper Yukon thoroughly | unbounded con- The great be taken out with 1ond drili, and bis advice to those fortune is to buy one . Oilvie has no ciaim | he declined to take | e he knew would be called act as gold commissioner pre- | the regular appointment of an Daw: and did not wish to en open to the question- nal interest in the ground presses its the most wish to make a to on hood of the the | ed as tothe like Government adopting a tribute of e 0 per cent more or les n the gola taken out, | Mr. Ogilvie said he did not believe the | Tepc been called to Ottawa upon b n 1at is wholly incompatible with such a | " e ssid. *‘Such a course would immediate check upon the deve oy t of the country, stop it entire aps, and the development of 1s the firsy iy pert the sources desire of the Gove veries Mr. Ogi the go!d and the indicates to me ult of glacial 1 erosion, and mother lode is not r mines in the The mother lode he expectations which ised, but I would not as my opinion, for it is not my believe that we have a reraark niry there. 1 have seen yed from $500 to $1000 a th will ve taken out {z miners. shown the way and ¢ fo'lowed by the other | eau and in California. o is working out I: has caused e that they bu are = y that not re: the p ns. s have T try is call sfied with gravel that paid 10 cents to the pan, to quit work luck because he can’t pick | and curse t | to this number is added the new men who | claims which they own on other streams | and remain there. up $200 to $300 to the pan. Piacers that) paid $20 to $30 per day are considered not | worth working since the big strike. As a result Dawson is being filled up with idle men, who were formerly good producers; are pouring into the country, also expect- ing to find nuggets in every craek. There were 2000 men in Dawson when I left, and there is every indication of there being 5200 this winter, with a great scarcity of provisions. *Circle City and Forty Mile, both good | ett'ements, are entirely deserted. There | were only two men at Forty Mile when I | me down. All the claims in those dis- | tricts, formerly considered exceilent, that is to say, they weregood for a home stake | in four orfive years, have been abandoned | as too slow. A ‘nome stake’ isan elastic word, meaning a sum sufficienc toenable | 2 man to go bome and live upon his com- | petence or to go into other business. It means $5000 or $10,000, or $15,000, accord- ing to the man. For instance, I know a man who came here from a Kansas farm, because he lost hope of ever being able to psy the mortgage. He accumulated encugh in a couple of years to pay the mortgage and was satisfied and went bome to his farm. A man is now ashamed to gooutof the country with sums with which they would formerly be well satistied. Most anvwhere a man can pan out from $10 to $30 a day. On the islands of the Yukon it elf, placers pan- ning $30 a day regularly in fine gold were deserted immediately when the EIl Do- rado’s big yield was reported. It is =zl fine gold on the big streams and the miners want coarse gold. They give up totake a‘lay’ on the El Dorado. Many Incky miners assist their friends by giving | them lays out of which their friends have often made fortunes, thus working on shares.” 1 have secured from Dominion Sur- veyor and Police Commissioner Ogilvie the following signed statement: | The first attempt at mining in the Yukon ! Valley was made early in the seventies on' the | headwaters of the Leslie River, commonly known in the disirict as Hootalinqua. Nuth- ing, however, was done at this time bay establishing the fact that found thers. About ten years later mining | was instituted on the Stewart with success, | but at that time all the gold iound was | fine ¢old on the bars of the streams. The gaihering of this gold required more care than | in the case of coarse gold, and besides requires | [ > of mereury in its collection. A few woras describing the modus operandi will be interesti c uninitiated. As gold nineteen times heavier than water, the at- traction of the sands und gravel of the streams reducesitto so fine a scale tant 1t is easiiy car- ried away by a swift current. It isa well known fact that mereury and goid form an amalgam. Assume now, an oblong box at 10 ches wide, 6 or 8 inches deep and feet long. In the bottom are placed what are driffles. That is u series of parallel strips running lengtbwise of the box, a Lalf inch or more apart. Now piace three of these boxes end to end, so that one discharges info the erin such a position that there is a fall of about three inches to the foot. Directastream | of water into these which flows the entire | length of the three boxes. The water must have such force as to roll down the incline of 1he sluice-boxes stones weighing six or eight pounds, often more. 1n fact, anything that is not too large {o get into the box. Now, con- venient to the head of the set-boxes is a pile of earth, or gravel-bar: gold, technically | known as the dump. The gravel and sand is | swept along over the Tipp.e of the course of | the water. The heavy metalliferous constitu- | ents of the gravel sink between the riffle-bars fine goid was to be | When clogged and there is danger of the gold or other metalliferous parts running out into the tailings, the flow of water is stopped.. the riffle-bars taken out and sll found in the sluice-boxes carefully collected and cleaned | up. This is technically known as a clean-up, | the spaces between the bars become | | the only camp on | Mile, but they were in | Ha then spread the report of One clean-up on a claim in El Dorado last spring gave elghty pounds avoirdupois, or over $16,000—tae product of a few Lours’ shoveiing. Now, suppose that some of the gold con- tained in the gravel is so fine thatii will be swept on and out of the boxes, this will be lost. To obviate this quicksilver is used. To do this one of the voxes 's prepsred in s suitable way with small receptacles in which some quick- silver is placed. This box is at the lower end of the line of riffles, and all the ftine particles escaping the riffies is caught und held by the quicksilver. The quicksilver is afterwards volatilized ana recollected, the gold remain- ing in the retort. So fur us I know, this pro- cess with quicksilver has not been used on either El Dorado or Bonanza. In all the mining on stewart River or the | | tributaries of the Yukon heretofore mined no qurcksilver has been founa necessary. Coarse gold has been eagerly sought for, and was found in 1886 on Forty Miie River, about twenty-three miles above 11s mouth, just about where the 141st meridian or interaational boundary crossed. This discovery soon spread through the country, and soon Forty Mile was the whole Upper Yukon Valley. Numerous good guiches were found on the slde waters of Forty Mile, which were soon overcrowded, and the overflow spread about and soon found Miiler, Glacier and other creeks tributary to Sixty Mile, Which joins the Yukon nearly 100 miles above Forty he same recgion, so that the same post, Forty Mile, situated on the Yukon at the mouth of the river of that name, was the distributing point for that region, Some of the claims on Miller Creek were con- sidered especially good, as much as $40,000 being taken out by one inaivilual. Archdeacon MeDonald, an Anglican mis- sionary who labored among the Indiaus aiong the Poreupine, visited the Yukon in the vi- cinity of Forty-mile in the seventies. In his rambles over the country he found gold on a | creek tributary to British Creek, in the vie cinity of what is known as Circie City. The news soon spread, and gold was discovered in large quantitics in some of the gulches, and Cirele City was born about 200 miles below Forty-mile. Thesc two centers up to August, 1896, atiracted tne great bulk of men entering the country. On August 16, 1896, George W. Cormack discovered course gold in whatis now known as Bonmanza Cr lie panued out about $12 in a few moments. On the nexi day he located Discovery claim and No. 1 be- low it for himself aud No. 1 above jfor his In. | @ian assistant, Skookum Jim, and No. 2 below for his other Indian associate, Tagish Cbharlie. the discovery, and before the 1st of Szptember upward of 100 claims were staked, and before October over 500 had been staked on this creek and on EL Dorado and their tributaries. Gold Bottom had been discoverea before Bonanza and Hunker creeks had obtained some notoriety, and might have been muca more largely developed than it now is had not Cormack, about the middie of September, come down to Forty Mile with $1200 in dust which he and his two associates washed out in afew days with limited and crude appuar- atus. Rumor got to Circle City of the rich- ness and exieut of the new diggings, but it was not credited unil December, when au- thentic and reliable news was taken to that | place, and resulted in Cirele City utterly di gorgiug itself, and to-day it and Forty Mile are practicaily deserted. Men from both places considered themselves extremely lucky 10 se- cure the working of twenty-five or more feet on some of the claims on what is termed a “lay.”” That is paying dirt, wash it aud pay a percentage oi the output. In this way a man working & small fraction of a claim of thirty or forty feet has taken out a good home- stake. I think it can be safely asseried that u out in “lays” on Bonanza and El Dorado dur- ing the past season than were taken out of all the Forty Mile, Sixty Mile and Birch Creek (Circle C tistricts combined during the three best y In this wav ail the other creeks tributary to Klondike, yes, even branches of the Bonanza and EL Dorado them- Ives, were practical.y sbandoned for | time being. So that all the rest of the Dawson district re- | mained undeveloped, aud as all the claims lo- cated in Canads have 1o be represented with- in twelve months from the date of their rec: ord, the claims on the other creeks will have to be developed or abandoned. Very few of them will ve given up. From this fact we wilt ore substantial homestakes have been taken | the | be unable to state more definitely by the end of September next what these streams amount to. Bonanza Creek joins the Triandike, om- monly known as the Klondike, two miles i above its moutn, Bear Creek six miles above, IGDld-Bullom Creek twelve or fourteen miles above, and *Too Much Gold” thirty-five or forty miles above. Bonanza is about twenty miles in length, and Ei Dorado, one of its branches, joining about midway of its length, is eight or nine miles in length. A claim is 500 feet in length, measured in the general direction of the stream. Bonanza thus fur- nishes upward of 200 claims; Ei Dorado about eighty, and the several tributaries of these two will give us nearly as many more, and should the hillside prove remunerative—and | some of them haye already done so, a good many claims having been swaked there—we will have about 1500 claims on the above ex- ent in the valley of the Bonanza. Now we may assume that 1000 or these at least will be | worked with profit. These 1000 claims will require 6000 men directly and indirectly for their proper devel- opment. Now we may safely assume that the other creeks mentioned tributary. to the Troandike will furnish as many more claims, in all, 2000. Of course much depe | upon whether the hillsides pan out as they have hereiofore. If they do not, we can esti- mate that at least 1200 claims will be worked in the Troanaike Valley. Adjacent to the Troandike is the valley of the Indian Cieek So convenient is the water systems to eaci other that 1t is only the labor of an hour or two to cross from one to the otber. Indian Creek, close to the head of Bonanza and El Dorado, two tributaries, has been prospected with fair success. We may assume, then, that considerable mining will be done on Indian Cre=k, possibly as much ason the Troandike. This will give ussay 2500 claims, combined with Troandike diggings. Assuming the same ratio per claim as before, we require 15,000 men for the proper development ot this | area. The emporium for this will no doubt be the town of Dawson, situate about half a mile below the mouth of the iroandike. It cannot in the nature of things be seriously | doubted that good peving quariz will be | found in the vicinity of these placer ciaims, which will more than double the importance | of this district. Several quartz claims have | already been recorded, but their value has not yet been determined. Itisamostdifficult country to do quartz prospecting in. Only at a few points along the creek is any rock ex- posed. The tops of the higher hills and ridges are void of vegetation, except aretic mosses and lichens, but all the rest of the country 1s cov- ered with a thick layer of moss, which again supports scrub spruce, some serub white birch and a thick growth of northern shrubbery. This completely conceals the surface of the rocks, and to remove it to a sufficient extent to search ior quartz prospects would entail a | vast amount of labor. much more than the or- | dinary everyday prospector can afford. The cheavest and most expeditious methods of quartz prospecting here would be by diamond drill. A light portable machine of that de- ption, » compact light engine and boiler sufficient to work it could be easily made and setupat various points aloug the various creeks. From the cores thus obtained experts could readily determine what the probability aud prospects were. This requires capital, but Ihave nodoubt a company formed with this object in view—prospecting in this way— would find it & profitable investment. A.lthe gold 1 have seen 1aken out ot El Dorado and Bouanza, for that matter, of other creeks 100, bears no evidence of having traveled any dis- tance. Many—end it might be said the ma- jority—of the nuggets found are just as regu- lar and irregular in shape as if toey had been hammered out of the mother lode, instead of being washed out of gravel. I have seen no ‘L'v.deuceoixlac ation anywhere in that dis- trict, so I cannot help coming to the conclu- sfon that much of the mother lode from which this gold came will yet be found along the valleys. Whether it is concenirated enough to pay for the expense of quartz min- ing can only be dktermined by proper search. I cannot help thinking but that much of it will. | "Now, let us take a ghmpse ol the country south of this. Stewari River some sixty-five or seventy miles further up is about 400 miles in length; its tributary is easily double this. ! This gives us in the meighborhood of 1000 | miles of stream on which a great deal of sur- | | face prospecting has been done and fine gold fouhd everywhere. Now, where fine gold is found coarse gold has generally been found too. Assuming this to hold good in the Stew- art Valley we will have here one of the largest, if not the largest, mining areas in the world. Upward of a hundred miles farther up, where the Pelly joins this, fine gold has been found. Still further south the Cassier district, in Brit- ish Columbia, was a famous gold field, and farther on yet the Cariboo district was famous. Now, draw a line through these sev- eral points and produce it northwestward. You will find that Forty-mile gold-bearing area, Mission Creek and Seventy-mile Creek below Forty-mile, Birch Creek, Minook Creek, and, siull farther down the Klondike are either in this line or close to it. The general trend of these points lies in the direetion of an arc of a great circle of the earth, and itis probable that gold will be found along its pro- duction as far as Berisg Sea, and it is lkely the gold found in Siteria is a part of the same system. This shows a most extensive area of vast possibilities, What it wan:s for its proper de- velopment is increased transportation facili- ties, with the certainty of sufficient food sup- plies 1o sustain the number of people re- quired. At present and during the past a visit to the country entailed a long period of time and considerable expense and much un- certainty as to whether or not one can remain there more than afew weeks. Give us in- creased, quicker and cheaper ingress and egress, with a certainty of food, and this part of Canadaand Alaska will furnish employ- ment to untold tnousands. At present food is | 8o expensive that ordinary, every-day dig- gings are entirely neglected. At present the food supply available at Dawson and to be laid down there this season wili not much if any more than furnish the requirements of those now there. the number seeking access lo the country is true, there will be much dearth of provisions. To make one's way out of that country during the winter to the nearest point where sup- plies sre available, which 1s at Dyes or | Juneau, is an arduous labor reqniring about one month with a good dog team for its com- pletion. Now, the people making this trip consume more food while doing so than they otherwise would. The dogs, 100, consume a | tremendous amount. The old adage that cure | is worse than the disease is particularly appli- cable. If those on their way succeedea in reaching Dawson they wiil eitber have to muke their way down the river at once and return to Seattle, or remain at Dawson and run the danger ot starvation, un- less they have brought in win them sufficient food lor one year's use. I would emphatically warn all eontemplating coming into this country for the betterment of their fortunes ta come well prepared with provisions, clothing and miner’s tools, with a few necessary carpenter’s tools. In saying this Ido not wish to be understood as at ail reflect- ing upon the companies now trad‘ng there. They are making strenuous efforts to meet the new requirements, but the transition from two small mining camps to such a worid-famous place as Dawson was so sudden that it found them for the purpose unprepared. Next year their freighting tacilities will possibly treble that of this year, but even that will probably be found short. Then again, the ocean voy- age from Seattle or San Francisco to St Michael, and from St. Michael to Dawson, some 1600 miles, is long, tedious and ex- pensive. Moreimportant still is the shortness of the time in which the route is available. S eamers seldom reach St. Michael before the end of June, owing to the ice in Bering Sea, | and captains of vessels care little abou. risk- ing & voyage there alter the middle of Septem- ber, os storms are so violent and So shallow is | Bering Sea, From these causes it cannot be c.aimed that the route via St. Michael is avail- able for more ihan three months in the year, July, August and September. The ice in the upper Yukon River breaks about the middle of May. Generally about the 20th the river is clear cnough for steamboat navigauon. Ice begins to run again about the middle of Octo- ber, so thatwe can count on nearly five months steamboat mavigation in thut river, as against | three via St Michael. | Glve us some easy coutinuous route for the south down the river to these points and we nearly double our availabie route for transport, and this, were there no difference, would be rquibe an item in the development of the | country. But it will probably be found that the cost will be consideravbly reduced too. 01 course the cost will be regulated consider- If the rumors concerning | l ably by the amount of demand, but give us the facilities and I believe the demand will rise and meet it more than half way. To those coming into the country contemplating getting & claiza on Bonanza or Ei Dorado I would say do not think of it. As Isaid befora both of these creeks were located last fall, and if vou have money enough to purchass an in- terest in any of them you have money enough to remain where you are, possibly with as much benefit und assuredly with much more comfort to yvourself. The rich claims which have given these two creeks world-wide fame aggregate about 130 in number. From these spring all the stories of fabulous wealth of this region, and these stories are largely true. Butas far as 1 know up to the present time there is only one Bonanza and one El Dorado. The other creeks I have mentioned pros- pected very good, buc, as I have already stated, they are &sclicnlly undeveloped. That creeks as rich as these two will be found I can neither assert nor deny. That there is a very extensive gold-bearing area here, which will be an important factor in the world’s supply of that metal for many years to come, I am posttive. But I would solemnly adjure you to | come prepared fo: serious and long-continued disappointment. No gold-mining camp ever yet found in the world enriched more than a few of the miners, and it is to be hoped that this will prove an exception in that way. I must qualify this by saying that much of this failure can be attributed to the life the average miner leads. A man with $2000 or | $3000 generally is careful to take steps to keep itin his possession and increase it. Not | so with the average miner, however. Itseems to me he vies with his associates in spending his money as fast as he possibly ean, and in most mining camps the facilities for doing so appear to be created and sustained with au 1ugenuity that is almost diabo.ical. Drinking the worst brands of liquors, gambling almost unlimited and other vices are ever jromi- nent features of all the mining camps 1 have ever seen. In Canada efforts will be made to suppress these couditions, but with the best efforts in | the world only a measure of success can be | achieved in that direction. What the major- ity of the community wants it will obtain, if not openly, then seeretly. 1f the majority did | not want those things certainly they woula not exist to the extent they do. Ikuow this very majority wouid decry this aud say not so. In reply I point to the numerous saloons, cehouses and gambling appliances flour- hing as proof of what I say. I have seen and conversed with men while at work on the claims whom I thought to beshrewd, level- headed, sensible men. I have seen these same men in town afterwards ana could not help thinking that they were at least temporarily insane. Their one idea seemed togetrid of their money in the quickest and most disgust- ing way possible. The counduct of some of them was worse than beastly. To those hav- ing young relatives viciously inclined con- templating sending them in here out of the way of temptation, I would say do not do it. At home you can impose some resiraint on them; bere you cannot. Ido notmean this | picture to include all the miners, but [ cer- tainly assert that there isa much larger per- | centage of vice, and vicious life is more popu- | larl yeonsidered the correct thing in a mining | camp than eisewhere. WILLIAM OGILVIE. I had an interview to-day with E. En- | gelstad, chief of the Alaska Commercial Company’s traders and one of -the best | posted men concerning the resources of this great northern country. He, like Ogilvie, has great confidence in the gola- bearing qualities of the hills and ravines, but be fears for lack of provisions. He had determined to go to Kiondike him- self this fall and had written to friends there that he couid do so, but he has' changed his inind since learning of the great rush into the country. “I do mot care to go up there carrying my pro- visions, as every one should,” he said, “and taen be compelled to give them up to some hungry women, as' I certainly would have to this winter, and so go without anv myself. I will stay nere tiil the spring.”’ Engeistad, although simply a traveler, is no common man. Those who know him best say hé just missed being a genius. Heis a linguist and a musician of no mean ‘order and was for a shn.rt time a boxing partner of Jack Dempsey s. He came into this country in 1889 with the Tu-ner and McGrach surveyiug_psn)’ to establish the point of intersection of the 141st parallel with the international boundary line. Aflter doing so the pariy went direct morth to the Arctic Ocean, making a topograpnical map of the country. Turner named the Davidson Hills after Professor Daviduon of the Geodetic Sur- vey. They came down to the mouth of the Yukon in & boat and missed the steamer by five days, being compelled to remain at St. Micheal another year. When Turner and the others came south Engelstad remained behind, having taken a fancy to the big, cold wilderness. Since then he has been up and down the big river and explored many of its tributaries, and ke says, like Ogilvie, that gold is to be found in nearly all of them, but that te- cause of their inaccessibility and the diffi- culty of securing provisions only tue rich- est claims pay for the working. He says there are very few, if any, tributaries of the Yukon that have been prospected properly and that the impetus that has been given to mining by the recent dis- coveries will no doubt bring to the open any quantity of gold diggings, because the miner will follow his prospects more closely. They will remember that the Klondike has bzen kr n to miners for many years and was thought to have been tried out long ago. He says that many of tbe little marks onthe map that would indicate creeks a few miles long really represent big rivers hundreds of miles in length, as the surveyors in most cases only located the moutbs of streams. Toe whole country has yet to be prospected. “I would predict,” said Eneelstad, “‘that the next big excitement will be the Stewart. Miners are going in there; itis gnown the prospects are good. What is needed for the thoiough prospectine of that country is the reindeer to make possible winter travel. Maunook Creek is another good prospect. Thirty white men went in there and took outs 103 ounces in three or tour weeks’ work. The Tanana is another property but thirty miles from Dawson. Indian Creek is still another. It hasbeen the dream of miners for years, because of the tales toid of its richness and yet it is not on the map at all. Because of the stones along the shore about its mouth ic is very difficult to find or to make any one’s way into. Itisthe first stream above Klondike. Then there is Innoko River. Five hundred milesup that river a party of miners took out $3000 from one littie bar in a few days. “There are good quartz croppings on the western coast from the Klondike to Norwon Bay and also on the Tczikakei River, On Tramway bar way up the Kouketa River on the sixty-eighth par- ailel, north of the Aretic circle, good pay ore has been found. I know of two friends who took a trip straight north from ¥ort Yukon to the Gents de Large mountains last winter, prospecting all along the way and found at every polut from one to two cents a pan. There is no vlace that gold is notfound. When transportation facili- ties and provisions are iaid up in the couniry we will see big sums taken out. Ii I was going into the country to remain the first thing I wouid do would be to build a cabin at the head of the stream 1 intended to prospect and there [ would lay up a large stock of the salmoa thag run up to the headwaters in the fall in countless numbers. If aman isa hunter and rustler there is no need of siarving. In the district between Rampart House on the Porcupine at the boundary line, south to Forty Mile on the Yukon, there are great numbers of deer.” 8 W. WarL. small amount of gold brought from the, Yukon by the st er Portland wasa | disappointment to many, the miners who | retarn unite in saying that the country is | fabulously rich. The claims which have been worked promise well, and in fact many of them give assurance of proving very rich. All estimates of the amount of | gold which will be taken out of the Yukor next year must necessarily be very rough, there is no means of determining how much work will be done. If men could be secured to work the claims alrefldy‘ 1 re undoubtedly would be many | millions of dollars taken out, but the ma- | jority of men there prefer to pros- | pect on their own eccount, notwithstand- | ing the fact that high wages can be had wherever claims have been located and have proven rich. Etatements have steamer Portland on bring faily $2,000,000 in gold, but the most reliable men from Dawson City say that | no such amount of money will come, as it | has not been taken out of the ground. One | miner who came down places the outside | figures at $1,000,002. Now that El Dorado | and Bonanza creeks, where the richest | strikes were made, have been staked out | for miles and desirable cieims are scarci the prespectors are beginning 1o scatter out. When the rich strikes were made at Bonanza and El Dorado hundreds of min- ers left paying'claims and rushed to the new diegings. Many, of them struck it rich, while otkers securea nothing and eitber returned to'their old claims or went prospecting anew. It is stated that the North American Trading and Transporta- tion Company brought down $750,000 of | their own money on the steamer Portland, | but it was generally understood that this money would not be brought down until the nex: trip of the Portland, wnen she would be convoyed by a United States Tevenue cutier. John F. Miller, ex-District-Attorney of Seaitle, writes to a friend in this city from Dawson City, under date of July 3, as fols lows: here .is an enormous amount of | wealth in this country—gold by the thous- ands and millions—but it is just as hard to acquire it as it is elsewhere. It, as else- where, is in the hands of a few, while the | many are hunting and searching—the same old'story. El Dorado and Bonanza | creeks are the richest of all in this local- ity, and, in fact, are so far practicaliv the only diggiogs of great value, and I can been made that the | her next trip wili i ever. | most uninviting—low and marshy, cov- | ‘accident’ of the kind in thirty years’ searching. New digeings will doubtless be discovered from tims to time, but when | and where the sages cannot teli. Onein this country is quite a creature of circum- stances. If he chances to be within reach | of a discovery he may stand a show of ob- | taining a claim, but should he ba some | distance away he stands no chance whai- I have been out on a ‘stampede’ or | two and staked a claim, bat the chances | are there is nothingin it. Some have an idea that they ‘will go out and find some- thing.” If they should stop to think that every creek, gulch and recess has been prospected years ago by experienced min- ers their enthusiasm might lessen, I the gold in this country is from tweive to twenty feet under ground, and irozen ground, too, so you see the ‘Iree and wandering’ avocation of the prospec- | tor is no easy task. It takes two or three weeks of the hardest labor 1o sink one or two holes on a creek. It isnot like other | countries, where gold is on the surface. Here suriace indications count for notiing and all prospectors’ rules are worthless, One creek may be ricn, while another in the immediate vicinity and much more | inviting may be absoiutely worthless. Of | all creeks Ei Dorado and Bonanza are the erea with willow and sll kinds of under- growith—but there gold was found lying like grains of corn, awaiting the eyes of mau. ladeed, I 1ay be pardoned for again repeating that pcople who come here should not expect too much. Where one has become rich a thousand remain poor. My, adyice is, if any one comes, bring ai least’ a year’s provisions and enough money to pay a passage back home. It is no place for a man to attempt to play gentleman. Every one works hard—the hardest of his life, I dare say. Don’t let the reports of the great amount of gold going out turn your head. It all came from the creeks above named, and the owners of the claims realize their po- sition only too well.” Bear Hunker, Goldbottom and Domin- ion creeks will be worked for the first time this winter. There is every reason to believe these creeks will rank with Bonanza and El Dorado in richness. Last | winter rich pay dirt was found on the | Bear, Goldbottom and Hurker creeks. The richest prospect found on Goldbottom was on Zilish and Baker’s claims Nos. 2 and 3, above 1ts mouth. Early iu the summer work was started the claims along Hunker, Goldbottom =and Kear say that cone might just | as | creeks. On Hunker Creek ninety claims well try to ‘get in’ on Wall | are staked, sixty below and thirty above street in New York City. He could | the noint of Discovery. On Goldbottom do so with no more money than here. | there ara fi'ty claims and on Bear Creek Men on these creeks value their claims at | there are twenty-one below and eighteen | t e enormous figuresof one, two and three | above D'scovery. On No. 21 on Bear | bundred thousand dollars, and even | Creek *Datch Kite” took out $5000 this | higher. The amount taken out last win- | spring, working only in April. On Hun- ter may jastify such vamations, but of | ker Creek §7000 was tuken out of No. 19 course there are no purchasers. You can i below Discovery by Harry Oleson, who inform anybody and everybody who in- | commenced work in March. . On Gold- tends to come here that if they expect to | bottom rich pay was loca:ed, but no work find goid scattered around atrandom or |'was done. Claims on 1his creek are.now et something for nothing, as Colonel Sel- | held at from $10,000 to §25,000, lers once attempred, they will be woefuily | Next spring when reports come in from disappointed. While it is true that the | these creeks it is expected they will sur- gold deposits in the locality were found | prise even old-timers. The latest strike almos: accidentally, it is no encourawe- | reported has been made on Indian River ment to note the fact that itisthe first | in the latter part of March, and,there was a wild stampede for the new district. The reports coming from Dominion Creek are very favorable and coarse gold is being brought back. Prospectors have found as high as $250 to the pan in the gravel. No reports have come 1n that holes have been | sunk in bedrock to July 14, when the steamer Healy left Dawson. The creek has been staked for miles. same range as Hunker, Gold Bottom and Bonanza Creeks, running, however in an | opposite direction. The Indian river enters the Yukon about thirty miles avove Kiondike. Quartz and Wolf Creeks, tributaries of In- dian River, bave been worked more or less for four years with good results in coarse gold. The bars of the river have also yielded good pay during that time. The indications for quartz have been more fayorable in Indian River than any district on the Yukon. Well detined croppings have been found on Dominion and Quartz Creeks, but at last reports no attention has been paid to other than placer ciaims. A number of quartz pros- pectors are now in the district, and quartz locatious will undoubtedly be made. The creeks in the Klondike and river districts mentioned comprise all the strikes of any importance that had been reported to July 14. Since May there have been stampedes in every direction from Dawscn City. As soon as arepoitcame in it was followed by a rush of miners. Hundreds have been hunting for *“Too Much Gold” Creek, re- ported to be about forty miles up the river, and on which the Indians claim they have panned gold for years. Up to the present no hing has been found that answers descriptions given by Iadians, One of the stampedes this summer was to Henderson Creek, which flows into the Yukon about six miles below Stewart River. The prospects did not prove satis- factory, however, not enough gold being found to justify working the creek. Regarding the Upper Klondike nothing is known by either whites or Indians. Men are now striking. out for the head- waters of the river and the country will be quite thorcu:hly prospected t sea- son. The present locations of any import- ance in tne Klondike district are em- braced within a radius of forty miles, Vicioria Creek, a tributarv of Bonanza coming in at claim 43 above Discovery, was located last fall and practicaily aban- doned. Just before the Healy left Daw- son reports of big strikes on Victoria reached there and claims were selling at round prices. Hundreds of miners are looking toward Stewart River, the second largest branch of the Yukon, and hundreds of prospectors will be on its banks and bars within a few months. Although the bars of the main river had been successfuily worked for ten vears there nas been practicaliy no pros- pecting done on the many important trib- utaries. Everywhere that explorers and scattering prospectors have gone on the Stewart River and | its branches gold has been found. On many creeks the prospects were ex- tra good. The guestion of gettin: sup- plies is a serious one. Atthe same time the few hundreds of men who haves been on the Yukon up to the last year have found suflicient attractive diggings nearer It heads in the | the older districts ana closer to supply pases. The Indians also have a supersti- tion regarding a powerful and savage tribe who they claim live at the upper part of the river and are known asthe Ma- honies, and consequently will not go up the river any great distance. From the mouth of Stewart River to Mount Jesus, on the North Fork, the dis- tance is estimated at 450 miles, and to the head of this fort is in the vicinity of 500 miles in all. The South Fork is practically unexplored, one or two pariies only hay- ing been ou it, and not for a sufficient dis- tance to determine its character or length. Those who have been on the river say that it carries a larger volume than Pelly River, and is beyond doubt the second lar ‘est feader of the Yukon. The firs: gold discoveries of the Stewart were made in 1885 on bars within 100 mies from its mouth. These were rich. During the fall, in less than fifty days’ time, as high as $6000 to the man was rocked out. In 1886 fully 100 men were working on the river bars with good suc- cess. Some went up the North Fork nearly to its head. Each season the bars have been worked until now they do not pay wages. The Stewart empties into the Yukon on its eastern banks, about sev- enty miles above the Klondike. From its mouth to its ford is about 270 miles. The north fork extends some 250 miles farther on, trending in a northeasterly direction. The river itself bears generaily east-northeast from the Yukon. A tritle over 200 miles from its mouth Fraser Falls make an insurmountable bar to steam- boat navigation. They make a fall of thirty feet in 150 feet and are not over seventy-five feet in width, There a port- age of about half a mile must be made. From there on rapids are encountered for about six miles, but these can be poled over without great difficulty. Nothing in the way of prospecting has been done on the north fork, other than that of two parties, one of which wintered there in 1896, neither doing much. Gold was found, however, on several creeks, but no attempt was made to work them. There isa great deal of talk in the Yukon about rich discoveries on Mi Nute Creek, but definite information has not yetcome out. Mi Nute Creek empties into the Yu- kon about sixty miles above Ten na River. Itis entirely within American territory. It is from tweive to fifteen miles in length and beads up in tne divide be- tween the Tannana and the Yukon. M nute Creek was struck in the fall of 1894, and after a little prospecting was abandoned. This summer several parties went in on the creek to prospect and re- ports of strikes came back. Several good paying prospects were founa. Supplies | are being taken in and the claims will be worked tnis winter. Not all the money on the Klondike is being made in the, mines. The value of real estate in Dawson City has multiplied | a thousand fold in less than six months. When Joe Ladue laid out the town of Dawson City in August, 1896, he chose a site a mile below the mouth of the Klon- dike on the east side of the Yukon. On September 1, 1896, Dawson City consisted of two log cabins, one small warehouse, a sawmill and a few tents, with a popul tion of twenty-five men and one woman, Ladue was then selling his best lots at Irom $5 to $20 each. These lots in July last were seiling at $800 to $80C0 each, with every prospect of going still higher. In July Dawson’s population had grown to 5000 and every day people were pour- ing in. Log cabins 16 by 18 were renting from $40 to $75 per month, and no more were to be had at those prices. On every hand cabins and tents were being set up. A cabin of average size costs in th= neigh- borhood of $1000. Building lumber is scarce, logs. being .brought down the Yukon from ten to fifteen miles. The question of shelier will be a hard problem this winter, as enough cabins cannot pos- | sibly be built to sheiter the people already there. L'ving in tents with the ther- mometer ranging from 40 to 60 degz. below zero is almost an impossibility. The principal street of Dawson is along the water front. The main portion of this is cccupied by stores, saloons, dance- houses, warehouses, ete. One block is given over entirely to saloons and dance halis. ¥ Dawson is a typical mining town and next spring it promises to be the breeziest mining camp in the world. Everything is “wide open” and gambling always in full blast with no limit. In spite of all this the town has been very orderly. Brawls are very infrequent and no seri- ous crimes have yet been committed. The Canadian mounted volice represent the law-dispensing powers of the town. The only competition to Dawson is the old Indian ranch a mile distant on the Yukon. This place has been re-named “Louse Town” by the miners. Dawson is an all-night town. The restaarants, saloons, gambling dens, saw-mills and stores are never closed, and everything is going with a rush. Hundreds are making big money building cabi clearing ground, getting out logs and moss (the latter being used for calking the cabins) hunting and fishing. Moose meat sold at 50 cents & pound in July; and the first King salmon caught this season sold at $20. Common laborers get $10 a day, and car- penters from $12 to §$15. Living is ‘pro- portionately high, board at restaurants averages §4 per day, the lowest price being $150. Lodging can only be had by putuing up one’s own tent. Two hotels are being built and will be ready by winter, but they will not begin to accommodate the people requiring lodgings. 2 The saloons are doiug a brisk business. Drinks ara 50 cents each for straight whisky. Fancy drinks are §150 when an egg is used. .Cigarettes are 50 ceuts a box of ten. Cigars are 50 cents each, and everytbing proportionately high. Dogs which are valuaole as pets aresold by weight. The ruling price is §1 a pound up to 75 pounds. For anything over 75 pounds the price rises to §150 a pound. These were the prevailing prices for live dogs for freighting purposes last winter. There is no telling what dogs dead or alive will be worth next winter. The nearest diggings to Dawson are eight miles distant on Bear Creek. All the other diggings are within thirty miles of the town. . The nop-arrival of the North American Transportation and Trading Company’s steamer Weare at St, Michael . up to the time the Portiand left there leaves but lit- tle doubt that that steamer isin trouble | somewhere up the Yukon. ~ ‘The Weare left 8t. Michael for Dawson City on July 3 and was due to arrive back the last of July or the first of August. The last heard of her was about Circle City. Here the Alaska Commercial Com- pany’s steamer Bella passed her. That was about the 20th of July. hen the Portland leit St. Michael the Weare was fifteen days overdue. It is said her en- gines needed repairs when she went on her last trip and it is possibie they may have broken down. The detention of the steamer, as it is now impossible for her to make more than one more trip up the river, is & serious misfortune to the peoplie of-Dawson. It still furtber reduces their possible food supply. The first serious misfortune for the Klondike and Yukon miners this season came in the shape of forest fires. Since the thaw in the spring there lras been practicaliy no rain and the country has been unusually dry. The latter part of June fire broke out on El Dorado and Bo- nanza creeks and for three weeks the en- tire district was ablaze. The woods were afire in every direction up and down these cre=ks. From there the fires worked across to Hunker and Goldbottom, sweeping through the hillsides and crossing over into the Incian River district and contin- uing with unabated force there. Nearly the whole district was swept by the flames and a number of cabins and foocd caches were reported destroyed. At the time the fires were burning on the Klondike others were raging on the Stewart River. The origin of the fires in every cass resulted from the carelessness of prospectors in going off and leaving their camptires burning. Large quantities of cut wood were destroyed, while the damage to standing timber has been immense. All the dry wood was burned &nd as a result the price of wood for the mines will be fully 1€0 per cent higher than last season. When the Healy left Deawson last July fourteen fires had burned out. The method of mining during the winter by thawing the frozen ground requires large quantides of wood apd the forest fires have at this time been quite a misfortune to-the miners. MORE DEATHS AT SKAGUAY Young Gold-Hunters Drowned by the Capsiz- ing of a Sloop. Four Seamen Deserting in Great Num- bers to Go to the Klondike ! Country. i JUNEAU, Araska, Aug. 23 (by steam- To Care a Cold in One Day Take Laxative Bromo Quinine Tablets. All :!nnuu reiund the mouey if it fafls to cure. 25¢ snip Islander, via Vicioria, B. C., Aug, 29).—Four more deaths have occurred at Skaenav and another man ‘s so badly in. XEW TO-DAY. Varicocele Destroys Physical Energy, Takes the Snap Out of a Man, Robs Him of Ambition, Makes Him Weak and Nervous. Nothing hurts a man’s vitality more than Varicocele. It drains the mental vigor as well as the physical force, and the man who has it is only half the man he ought to be. Nothing cures it so quickly as Dr. Sahden’s Electric Belt, which is now arranged especially for this trouble. Its work is done quickly, the worst cases yielding in one or two months. “My Lumbago has been cured, and my Vari- cocele {5 gone. Iam ‘eziing like a new man,” seys P. Bunker, 2021 San Antonio avenue, Alameda, Cal. This wonderful Belt has made a nation stronger. Book free. Full information. Call or address DR. A. T. SANDEN, 632 sarket st., opp. Palace Hoiwl, San Francisca, Ottice hours—8 A. 3. to 8:30 P.»c: Sundays, 10to 1. Coasultatious fre: nnd inviied Los Angeles office. 204 South Broadway: fortlard, Or., 253 Washington st.; Lenver, Coio, 93 Sixteenth st. NOTE—Make No Mistake {u the Number, 632 Market Streei. Make note of it KLONDYKE BOATS! LLDS AND BURROS, READY FCR SHIR plne. Boats 22 feet 1ong wili carry 2 tons of GOLD and 4 men: the lightist and strongest thas tan be made; fastened with sCrews, w. ENFA-S 710 - & & ) ¢ Radway's Ready Reljef f Soro Muscles, Cramps, Borng, Sivos ache, Headache, T Headache, Tooinache, Rheumatism, New Internally for ail pa dlarrhaoe, dysentery, L ickness uauses, etc. ALl Drugsigts O OUe A8 *hnburn e B » cholera