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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est 1\\m6 A partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. irrata to pelure, in A 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 THE Klondyke :> GOLD Fields Their Discovery, Development, and Future Possibilities, -WITH" PRACTICAL INFORMATION ON OOI^D MIKINO. HOW TO OBT THERE. WHAT TO CARRY. WHAT TO DO. ALSO-— HINTS ^' Value to Prospectors. llii\ lO Traders and Investor^,,,, j Ldlcv J githdraya froa library . .' 15642/ CHARLES ALEXANDER PLEMPEL. ^ itxcsraATBo by ISAAC B. BEALES. OGi 2 -l 1909 TUB Sf ARTLANO PUBUSHIMG OOUPAMY, HALTlMOIUt, MO, 1 /ifj CONTENXa CHAPTER. IWTRODUCTORY, ' * * ' ^ Alaska, II Gold Mining, ^^^ Canada's Rights ^V How TO Grt Therk— What to Carry— What to do, V Enterprises, VI Tailings VII "That book in many's eyw dolh share the gloiy. That in gold claitpa locks in the goU!en story.** Shak$.: Itomeo and Juliet. Cat«rc4 accordlrg to Act of CosgrcM. is the year 097, ty THE at ARYLA^D PUBUSBUTC COMPACT. Is the oSee of the Librerlaa ef Cougrtm, at WuklflgtOB. 9. C. I / V n THE one magic word which has, per- haps, been spoken, written and printed, more than any other. Introductory. during the past few weeks, is Klondyks. I retain the spelling of the word in the form given because I believe it to be strictly accurate, although many newspapers, doubtless well informed, have departed from the first rendering and have substituted the letter "I" for the letter "Y," a matter of little moment, inde«d, but one vrhich may yet give rise to controversy, as the name, itself, bids fair to take a leading place in future history and to become even more celebrated than that of California. Asa matter of simple fact, it is as well to observe, the original name of. the now notorious river and district was spelt "Thron dak,** or "duick,** a word of Indian origin, which means, "plenty of fish." To thosf» who are acquainted with gold-bearing strata in various parts of the world, and who make it their business to obtain information in regard to new mineral discoveries, the fact has been well known for many years that the immense territory, lK>rdering on the Arctic Circle and extending on the Hast into British Columbia and on the West and South into Alaska, contains deposits of gold of incalculable value. The excitement, however, which very naturally followed the more recent disclosures regarding wealth, easily and quickly obtained from the placer deposits in the Klondyke River, brought, in its train, a desire for possessioa ; with the result that, in consequence of the publicity given to the subject through the ^ess, scarcely a man, a woman, or a child, in even the most remote hamlet in the United States, is unacquainted with the fact that a new Eldorado exists in the frozen 4 THE KLONDYKE COLD FIELDS. and inbospitable North, and that it is open to every able bodied man — and perhaps woman — to ssek the field of adventure and endeavor to wrinj; from nature's secret treasure house that wealth for which all are striving, but to win which is denied to the great majority of mankind. The space available in this little work renders it impracticable to enter into an exhaustive dissertation on LUCK. Many philosophers aver that the word has no meaning — i. e.^ that luck, in an abstract sense, does not exist. Let those who think thus try gold mining. Then they may be converted tc the theory that nick is a power in the lives of ^ncn — and women — which, like an overwhelming flood pouring lA^vV '•' • "^ from a broken dam, will carry '•^i \'*r.'^;r, r^yA some to the highehi pinnacle of success, and will sweep others — the majority — into those troubled waters which drown so many heroic efforts and leave upon memory the burden of a record of a life's utter and complete failure. This will be shown in the unwritten history of the Klondyke. Fortune to a few — despair and death to the many. It was always so, and history invariably repeats itself. But if the tens of thousands of treasure seekers, who will, by some means, and within a comparatively short period, make their way into the new northern Kldorado, knew each and individually that his chances of success were utterly forlorn and hopeless, the spirit of adventure and the greed for gold would overcome every measure of caution and every instinct of fear, and not one would he deterred from trusting to that most fickle goddess of fortune, named luck, for a happy outcome and a profitable result. Knowing, therefore, the sentiments that so widely — it may be said so universally — prevail, I should entirely fail in the object T7hich prompts 'Jie preparation of these few pages were INTROD UCTOR Y. 5 I to paint the golden horizon in such sombre colors as to freeze the heroism and to lessen the self-sacrifice which must inspire every gold seeker if he is to have the most remote chance of ultimate success. Naturally » my best and kindest wishes will accompany every reader of this little work who may set forth upon the hunt for gold ; and it will be my aim, in the following pages, to shed some light upon the pathway of those who abandon home for scenes which, to the many, are at present unimcginable ; while others, who merely peruse these lines for information or amusement will. I hope, find nothing i.icy may unduly criticize. There is yet another class of readers to whom a few pages will be expressly devoted. They are the seekers for wealth through the medium of investment ; and as the gold fever is rampant and epidemic throughout the land, from New York to San Francisco, from Juneau to the Gulf of Mexico, the Wall Street gambler, the Quaker City promoter, the Frisco mining broker, and the confidence men of a thousand and one minor cities, will be like vultures hovering over the prey, laying traps for the unwary and seeking to despoil the widow, the orphan, the merchant, and the fool, by the introduction of wild- cat and impassible schemes, presented in as many forms and colors as Joseph's Biblical coat. I do not claim to possess immaculate judgment and I do recognize fully the importance of fostering and advocating legitimate enterprise ; but in all these things there is a line of wisdom to be drawi, and I hope that those of my readers who may contemplate investing hardly earned savings in Alaskan mining schemes may find the price of this book rcpiid to them ten thousand fold. One more sentence before I approach the more solid matter which this work, to be of any practical service, must contain : I shall, in all probab'lity, be found, in the course of a few months, exploring the Klondyke region; but I am, after many years of experience, gifted with that most invaluable possession, patience. The old saying, "the greater haste the less speed," applies with extraordinary significance in the presoit I ! ;f It 6 THE KLONDYKE COLD FIELDS, excited condition of the public mind as regards the Klondyke gold discoveries. There is n«> occasion for hurry. There is every conceivable reasotv for calm and thoughtful consideration before embarking upon an enterprise such as is involved in even a visit to the mountain ranges of Alaska, or the British northwestern territory. New York may yet be destroyed by an enrth(iuake. A quaint prediction was given out forty years ago by a German of remarkable foresight who prophesied many other strange events and calamities (all of which have come to pass), that such would be the ultimate fate of the Empire City. But the midnight sun will continue to shine in northern Alaska. The gigantic glaciers will tr.ivel on and on and give forth weird and unhallowed sounds of desolation. King Frost will resume his annual supremacy and for a few short months in every year summer and sunshine will welcome the feathered songsters from the south and nature will sing a lullaby over the graves of those who fall by the way. The controlling spirit of mighty torrents will rule the gorges atid chasms as of 3'ore, and the snow-capped mountains will forever look down in pity and contempt upon man's puny eflbrts. All the while Nature, the giant mannfacturer and producer, is pouring gold dust into the beds of rivers and streams, l)y a process mysterious yet effectual. In mountain ridges and under sad, lonely, end forbidding rocks, she is heaping up countless treasures which have yet to be discovered, but which man will in time unearth ; and, over an area of many hundreds of square miles, there is room for an army ot a hundred thousand bold explorers and adventurers who would, perhaps, never have been tempted to journey into those wilds but for the magic influence wielded by the one simple word "Klondyke," The word Klondyke has gone forth as a trumpet call to arms. The banner of gold is licld high alofl and the recruits are falling into line, some unarmed and practically helpless ; others, full of vigor and determin- ation and aided by surroundings which should ensure more or less success — but it will be, after all, a question mm-. WNf- fCRNY.TNC MltUONAINC DRIDK, IN MININO C09TUMK. 8 THE KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS. of the survival of the fittest, ami the Inckiest. The invasion of a vast and hitherto unexplored territory has commenced and the invincible Anglo-Saxon will trani]> on and on to new discoveries which Nature has held hidden during countless centuries. The gold is there I ! And the more people who go to seek it the greater and better will be the facilities provided for their protection and support. That which might have been impossible to but a few adventurers will be accomplished with coniparativo ease by an army co-operating and working; in pursuance of a single object, and the solemn stillness of the Arctic winter will, in course of years, he disturbed by the roaring of the camp fire and the echo of the falling pick. As if bv magic, buildings will spring up, streets will be laid out, and new towns created. The impossibility of existing in such a clime will be practically disproved, and comfort will he procured where desolation was once paramount. But it will take time, and reader, I say again, there is no hurry. "Oh cricTons folly to hcnp np csfatc. Losing the days you sec lionratli the snn. When, sudden, ctimes lilind unrelenting fate. And piTOA th' untast<>«I portion you have won, AViili ruthless toil, and many a ^n-trh undone. To thusc who mock you, gone to I'luto'g n-iRn." —Hhakt.: liomto and Juliet. V ,1 1 EVKRY • * ool-boy knows that Alaska is one «.i the United States Terri- tories, l.ut very few people are Alaska. acqu iinte<1 with its history, its cli- tn'ulc, its mineral wealth, or its extent. Originally in the possession of the Russian Government, Alaska was ciTerecl for sale to the United States as far back as the year 1844. The Emperor Nicholas of Rnssia, in presenting the opportunity to the United States Government, of purchasiug the territory for a merely nominal consideration, made it a condition th£^t England should be shut out from any frontage on the Pacific Ocean. Russia, even at that period, con- sidered that England was possessed of quite sufficient frontages. The offer, not then accepted, was several times renewed, and finally, in 1867, the purchase of Alaska was effected by the United States, the price paid being at the rate of alx>ut half a cent an acre. The in- vestment has, so far, proved to be an exceptionally profitable one to the United States Government, and it is probable, in course of a few years, that the people of this country will have especial reason to be thankful for the action taken by the Administration of thirty years ago, seeing that the increase of the wealth of the country, generally, and particularly of the accumulation of gold from new sources, will undoubtedly tend to a renewal of the prosperity which has been so conspicuous by its absence since the panic of 1893. Alaska, in brief, is nine times the size of New Eng- land, twice the size of Te^as, and three times as large as California. It extends for more than a thousand miles from north to south, and the Aleutian Islands en- croach upon the Eastern Hemisphere. The Island of Attn is two thousand miles west of Sitka, and it is as ff^m to T//E KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS, far from Cape Fox to Point Barrow as from the north of Maine to the southern extremity of Florida. But the immense extent of the Alaskan territory can be the more readily appreciated when it is stated, as is the fact, that its coast line has a length of more than 18,000 miles, this being greater than that of all the Stales bordering upon the Atlantic, the Pacific ind ihe Gulf of Mexico combined. Mount St. Elias is the central peak of a crescent- shaped range of mountains on the southern shore of Alaska, and lifts its glittering white head more than nineteen thousand feet above sea-level, and can l>e dis- . tinctly seen one hundred atid fifty miles at sea. The Yukon River is to Alaska what the Congo is to Africa, the Missis- sippi to the central portion of t he United States, and the Amazon to South America. It is a mighty stream, 2,044 miles in length. It has its source in the Rocky Mountains of British Co- lumbia, at a |M)int about two hundred miles northeast of Sitka and, forming the arc of a huge circle over 2.000 miles long, enters the Behring Sea through an extensive delta, pouring into the sva a volume of water so great as to freshen the ocean ten miles from its mouth. It is first known as the Yukon at a point where the Pelly River from British Columbia meets the Lewis River from southeast Alaska. It drains more than 600,000 square miles of territory, and discharges one-third more water than does the Mis- sissippi. It is sixty miles wide at its mouth, and its width inland is from one to ten miles. Beiug compara- tively shallow, it is only navigable by flat-bottom boats, with a carrying capacity of a few hundred tons, and it is entirely closed to navigation during the winter, which lasts for about nine months in the year. At various in- tervals numerous streams and many large rivers flow into the Yukon, the most celebrated of these being the kj^'^ [lOf tbe the fact, ,000 :ales Gulf cent- re of than ; (lis- . I and ukon t the lissis- of the uazoii is a lies in in the Ish Co- t two he arc lehring Ihe sest interest, from which the following extracts may be ajjpropriately given : Mr. Wright says, *' As to the ultimate yield of the mines, or the prospect of finding more, we have nothing but conjecture to go upon. Tht geologists who have visited the region were not the ones wlio discovered the gold. What the prospectors have found points to more. The unexplored region is im- mense. The mountains to the south are young, having been elevated very much since the climax of the glacial period. The great mass of gold-bearing quartz at the Treadwell Mine, nearjuneau(thecapitalcity of Alaska), was what might be expected, and at the same time what might be the limitation of the supply. For more than ten years that mine has furnished more than a million dollars of gold annually, but it is not like ordinary quartz mines. It is rather a great, isolated muss of ALASKA. L region ♦.^nt of Ji, from ars tliat original lit was, itronglv le great dreams ; opinion that the ed miles Ith from opinion, :oincide. ;es Mint, he state- extent of d south- Geology lard gco- ;nt of the racts may As to the )f finding on. Thi t the ones tors have on is im- g, having he glacial .rtz at the »f Alaska), time what more than a million i ordinary d mass ol «3 quartz, with gold disseminated all throngh it. While its worth is great its length is limited. Little is known about the geology of the Yukon River where the Klon* dyke mines have been found. Being placer mines, the gold may have been transported many miles. The means of transportation are both glaciers and rivers. Dawson and Professor Russell both report well-defined terminal moraines across the upp. r Yukon Valley. The source of the Klondyke gold, therefore, is firom the south. " Placer mines originate in the disintegration of gold-bearing quartz veins, or mass like that at Juneau. Under sub-aerial agencies these become dissolved, then the glaciers transpo"^ the material as far as they go, when the floods of water carry it on still fr.rther. Gold, being heavier than the other materials associated with it, lodges in the crevasses, or in the rough places at the bottom of the streams. So to speak , Nature has stamped and * panned ' the gravel first and prepared the way for man to finish the work. The amount of gold found in the placer mines is evidence, not so much, perhaps, of a very rich vein as of the disintegration of a very large • vein. The ' mother lode ' has been looked for in vain in California, and perhaps will be so in Alaska. But it exists somewhere up the streams on which the placer mines are found. The discovery of gxld in glacial deposits far away from its native place is familiar to American geologists. " The general climatic conditions on the north side of the mountains are much better than those on the south side. On the south side the snowfall is enormous, but on the north side the air is dryer. It is not impos« sible that explorations southwest of the present gold fields may be carried on with comparative ease." General Nelson A. Miles, in his " Personal Recol- lections," observes that, "among the results of the war as connected with the West, was the acquisition of Alaska, that magnificent pendant to our territorial area. The undisguised sympathy shown to us in our struggle by Russia, aggravated the strained relations alr^dy I I i! i I I ' I 14 TffE KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS, TOTtn. 1 *^ .!• ( Si 'j^:c._ existing between that coontry and Great Britain, while drawing still more closely Uie bonds of friendship pre- viously existing between her and the United States. Soon after the war, rather than endanger these friendly relations by the complications that seemed likely to arise from the preseri-e in Alaskan waters of our whalers and fishermen, and, perhaps, willing also to perform an act showing her independence of Great Britain, Russia departed from her traditional policy and sold this terri- tory to our Government for ^7, 200,000." The Alaskan mountain ranges contain some of the most magnificent glaciers to be found anywhere upon the glob-. The Malaspine Glacier is one of the greatest extent. It may be described as a vast prairie of ice, forever moving slowly onward, and it is possible to look down upon it from a height of three thousand feet and yet be unable to discover its southern limits. Among the most interesting features of Alaska will be found evergreen forests, cameted with flowers and ferns, growing on live glaciers hundreds of feet in thickness. At Glacier Bay is the Mtiir Glacier, the face of which is a solid wall of ice two miles in width. Another glacier, forty miles long and over five miles wide, is to be found on the Stickine River, and the Miles Glacier, discovered by Lieutenant Abercrombie during his exploration of the Copper Riv — country, is regarded as one of the most interesting of these wonders of nature. It requires a great effort of the imagination to gather an adequate idea of a valley, miles in extent, packed solidly with ice, lying between two ranges of mountains, the ice being formed from closely-packed and serai-liquid snow. The movement of these glaciers, although constantly in motion, is so slow as to be alto- gether imperceptible, but the fact rf the movement is borne out by results. There is a never-ceasing fall of a, while iip pre- States. friendly to arise Icrs and 1 an act Russia lis terri- le of the re upon greatest i of ice, onward, ok down of three »e unable A limits, teresting be found ted with wing on jf feet in r Bay is all of ice iles long Stickine eutenant per Riv ~ esting ol lation to extent, ranges of y.packed glaciers, be alto- ement is ng fall of I i ALASKA. 15 masses of ice, at the extremity of the glacier, and these masses, ranging from a few pomids in weight to blocks acres in extent, produce noises which can only be com- pared to the roar of thunder, and which are frequently heard at a distance of many miles. Scenes such as these are of surpassing beauty and grandeur, and with the opening up of facilities ^at trans- portation, which the successful working of the new gold fields is certain to inaugurate, it may be a question of only a short period when trips to Alaska will become as popular and as practicable as visits to the great Yellow- stone Park. The exploration of the valley of the Yukon River by Lieutenant Schwatka, in 1883, is described in the *• Personal Recollections of General Nelson A. Miles," and forms a chapter full of graphic interest. Genexal Miles writes : * ' The difficulties that had been experienced by others in exploring the Yukon from its mouth, led Lieutenant Schwatka to believe that it might be easier to descend than to ascend, and he made his preparations with this end in view. He finally decided to make the attempt to reach its head waters by way of the Chil- coot trail (so frequently referred to in the newspapers* with reference to journeys to and from the Klondyke region), which leads up the inlet of the same name, to a branch called the Dayay, then through this to the month of the Dayay River, thence to its head, and thence across the mountains to Lake Lindeman. From Lake Marsh they entered the Yukon River, and on July ist found themselves approaching the grand canon of the Yukon. The river, which before reaching this point is about three hundred and fifty yards in width, here begins to grow narrower, until it is hardly more than thirty-five yards wide. The walls of the canon are of perpendicular basalt, nearly a mile in height, being widened in the TltK£VC;M rtiLts C*NWN.. l!.i 1 1 I ! II < I 1 i6 m£ KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS. center into a huge basin abont double the nsnal widtb ' of tbe stream in the canon, and tnis basin is full of whirlpools and eddies, in which nothing but a fish could live. Through this canon the wild Outers rush in a perfect mass of foam, with a reverberation that can be heard a considerable distance away. Overhanging ti:e canon are huge spruce trees stauding in gloomy rows. At the northern end the water spreads rapidly to its former width, although not losing any of its swiftness, and falls in a wide, shallow sheet over reeis of boulders and drifts of huge timber. About four miles further down the river grows narrower than ever, and the volume of water is so great that it ascends the sloping banks to a considerable height, and then falls back into the nai row bed below. The shooting of the cuuon and rapids was an exciting adventure, and I v;ill give Lieutenant Schwatka's experience in his own words. ** ' Everything being in readiness, our inspection made and our resolution formed, in the forenoon of the 2d of July, we prepared to shoot the raft through the rapids of the grand canon, and at 11.25 the bow and stern lines were cast loose, and after a few minutes' hard work at shoving the craft out of the little eddy where she lay, the poor vessel resisting as if she knew all that was ahead of her, and vas loath to go, she finally swung clear of the point, ana, like a racer at the start, made almost a leap forward, and the die was cnst. A momctit's hesitation at the cauon's brink, and quick as a flash the whirling craft plunged into the foam, and before twenty yards were made had collided with the western wall of the columnar rock with a shock as loud as a blast, tearing off the inner side log and throwing the outer one far into the stream. The raft swung around this as upon a hinge, jtist as if it had been a straw in a gale of wind, and again resumed its rapid career. In the whirlpool basin of the canon, the craft, for a brief second or two, seemed actu- ally b'lried out pf sight in the foam. Had there been a dozen giants on board they could have had no more in- fluence in directing her course than as many spiders. It was a very simple matter to trust the rude vessel entirely al width s full of sh could tsh in a it can be ging tl:e ny rows, ly to its wiftness, boulders s further le volume bank? to le nai row td rapids ieutenant nspection on of the ough the bow and ates' hard dy where w all that Uy swung art, made moment's I flash the re twenty rn wall of St, tearing le far into n a hinge, and again isin of the med actu- ere been a more in- siders. It el entirely ALASKA. 17 to fate, to work oat its own salvation. I was most afraid of the four miles of shallow rapids below the canon, but she only received a dozen or a score of smart bumps, that started a log here and there, but tore none from the structure, and nothing remained ahead of her but the cascades. These reached, in a few minutes the craft was caught zl the bow by the first high wave, in the funnel- like chute, and lifted into the air until it stood almost at an angle of thirty degrees, when it went through the cascades like a charge cf fixed bayonets, and almost as swiftly as a flash of light, burying its nose in the foam beyond a^ it subsided. Those on board the raft now got hold of a line from their friends on shore, and, after breaking it several times, they finally brought the craft alongside the bank, and commenced repairing the damage with light hearts, for our greatest obstacle was now at our backs.' '* During this reconnoissance much valuable infor« ination was obtained regarding the inhabitants of the country, the whole number belonging to the various tribes observed by the expedition aggregating over eleven thousand. ''Lieutenant Schwatka's exploration was one of exceeding interest and value, adding a very important chapter of information about that remote country. The territory he passed over, however, had not been entirely untraversed by prospectors and miners, as a few of those adventurous spirits had previously penetrated that country in search of gold and other minerals. He describes the natives as a hardy, brave people, and most expert boat builders. Schwatka fotmd these native races among the hardiest and strongest on the continent. All his baggage had to be carried over the mountains on the backs of men hired for that purpose, and he reports that they could take a box of ammun- ition or supplies weighing a hundred pounds and go up the side of a mountain as rapidly as an ordinary man could travel without any burden. "The principal isdnstnes of Alaska at present are the for trade, mining, and th«; curing an < . • 1 x8 T//E KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS, fi^h. The value of tbe Seal Islands was not appreciated at the time of their transfer to this country. In 1870, the Alaska Commercial Company of San Francisco obtained a twenty years' lease of the Islands of St. Paul and St. George, and are believed to have divided from ^900,000 to $1,000,000 profits annually between twelve original stockholders. In 1890 another twenty year's lease was awarded the North American Commercial Company of San Francisco for an annual rental of $100,000. "Who can foretell the future of this country when the similarity between its people and the ancient Britons, according to the descriptions handed down to MS is remembered. Should the country be occupied by civihV.ed races who have the advantages of all the wonderful modem inventions and implements, Alaska may yet play an important part in the great future and the development of the resources of its mines, waters and forests may one day contribute largely to tbe welfare of the human family." ACROSTIC. A laska, fur ofT laiul, in mj'st'ry Toilod; L and or the walrus, and the midnight sun ; A rmles of men, thy tracklesa wastes, have trail'd, S e"kini; for gold — the work's but yet begun : K londyke's the echo of the call to arni:>, A ud men will {ro iu spite of all alaruu. T 19 ..!' JT IS probable that ninety-nine per CHAPTER III. 1 cent, of the readers of this \7ork would be found, npon inves J^^tioa, Gold Minins:. to be as ignorant of the details and intricacies of gold mining as a pract- ical miner would l>e of manufacturing muslin, or of cul- tivating coffes. A few words, therefore, may not be out of place upon a subject which has become of almost uni- versal interest. Thousands of men who have passed the better part of their lives in cities, and who have never handled a spade or rocked a cradle, are being attracted to the Klondyke region because they have read in news- papers that immense quantities of gold dust have been •r.on from the beds of rivers and creeks, with consum- mate ease, and with the aid of primitive appliances. These men are undertaking a task which will inevitably cause, to many of them, bitter repentance. The life of the typical gold miner is one of hard work, exposure, and ceaseless temptation. In the severe Alaskan clim- ate the work will be still harder, the exposure greater, and the temptations none the less. It has been frequently asserted, and I am inclined by my own experience to confirm the statement, that every dollar's worth of gold which has been won from the earth's secret store-houses has cost two dollars to procure. That statement is, of course, with regard to all the gold which has been found, as against the total expenditure involved in obtaining, or in trying to ob- tain, gold. Every man who journeys to Klondyke must have money wherewith to purchase the necessaries of life mitil he can earn sufficient to defray his current ex- penses. Let it be assumed, for the sake of argument, that, including those adventurers who have recently thronged the v&sels leaving San Francisco, Seattle, and !•. - 1 ao T/rE KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS. other ports, twenty thousand persons will "afelj reach the Klondykc j^old fields by the month of Jane next. It is perfectly safe to say that five thousand of those gold seekers — most of them novices and tyros at the business — will, from one cause or an- other, such as slothfulness, drunketicss, sickness, want of '^ " '^tl/^j\ perseverance, gambling, lack of n^.\-/^l<^ fir \ opportunity (synonymous with ill-luck), fail to earn anything in proportion to the heavy ex- pense of procuring a bare sub- sistence. Let it also be assumed that each of these forlorn ones carries with him, at the start (including the cost of tlic journey from home), seven hundred and fifty dollars. We have» then, an expendi- ture in gross of three million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. / ^ainst this we must take into ac- count the earnings of the other fifteen thousand advent- urers, some few of whom will undoubtedly '* strike it rich. " But from those earnings must also be deducted the expenses incurred, which, by the most reasonable calculation, will amount to $i,ooo each. The men who cam freely spend more, to say nothing ot dissipation and gambling. Fifteen thousand times one thousand dollars amounts to $15,000,000. Add that sum to the 53,750,000 which have already disappeared and we have a grand total of $18,750,000. The figures are startling, are they not? But they will be found, by practical experience, to be approximately correct. Will any one venture to say that the gn.js earnings of these 20 000 people may, by September, 1898, amount to more than $18,000,000? The earnings may, of course, reach thirty millions, but, from a conservative standpoint, I assert tthat if my esti- mate be inaccurate it is more likely to err on an under- estimate of the actual expenditure than an over-estimate of the receipts. But, whichever way it may turn out, there is infinite satisfaction in knowing that enormous sums of money will be put into active circulation; that \ •"■ i: 'cacli I. It Rold dness r an- Iness, nt of ick of i with thing y cx- 5 sub- sumed 1 oncsi ; start , seven pendi- d fifty ito ac- idvcnt- rike it :ducted sunable en who ion and dollars 750,000 1 grand ire they erieoce, iture to >le may, X)0,000? ms, but, my esti- 1 under- estimate ;um out, normous ion; that i ^ s GOLD MIMNG. 21 some few persons will realize, to the fall, their ambition and dreams of riches; and, reversing the shield, that a host of disappointed men will be bewailing their ill-for- tnne, their lo^s of health, and their impecuniosity. Let us go back to the Califomian boom of 1S49 in order to institute a fair comparison. Two billion dollars were taken out of the mountains of the Pacific Slope, bnt the bulk of the money fell into but few hands. The greatest winners were : Leland Stanford Estimated profit, $35,000,000 C. P. Huntington ** ** 35,000,000 Clans Spreckels *' " 30,000000 James G. Fair •* " 25,000,000 Charles Crocker ** •• 22,000.000 Mark Hopkins ** *' 21,000,000 Peter Donahoe " •• 20,000,000 J. B. Haggin •* " 20.000,000 Sharon ^tatc •* •• 20.000,000 $228,000,000 Showing that less than ten men acquired more than one-tenth of the total gold recovered. It has been the same iu South Africa, only more strikingly in favor of the argu; ^ ,at that but a few grow rich through gold mining. The total amount of gold recovered since the opening of the South African fields in 1890, up to June, 1896, is set down at $212,000,000. Where has it gone? Barney Bamato was re- puted to be worth $200,000,000; J. B. Robinson is credited with a fortune of $250,000,000; Al- fred Belt is supposed to have accumulated $100,000.000 ; and Cecil Rhodes* fortune' is estimated at $50,000,000 Four men with $600,000,- 000 between them ! Allowing that a large proportion of this wealth was derived from diamond raining, which was indeed the case, there would not be a vast sum KLONDVKC MINING. i i ' ! \ 1 1 ■• i * 1 > I.; • 1 •?¥*r^ *i^^»^ THAWI*ia OUT'OMAVEU TAKINa OUT ^AV DIRT. "Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold! Hrigbt and yellow, hard and cold, Mullen, graven, hammer'd and roll'd; Heavy to get, and light to hold ; Hoarded, bartered, bocuht and sold, Spurn'd by the young, but hugg'd by the old To the very verge of the churchyard mould; Price of many a crime untold ; Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold!" —ram Uood. \\ \ I ^ Ilr ! ^^<" Uood. GOLD AflN/NG. 23 remaining for the niaiority of prospectors and miners in South Africa, after deducting the sums actually made through gold mining by the four persons above men- tioned. Commencing with the date of the discovery of America up to the close of the year 1S95, the statisti- cians of the various governments of the world estimate the value of the total amonnt of gold mined, throughout the world, at less than $9,000,000,000. If the fact could, indeed, be ascertained, it would not, in the least, sur- prise me to learn that the toial expenditure in direct re- lation to gold mining, during the period above men- tioned, has amounted J $20,000,000,000. The figures, in any event, are startlingly impressive; and, if they do not precisely adorn a tale, they, at least, point a very useful moral which should deter a great many adventur- ous and hopeful spirits from indulging in "great expec- tations*' which, excepting in few and remote cases, are 'doomed never to be realized. The fact, however, that the wealth now being ex* tracted from the Klondyke gold fields is found in the beds of creeks and rivers, and can be recovered without the aid of heavy machinery and scientific appliances so indispensable in quartz mining, gives an impetus and an infinitely greater chance to the individual adventurer. All the same, in my opinion, the ownership of the best claims on the Klondyke fields will ultimately drift into the hands of wealthy men and corporations. 'Twas ever thus. Capital is already forcing its way into the region. Wall Street is on the qui vizr. Men like James R. Keene (who is reputed to have recently made upwards of $2,000,000 out of sugar trust speculations), are ready to embark capital in the new Kldorado. In opposition to these the m^re novice has, in the long run, no chance whatever. The capitalist can stay at home and pull the sti Tgs. He can most certainly secure, and he can afford to ' agage, the very best expert talent, and by liberal treatment of those whom he employs, he can ensure honest and faithful representation. Gold mining, wherever oondnjted, and tinder whatever conditions, «4 THE KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS. tiltimately resolves itself into the employment of labor; and, be the price of that labor ever so high for the time Ijeing, the capitalist who is properly represented must inevitably reap the best reward. The laborer, though well and liberally paid, has to live and, under existing conditions, on the Klondyke gold fields he has to pay an enormous price for the privilege Were I in possession of $100,000 I would rather pay $50,000 for a partly worked claim on the Klondyke, which I knew to be prolific, than prospect in untried ground. The pipers intimate, through their numerous correspondents, that by next June every inch of ground on the Klondyke fields will be staked out and that thousands of people will be seeking in vain for a loca- tion. That is extremely likely. But there will be plenty of claims in the market. Everything is for sale in this world — at a price. And all this tends to benefit the discreet and patient capitalist who can afford to ri«k money which the ordinary run of adventurers can never, by any possibility, command. The average man, with a small capitil of $1,000 would, in my view, do better to stay at home and invest his money in the stock of a jiowerful corporation — always provitling that he could tliscover a corporation which is managed by practical business men and Jujiestly conducted. If he takes his $1 000 to the fields he must be lucky to come out ahead. If he b I actually lucky, his investment of the money in the right kind of stock will bring him su!>stantial profits, and that without risk to health, or absence from his regular occupation. I need not now enlar.'^e on this sub- ject as a few pages will be devoted to it later in these annals. When I wrote the heading of this chapter I had it in m'nd to restrict its contents to details connected with the practical side of gold mining; but, carried away for the moment, I have introduced a discussion which may not, I hope, be found uninteresting. The practical side cannot, however, be neglected, aud the following notes, confirmed by my own experience, are taken from the best and most reliable records obtainable. GOLD MINING, 25 *The association and distribution of gold may be considered under two different beads ; namely, as it occurs in mineral veins, and in alluvial or otber super, ficirfl deposits whicb are derived from tbe waste of the former. As regards tbe first, it is chiefly found in quart? veins or reefi traversing slaty or crystalline rocks, usually talcose or cbloritic schists, either alone or in association with iron, copper, magnetic and arseni- cal pyrites, galena, specnlar iron ore, and silver ores, and more rarely with sulphide ot molybdenum, tungstate of calcium, bismuth, and tellurium minerals. Another more exceptional association is that with bismuth in calcite from Queensland. In Hungary, the Urals, and in northern Pen:, silicates and carbonates of manganese are not uncommonly found in tbe gold and silver bearing veins. Tn the second or alluvial class of deposits the associated minerals are chiefly those of great density and hardness, such as platinum, osmiri- dura, and other metals of the platinum group, tinstone, chromic, magnetic, and brown iron ores, diamond, ruby, and sapphire, zircon, topaz, garnet, etc., which repre> sent the more durable original constituents of the rocks whose disintegration has furnished the detritus. "The distribution of gold-bearing deposits is world wide; although the relative importance of different localities is very different, their geological range is also very extensive. In Europe, the pnncipal groups of veins are in slaty or crystalline schists, whose age, when it can be determined, is usually Palaeozoic, Silurian, Devonian, or Carboniferous, and less commonly in volcanic formations of Tertiary age. Tbe allnvial deposits being more extensive, are less intimately con- nected with any particular series of rocks. Few, if cither are, however, of much importance as compared with the more productive deposits of America and Atistralia. "The Russian Empire has the largest gold pro- duction among the countries of the Old World, most of the produce, however, being derived finom its Asiatic •EmeytUp^iim Brilmuiem^ V»L to. 26 THE KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS. I '. V I I I 0».O S'^Lt territories. The richest of the Ural mines are those of Smolensk, near Miask, and Ouspensk, near the village of Katchkar, in 52** N. The alluvial deposits which, though called sands, are but very slightly sandy clays, extend to the north beyond the inhabited regions, and to the south into the Cossack and Bashkir countries. "On the Pacific side of America gold is found under very dififerent conditions, and on a much larger scale than on the Atlantic side. The whole c'istance from Mexico to Alaska may be said to be more or less auriferous, the most ex- tensive deposits being in the great North-and-South valley of the Sacramento, which runs parallel to the coast between the so-called Coast Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, the lat- ter being distinguished further to the north in the Cascade Range. ** The various deposits of gold may be divided into two classes — ' veins ' and * placers. * The vein mining of gold does not greatly differ from that of similar de- posits of metals. It will only be necessary to refer here Co certain details of the extraction of gold in such cases. In the placer or alluvial deposits, the precious metal is found usually in a water-worn condition imbedded in csirthy matter, and the method of working all such de- posits is based on the disintegration of the earthy matter by the action of a stream of water, which washes away the lighter portions and leaves the denser gold. In allu- vial deposits the richest ground is tisually found in con- tact with the 'bed rock;* and, when the overlaying cover of gravel is very thick, or, as sometimes happens, when the older gravel is covered with a flow of basalt, regular mining by shafts and levels, as in what are known as tunnel-claims, may be required to reach the auriferous ground. In the early days of gold washing in California and Australia (and as now in evidence at the Klondyke r«giou), when rich alluvial deposits were : i' se of llage lich, lays, and s. ander scale The ico to more (St ex- n the Hey of runs itween mtains he lat- further ;d into mining (lar de- er here 1 cases, ictal is Ided in ach de- j matter !S away In allu- in con- erlaying lappens, ■ basalt, phat are ach the crashing dence at its were COLD MINING. 27 commoa at the surface, the most simple appliances suf- ficed; the most characteristic being the *paa, ' a circu- lar dish of sheet-ire 1 with sloping sides about thirteen or fourteen inches in diameter. The pan, about tTTO- thirds filled with * pay dirt ' to be washed, is held in the stream or in a hole filled with water. The ml ^er, afler separating the larger stones by hand, imparts a g>Tator7 motion to the pan by a combination of shaking and twisting movements, which it is impossible to describe explicitly, so as to keep its contents suspended in the stream of water, which carries away the bulk of the lighter material, leaving a black residue consisting of magnetic iron ore and other heavy minerals, together with any gold which may originally have been present in the mass. The washing is repeated until enough of the enriched sand is collected, when the gold is finally recovered by careful washing or ' panning out ' in a smaller pan. "The • cradle,* a simple appliance for treating some- what larger quantities, varies in length from three feet, six inches, to seven feet, but the shorter length is that usually adopted. Water is poured on the dirt, and the rocking motion imparted to the cradle causes the finer particles to pass through the holes in the hopper on to the screen, which is of canvas, and thence to the base of the cradle, where the auriferous particles accumulate on transverse bars of wood called ' riffles.* The * torn * is a sort of cradle, with an extended sluice placed on an incline of about one foot in twelve. The upper end contains a perforated riddle plate, which is placed di- rectly over the riffle box, and under certain circum- stances mercury msy be placed behind the riffles. Copper plates, amalgamated with mercury, are also used when the gold is very fine, and even in some instances amalgamated silver coins have been employed for the same purpose. Sometimes the stuff is disintegrated with water in a 'paddling machine,' which is used, especially in Australia, where the earthy matters are tenacious and water scarce. " In workings on a Ivger scale, where the snpply s8 THE KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS. ' i. ii ' of water is abundant, as in California, slnices are gener- ally employed. They are shallow troughs about twelve feet long, about sixteen to twenty inches wide, and one foot in depth. The troughs taper slightly so that they can be joined in series, the total length often reaching several hundred feet. In the larger and more permanent erections used in hydraulic mining, the upper ends of the sluices are often cut in rock, or lined with stoue blocks, the grating stopping the larger stones being known as the 'grizzly.' In order to save very fine, and especially rusty particles of gold, so-called * under- current sluices * are used ; these are shallow wooden tanks, fifty square yards and upwards in area, which are placed somewhat below the main sluice, and commu- nicate with it above and below, the entry being protected by a grating so that only the finer material is admitted. These are paved with stone blocks, or lined with mercury rifiles, so that from the greatly reduced velocity of flow, due to the sudden increase of surface, the finer particles of gold may collect. In order to save finely-divided gold, amalgamated copper plates are sometimes placed in a nearly level position, at a considerable distance from the head of the sluice, the gold which is retained in it being removed from time to time. " The so-called hydraulic system of mining is carried on by the application of a jet of water to the removal of auriferous gravels. This method has for the most part been confined to the country of its invention, California, and the Western territories of America, where the con- ditions favorable for its use are more fully developed than elsewhere — notably thw presence of thick banks of gravel that cannot be utilized by other methods, and abnn(lan'\; of water, even though considerable work m'iy be required at times to make it available. At an hydraulic gold-working the water is brought from a ditch on the high ground, and through a line of pipes to the distributing box, whence the branch pipes sup- plying two or three jets diverge. The stream issues through a nozzle resembling that of a fire engine, which is movable in a horizontal plane arotind a vertical axis, genet- twelve ad one It they aching manent ends of ti stoue 5 being ry fine, * under- wooden hich are commu- •rotected dmiUed. mercury r of flow, particles /-divided a placed mce from nedin it is carried emoval of most part :alifornia, e the con- developed c banks of hods, and able work le. At an lit from a le of pipes pipes sup- eam issues pne, which :rtical axis, f GOLD MINING. ag and in a vertical plane on a spherical joint and center, so that the direction of the jet may be varied throu«;h considerable angles by simply moving a handle. The material of the bank, being loosened by the catting action of the water, crumbles into holts, or, as the common phrase expresses it, ' caves in,' and the super- incumbent mass, often with large trees and stones, lalls into the lower ground. The stream, laden with stones and gravel, passes into the sluices, where the gold is recovered in the manner already described. Under the most advantageous conditions, the loss of gold may Im estimated at 15 or 20 per cent. "The dressing or mechanical preparation of vein stuff containing gold is generally similar to that of other ores, except that the precious metal should be removed from the waste substances as quickly as possible, even although other minerals of value that are subsequently recovered may be present. This is usually done by amalgamation with mercury. In all cases the quartz or other vein stuff must be red\. ?ed to a very fine powder as a preliminary to further operations. *• By far the largest proportion of the gold quartz of California and Australia is reduced by the stamp mill, which is similar in principle to that used in England for the preparation of tin and other ores, but has received special modification in many details. "There are many forms of pan amalgamators of which it is needless to g^ve a description. It may be stated, however, that experience of the great variety of p^us, from time to time devised, has led to the adoption of the more simple forms, in which grinding is effected between horizontal flat surfaces instead of carved or con- ical bottoms, and in the pans now usually employed these flat grinding surfaces form an annular floor round a central cone through which a vertical shaft passes. One of the greatest diEE^ulties in the treatment of gold by amalgamation, and uiore particularly in the treat- ment of pyrites, arises from the so-called sickening or flouring of the mercury; that is, the particles, losing their toight metallic surikces, are no loager capable of 36 THE KLONDY/CE COLD FIELDS, coalescing with or taking np other metals. Of the nnm- erous remedies proposed the most efficacious is perhaps sodium amalgam. It appears that amalgamation is often impeded by the tarnish found on the surface of the gold when it is associated with sulphur, arsenic, bis- muth, antimony, or tellurium." One of the most interesting works, having reference to mining, which has appeared during recent 3'ears, was published in 1895, under the title of ''Minerals," and emanated from the pen of Mr. Frederick H. Smith of Baltimore, Md., from which I quote as follows: "Although gold is distributed among all rocks and formations, its derivation from some earliest matrix is certain. Of course it came down originally out of the condensing gasses along with all other terrestrial substances, but there are reasons for thinking that the golden rain was one of the earliest incidents of world building, and that it was subsequently covered up by the deposits of lighter substances on top. In fact it is not at all improbable that gold may be one of the metals which are supposed to constitute tbe central core of the globe, and which makes the whole mass of the specific gravity of 5 2 ; while that of the crust of rocks, etc., is only about 2.6, on an average. This fact alone proves a great concentration of heavy substances at the centre of the globe ; and as gold is so heavy in its metallic condition, and so energetically resists combination with other high fire-proof substances which would lighten it, there is strong probability that gold is an important constituent of this heavy core. "Down among the Iwttom rocks of the primaries, in the gneisses and granites we first find feold, and we find it associated wxih. Pyrites or sulphide ore^of iron, copper, silver and other metals. These sulphides are in veins, mostly true fissure veins, which open downwards into th^ great unknown, and show all the marks of having been filled with the pyritous ores by the injection from be!ow of melted substance and its subsequent cooling end cr>'stallization. These fissures, down in the lowest ^nown formations and igneous rocks are generally ,: GOLD MINING. 3« filled from wall to wall with pyritous ores, bnt when we get np among the Huronian and lower Silurian rocks we find that great quantities of quartz are intermixed with the pyrites, and indeed the fissures are sometimes filled with quartz from wall to wall. Often the quartz and pyrites are in sheets or layers, alternating, accompanied by barytest calcite, and other common gangue rock of veins. '*It is an observed fact that the gold in the sulphides of the lower veins is infinitesimally small in grain, while that found up among the quartz is larger, and can even sometimes be seen in the quartz by the unaided eye. That in sulphides is so fine that very many particles are reqtiired to be gotten together to make a speck or 'color' "No man likes to say straight out that there is a natural gold sulphide, yet many claim that these invisible particles are really atomic, just freed from combination with sulphur, and become visible when Aggregating into molecules of otM "r*** gold. Others claim that the "T::^*^^ gold is in flakes, or rather films of infinite thinness intercalated between the little cubical crys« tals of pyritous ores, as are the mortars and cements in the joints of brickwork or masonry. Others hold that each particle of gold is enveloped in a block or crystal of pyrites, and is freed mechanically by the crushing of this crystal, or chemically by the oxidation of the pyrites in open air weathering or in furnace treatment. Still another idea is that as gold in Nature is always alloyed with a little silver, copper or other meial, the sulphur lajrs hold of such other metal and forms a film of sulphide ore arotmd the gold without actually combining with the gold Itself. When this sulphide film is oxidized it becomes a film of oxide ore, and is then c«U^ 'rusty' gold by the inaledictating inisers, V^«(^ii/ 32 THE KLONDYKE COLD FIELDS, who cannot make their mercnry lay hold^ of it. "In veins containing much quartz the gold is found in both the quartz and the pyrites, but that in the quartz is generally much larger in grain than that in the pyrites, although they may be in the closest proximity. Why this is thus, and how the gold traveled from the pyrites into the hard body of the quartz, are questions not yet answered satisfactorily. Then, again, the quartz will contain numerotis little sharp-cornered cavities which formerly contained crys« tals of sulphides which have become oxidized naturally, and the cavities now contain the brown iron oxide dust and the minute particles cf gold which have been released by the oxidation. "Gold is also found in reins of pure quartz with no admixture of sulphides, and n j signs of there having ever been any there. In these cases the gold is all free gold, and apt to be in grains round in shape and large enough to be seen in the quartz with the naked eye, although very large fortunes have been made out of veins of this class in which the gold was invisible until the particles were concentrated. Some hold that the gold got into these qur.r*z veins by precipitation from some chlorine or other chemical solution included in the silicious mother liquor, out of which the quartz was crystallized. Others, that the gold was washed out of an igneous vein and washed into the open top of the quartz vein ; and still others assert that the gold was originally disseminated throughout ,the mass of the country rock, and was drawn into the fissure in some chlorine solution right through the wall rock by some sort of electricity. "It is well to reflect that, perhaps, all the theories may be right, some in one place, others in other places, and some c ses may be the result of all acting together, reinforced by others not yet stated ; and the best we can do is to say, Quicn Sabcf "The quartz intermixed in pjrritic veins is vitreous quartz, and is nearly always auriferous, while vitreous quartz in a vein all to itself is rarely so, A quartz • ii: ..I'- r // ,/'■ i \ rtl ■I «l Ml "I ■I 34 THE KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS. which has a granular, sugary appearance is frequently auriferous ; but massive, milky looking quartz is rarely good for much. "Sometimes a sulphide and quartz vein is found in which the sulphides have oxidized into a brown iron ore douTi to the water level of the locality, and down to that level it pays to work it, as the gold is free from sulphur; but below that level the sulphides are hard and close, and the money made out of the upper levels goes back again into the mine in the lower levels, unless the workers have been sagacious enough to unload the property at the right time and give others a chance. "In general terms the pulverization and oxidation to free the gold from attached impurities, and the washing and concentration to free the gold from intermixed impurities are the necessary two steps in all processes of gold saving, but many additional smalt steps have been invented which facilitate matters. Thechief of these is the lugging in of mercury, which assists in two ways in separating the gold from its associate minerals. Mercury is a fluid and has a specific gravity of 13.6 commonly, but when entirely pure is 14. "To those who are utterly unacquainted with the business ©f gold mining and even to those who have had some practical experience of such operations, the following condensed information cannot fail to be of value : "The cnly absolute test for determining the presence of gold, is by dissolving the specimen of rock or sand or other suspected substance in nitro-hydro- chloric acid (aqua regia), and then pouring into the clear solution some dissolved sulphate of iron (copperas). This will precipitate to the bottom, in the form of a reddish-brown powder, any gold that may be in the solution. Rub this brown powder with the blade of a knife, and it will come out in true gold colors. If you have weighed the specimen, then you can weigh the gold and ascertain the percentage of value in the ore. Aqua regia is made up of two parts, hydrochloric I' 1) -■ .. GOLD MINING, 35 1 (mtuiatic) acid, and one part of nitric acid, and it is the only acid which will dissolve gold. Gold melts at about 2,6oo degrees. "A usual method to ascertain practically the value of pyrites is to pulverize a weighed specimen to about the size of fine sind, then roast it at a red heat (not too hot), until no more sulphur fumes arise, then pulverize it again to as fine a gr^in as you can get it with a hammeripor aQ(j rubbing motion, then wash off all the lighter stuff by panning, then put it in a china cup with a half-teaspoonful of mercury and mix it for half an hour with a wooden stick, then wash off everything except the mercury, then put the cup on a shovel and heat it carefully over a fire until all the mercury' is driven off in fumes, and the reddish-brown powder left in the cup is abo.ut all the gold there was in the specimen. Quartz specimens can be treated in the same way. The roasting of quartz and suddenly dropping it hot into cold water is good for it." Much of the matter contained in this chapter being of a technical character may have proved "dry reading" to many ; but if my friend, the reader, be but an amateur gold miner, it is as well for him to bear in mind one important fact, namely, that rich placer diggings do not last for ever, and that, once he enters upon the vocation of a prospector, he has much, indeed, to learn, in the nature of which the matter herein contained should prove a practical and comparatively easy lesson and a fair commencement. Bvery person who is about to seek for gold in the Klondyke region, and even those who, though remaining at home, are watching with patriotic interest the development of these portentous discoveries should be able, at least, to "talk gold," and it is one of the objects sought in the production of this work, to enable them to do so with a greater measure of intelligence. Hence, X tender no apology for introducing so many pages of heavy matter because they are culled, in great part, from the writings of the highest scientific, geological, and practical authorities* «l II Ml 36 Canada's Rights. operations doubtedly. FROM an American point of view, It is mncli to be deplored that the region now being invaded by thous- ands of gold seekers is tinder the control of the Canadian Govern, ment. Dawson City, and the lands adjacent thereto, where gold mining are at present being conducted, are, un- within the boundaries of the territory owned by Canada. The 141st Meridian is recognized as the dividing line between the United States and the British possessions, and there is no possibility of friction between the respective governments as to the line of demarcation, the latter being purely a matter for scientific determination. At the point where the Yukon River intersects the line, the difference in locating the Meridian is but 350 feet. The ui' )leasant feature of the situation arises, how- ever, ill the f;ict that Canada, as officially announced, is dcternv.r.'.d to levy tribute on the successful miners to the extent of twenty per cent, upon the gross findings of those who win $500 per month, and ten per cent, upon the earnings of those whose receipts fall below the sum stated. The mining prospector will also have to pay, to the Dominion Gov- ernment, a fee of $15 upon stak- ing out a mining claim, and an annual assessment of $100 on such claim, in addition to the percentage referred to. But the rapacity of the Canadian authorities does not ter- minate eveu at the point described. Each alternate claim se of a long period. The Nen; York Sun recently published a leader on this subject, from which the following pertinent extracts arc made: ** We advise the Canadian Government to move slowly in the ihatter of plundering American miners. It is a poor rule that will not work both ways, and the means ox retaliation will be ready to our hands Ml •I «| %\ "I ll I i ACROSTIC. K londyke, thou bast a reputation made, L oud are the echoes of the pick and spade ; O ut of tbj' hidden treasures men may find N ewest of gold— and yet no quartz to grind: D ovrn in thy depths he sands with wealth antold ; Y ears may clnpnc eic all thy claims be sold : K ill not the hosts that clamor at ihy git*. E asy 'two'iM be, but spare them from ill fate CHART SHOWINO OIViOINO LINC BCTWCCN Ji%ICfllCAN AND BRITISH POSSESSIONS qu ap CANADA'S RIGHTS, o VIA AND 39 There is reason to believe that the largest portion of the gold deposits made by the tributaries of the Yukon lies within American territory, and the next deposits of startling richness are expected to be found in that quarter. When the migration takes place, as soon or late it will, to such new-found diggings the American miners, smarting under the eSfott to wring roj'-alties from them at Kload3'ke, will not wait for Congress to act in the premises; they will take the law into their own hands and ruthlessly bar Canadians out of all min- ing camps on American soil. The demand, hitherto unheeded, for the suppression of the bonding privileges now enjoyed by Canadian railways, will become loud, firm and irresistible. At present, as every one knows, Canadian railways are allowed, through the liberality of our Government, to transport imported goods in bond from Our seacoast to American consumers in the far West, whereas the same commodities, if they are to be transported over American lines, must pay only at the port of entry. Such flagrant discrimination against American railways i.n favor of foreign rivals w^ill not be for a moment tolerated by the people of this country after the rapacious and hostile spirit of the Dominion Government shall have been unmistakably disclosed by an attempt to rob American miners of the fruit of the fearful hardships and sufferings incident to labor in the ice-bound soil of the Arctic gold fields. When Califor- nia's gold diggings were discovered British subjects were welcomed to a share of the precious harvest. Our Federal authorities would have scorned to shut on'; or to harass by the levying of royalties the Argonauts of * J9, no matter from what foreign land they hailed. The Dom inion Government may do wisely to profit by our examph;." Xklany other papc .s have expressed strong opinions upon the action of the Dominion Government in nrgard to the attempted spoliation of tu industrions Aiserican miner ; but the New York Journal indulges in language which, although perhaps subject to rebuke in some quarters, will, in my opinion, meet with unqualified approval on the part of the average American citizen. •I 011 «i i I •I K" 01 TMt BO»\ptT^ 40 Tim KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS. I cannot do better than place the article in question upon permanent record. *' We doubt if the men at the head of affairs in Canada will be so short sighted as to decre? that no citizen of the United States shall be per- mitted to dig for gold in the Dominion. Such a decree, how- ever well warranted on grounds of retaliation, would prove ex- tremely irritating "^ Mxs coun- try, and it is pr .; • to Can- ada's interest, Oo .>h»;. regards it, not to jar : he temper of the over- shadowing Republic. Let the decree issue, and every Ameri can who is not a Mugwump would be moved to say to his neighbor : ' We can't dig for gold in Klondyke, it appears, because KUmdyke is in Canada. All right, let's transfer Klondyke to the United State ' Of course this transfer might not be made at once, but beyond question the public mind would be aroused to the inconvenience and absurdity of allowing a ICuropcan monarchy to divide this continent with us, and interfere with the freedom and busircss activity of Americans on the American side of the vi-rki. The reasonableness, as well as the material adv a: -i;* of annexing Canada would be impressed upon g, 'i multitudes who have never as yet given the subject . thought. And it is as manifest as destiny that wl: -n the United States really wants Canada, Canada will belong to the United States. " Unless, therefore, the Canadians desire to speed the coming of the day when they will be invited to come into the Union — with Ml the property of which they arc possessed, including gold fields — with the alten Uive of cutting loose from dear old England and set'J. if w a republic of their own, like growi av 1 and Ame ;• ., they will not command citizens o. lac United Stilus to keep off the Klondyke grass," There is no kind >f a iokc involved in this contro- versy. On the contrary the mo t serious departures % CANADA'S RIGHTS. 41 may be on the threshold of coming events. I am not one of those who believe that a state of war can ever exist between Engl.ind and the United States. The bare suggestion is revolting and opposed to common sense. Yet it is too frequently the unexpected .vbich occurs, and when the possession of gold is the object to be attained, men lose their wits and perpetrate acts of folly whicn, under ordinary circumstances, they would be re- strained from committing. This chapter cannot well be closed without a refer- ence to the duties payable under the Canadian tarifif upon goods carried into the Klondyke region from United States territory. A complete tariff schedule would scarcely interest the reader, but would occupy considerable space. The following list of duties is, therefore, given as information likely to be of practical use for ready reference : Ale, Beer, etc. 16c. per gul. Ammals 20made, 6c. per lb. and 30<^ ** Candles 35^^ " Coffee, ground or roasted, 2c. per lb. Coffee, green .10<^ ad v. Chees4' 3c per lb. Condensevl MUk 3c Eggs 6c per Joz. Extracts of Meat 25$ ad v. Floor 75c per bbl. Jellies, Jams, etc 3c per lb. Lard 2c " Meats, in barrel 2*:. " Meats, canned 25h nearly as possible at right angles to the stream, and shall be marked by four legal posts, one at each end of the claim, at or about high water-mark ; also one at each end of the claim, at or about the edge of the water. One of the posts shall be legibly marked with the name of the miner, and the date upon which the claim is staked. i>.?pk and river claims shall ]>e 500 feet long, meas- ureu c direction of the mineral course of the stream, and si; extend in width from base to base of the hill or bench on each side, liit when the hills or benches are less than 100 feet apart the claim may be 100 feet in depth. In defining the si/.e of claims they shall be meas- ured hori/ontally, irrespective of inequalities on the surface of the ground. A claim shall be recorded with the gold commis- sioner in whose district it is situated within three days after the location thereof. No miner shall receive a grant for nioie than one mining claim in the same locality, but the same miner may hold any number of claims by purchase. Any miner may sell, mortgage or dispose of his claim provided such disposal be registered with, and a fee of $5 paid to, the gold commissioner. A claim shall )>e deemed to be abandoned and open to occupation and entry by any person when the same shall have remaint-d unworked on working days by the grantee thereof, or by some person in his behalf, for the spac of seventy-two hours, unless sickness or other reasonable cause may be shown to the satisfaction of the commi.ssioner. "Gold is typical of the Sun — the golden sansfaine which lightens the universe — the center of creation — the golden orb which proclaims its eternal magnificence.' — Paui. Pryer. 43 p How to Get There, What to Carry, What to Do. GIVEN the possession of the necessary funds it is by no means difHcult to solve the problem of ** How to get there." There is practically no spot on the habitable globe which cannot be reached with speed and comfort if one is able to lay down the price of the journey. The North Pole may be excepted ; but, then, the Pole is nol included in "habitable territorj'."* Perhaps the most uncomforta- ble journey that could be made, as compared with any other in the world, is, under existing conditions, the one to Klondyke. Were I upon the point of starting for that region I should select the route via Juneau. This is termed the overland route and I am aware that it is not recommended by experts as the one most preferable. But, accepting all the chances, I repeat that I should personally select it. The distance from San Francisco by steamer to Juneau is about i ,6So miles and can be traversed in comfort. Then the journey from Juneau to Dyea, loo miles, is made by water, after which the troubles commence. I cannot do better than give the expenencc of E. A. Mizner. an agent of the Altiska Commercial G>mpany, regarding a part of the journey. He knows how to write and his words are : " The sec- ond day we went up Dyea canon. It is only three miles long, but seems fully thirty. One hundred pounds is about all a man wants to pull in this canon, as the way is steep and the ice slippery. So camps must be made short distances apart, as you have to go over the trail several times in bringing up your outfit. Remember an ordinary outfit weighs from 500 to 800 pounds, and 9om« mncb more. But the summit of the ChUcoot ?ftss CI IhI *l 44 THE KLONYDKE GOLD FIELDS. — that's the place that puts the yellow fear into many a man's heart. Some took one look at it, sold their out* fits for what they would bring, and turned back. This pass is over the ridge that skirts the coast. It is only about 1,200 feet from base to top, but it is almost straight up and down — a sheer steep of snow and ice. There is a bliz7.ard blowing there most of the time, and when it is at its height no man may cross. For days at a time the summit is impassable. An enterprising man named Burns rigged a windlass and cable there, and with this he hoists up some freight at a cent a pound. The rest is carried over on the backs of Indians. We were de- tained ten days waiting our turn to have our outfits car- ried over and for favoring weather. After going about three miles up a dark canon a whirling snow storm struck us. But having risen at such an unconscionable hour we would not turn back. Our pride was near being the end of us. I hope I may never experience such an- other day. The air was so filled with snow that at times it was impossible to see ten feet. My beard became a mass ot ice. The trail was soon obliterated and we were lost. But we stumbled on and by a rare chance we came upon the handle of a shovel which marked our cache. There was nothing to do but fight our way back to camp. The storm raged for four long days. After another daj' of rest we put masts on our sleds, rigged sails and came across Lake Linderraan and over Lindermar^ Portage. '* The remainder of the journey may be thus described : After leaving Linderman there is an overland tramp of twenty-eight miles to Lake Bennett. Again you pro- ceed on foot several miles, until the caribou crossing of the river furnishes transportation to Tagish Lake, where another ride of twenty-one miles by boat may be had. After this there is a weary stretch of mountainous coun- try which brings you to Mud Lake. Then follows another boat ride of twenty-four miles, and subsequently down the creek for twenty-seven miles to Miles Canon and White Horse Rapids. The stream here is full of sunken rocks and runs with the speed of a mill race, and is full of danger. The n^j.xt stage after passing the I^brs^ W/ZAT TO CARRY, 45 THt er doz 2.00 Salmon, each $1 to 1.50 Potatoes, per lb 25 Turnips, per I b 15 Tea. per lb .. 1.00 Coffee, per lb 50 Dried Fruits, per pot. ... .35 Canned Fruit* 60 (/anned Meats 75 Lemons, each 20 Oranges, each 50 Tobacco, per lb 1.50 Liquor.^, per drink 50 Shovels 2.50 Picks 5.00 Coal Oil, per gal 1.00 Overalls 1.50 Underwear, per suit, $5 to 7.50 Shoes 6.00 Rubber Ikwts |10 to 15.00 Miners should carr>' with them, a tent, a rubber blanket, mosquito netting, a frying pan, a kettle, a bean pot, a Yukon stove, a teapot, knife, fork and spoon, a drinking cup, two plates, one large and one small cook- ing pan. Also, a jack plane, a hand saw, a rip saw, a whipsaw, an axe, a hatchet, a draw-knife, six pounds assorted nails, three pounds oakum, fifty feet fa rope, three pounds of pitch, and a pick and shovel. Supplies for a month are about as follows : 20 lbs. flour, baking powder, 12 lbs. bacot^, 6 lbs. beans, 5 lbs. canned vegetables, 5 lbs. dried fruit, 4 lbs. butter, 5 lbs. sugar, 4 cans milk, i lb. tea, 3 lbs coffee, 2 lbs. salt, 5 lbs. com meal, mustard and pepper. Don't forget matches. Clothing should include, water boots of seal or wal- rus skin, Siberian fawn skin trousers, a parka — costs WZ/AT TO DO. 47 from $25 to $100, is almost cold proof and is made from Siberian fawn slcin. trimmed with wolverine — good warm flannels and rubber boots. Fur robes and blankets are used for bedding. No man should start for the gold fields with less than $600, but it would be much safer to have $1,000. The great thing to be feared during the coming winter is famine and famine prices. The amount of food re> quired by hearty men is bej'ond belief. Last winter men safTered intensely because they could not secure a variety of food, which their systems craved. What to do ? These words recall to my mind the refrain of an exquisite poem which, in a happy metre, re- ac*»»* ..;fTr!fy7JJJ?:7s-:>^ » peats the words " If we only ';:i";V%/ = '^. knew, if we only knew.*' Alas ! That is the trouble in this life. If we only knew precisely what to attempt, and the best and readiest means of procuring its accomplishment, we should be able to avoid so many of those grave errors which turn men out of the right path and lead them to disap- pointments, failures and disasters. Every faUe step means two or more steps backward. But to be practical : the man who posses^^es the hardiest constitu- tion, the readiest wit, the most indomitable perseverance, the greatest degree of patience, and who is endowed with the most liberal measure of hopefulness, should be the one to succeed the best. Against this reasoning our old friend **Luck" steps forward and exclaims **No ! You cannot force circumstances, and they will invariably prevail against you when they are adverse. I am the goddess of fortune, and circumstances, as applied to mankind, are my foot-ball. I can lift the tenderfoot into the realm of prosperity, and it is equally in my power to paralyse the efforts of the most deserving and indostrioos. Hence, I make men my playthings, and giye sometimes to the tinworthy that which I take from '1 1*4 48 THE KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS. tVose who appear to have the strongest claims on my generosity. I am a woman, and it is my whim." The reader will perceive that such logic is unanswerable and so it will always happen, even at the gold fields, that some will prosper exceedingly with but meagre effort, while others will fight hard for little or no reward. Seeing that so many, if not all, of tho claims around the Klondyke are striked out, there is nothing left for the new-comer but to prospect. That is work to make a man eat his heart out when nothing be found to reward the effort. Bui there are many creeks and rivers in the immense region of which Dawson City is the centre, and the gold ijeeker who cannot find anything from $10,000 to $250,000, wherewith to purchase a share in a claim, must travel further afield, unless he can sell his siervices as a laborer to some established miner. Speaking generally, the thing to do is to avoid idleness ; to eschew drink, gambling, and dissipation ; to be civil and kind to cver>'one — /. r , to make as many friends as possible, and to make the best use of every opportunity that may arise, of which there will be many. But let us turn for one moment, to the experience of George Cormac, who is credited with being the discoverer of the Klondyke l)onanza. George Cormac had lived for twenty years under the Arctic Circle, and, in all that time, had mnde little money. He went up to the confluence of the Klondyke and Yukon rivers to fish for salnicju lie arrived at the place in June, 1896. The salmon did not run. and he had recourse to prospecting in the creeks iliat empty into the Klondyke a few miles above its mouth. He had heard that the territory had been prospected l)y experts, who had decided that there 'las no ^old in p-^ying 4]uantitics north of the Yukon^ and especially in the British possessions. Assisted by two Indians, he continued to prospect in the Yukon fashion. He cut v.ood and set fires every night to thaw out the frozen gravel, and by day, dug out the earth thus loosened. In about ten days, bed-rock was reached at a depth of fifteen feet, when, to Cormac's amazement, he was able to pan out from $50 to $100 in coarse gold from WHAT TO DO. 49 each pan. Provisions being nearly exhausted, he sent an Indian to Fortj' Mile Post, a distance of fifty-twA miles, for supplies, and, at the same time, he sent messages to several friends who speedily arrived on the ground and staked out claims. Nearly three months elapsed before the arrival of an adequate supply of provisions, and tools to work the claims effectually. Several thousands of dollars worth of gold dust were then taken out, and it was the return of two of the party to Forty Mile Post, late in the fall of 1896, which led to the rush to this little camp. As in other matters, there will always be conflicting stories regarding the earlier pioneers of gold discoveries, but exhaustive inquiry convinces me that the account, as here rendered, is truthful. In winding up this chapter, I would say to the reader, "go thou and do likewise," — if you be bent on visiting the Klondyke — and may you live long and prosper. "You must wake and call nic early. Call me cnrly, mother d«ar; At a quarter after nine the ship I'i advertised to clear. Eleven days I've stofnl it off And tried to keep it down; But I'll bo goshcd if 1 remain — The only man in town. My temperature is '-ng up. The fever's in r. v. ins, Tlie gold cure is the tuing I need; I'll take it in large grains. Quite long enou;;h I've walked the hill To save the cable fare; Too long the grindstone's done its worst; My nose won't stand the wear. Tlic frozen North is getting warm With nuggets thick as dies, A man now has a chance to win A fortune ere he dies. I've pan and shovel, lots of grub. Warm clothing, rubber boots, 80 wake and call me early When the Klondyke steamer toots." —From the Seattle Pott-IhteUxgtnur. '. >! , « .^^f:^" ^^^ -s -' ^ * 000 TCAM ON THK CHILCOOT Ph%%. \ \ \ t. 1 \ 1 I r « » I 5' Enterprises. THE discovery of gold in California in 1848 was the commencement of a new and wonderful era in its his- tory. During several centuries the conquerors of Mexico were con- vinced that the we tern coast of America must be rich in gold, and mining expeditions were organized in order to test their theory. But in spite of all their efforts the precious yellow metal remained hidden from the eye of man for three hundred years longer. For a long period, prior to the day on which James Marshall picked the shining particles from the millrace at Coloma, the idea of finding gold in any part of that country had been so entirely abandoned that it was stated in the " Penny Encyclopedia, *' published in 1836, that "In mineral^, upper California is not rich." It was a fortunate cir- cumstance for the United States that such a conclusion prevailed, for had the hidden wealth of California been made known to the world a few years earlier, Mexico would never have sold, for the paltry sum of Si 5,000,- 000, the immense territory of which California is but a minor part, and it is not improbable we might never have been able to purchase it upon any terms. It was through the merest accident that the discov- ery of gold, an event of infinite importance to California, to the United States, and to the whole world, actually resulted. General Nelson A. Miles, in his " Personad Recollections," gives a graphic account of the incident, from which I quote as follows : "In 1847, among the most prominent Americans in California was General John A. Sutter, who had acquired many acres of land there. In the summer of that year, he began to perceive the necessity for a sawmill, and as there was no timber in the valley he was obliged to have the mill erected in r M ll I i * 1 ^ PLAct\M\nt 52 7w:e klondyke gold fielps. the mountains. To build it he engaged James W. Mar- shall, who was to supply the skill and choose the site, while Sutter furnished the money, workmen and teams. Mr. Marshall selected a site at the spot afterwards known as Coloma, and for four months he and his workmen remained in the roidst of a primeval wild- erness engaged in the construc- tion of the mill. At the end of that time the structure was nearly completed, the dam had been made, the race had been dug, the gates had been put in place, the water had been turned into the race to carrj' away the loose dirt and gravel, and then turned off again, and on the morning of the 24th of January, 1848, Marshall, while taking his usual walk along the race after shutting off the water, was attracted by a small shining object about half the size ol a pea. He hastily picked it up. and the results of his un' the nec- essaries and, to some extent, the comforts of life. To fur- nish a detailed description of all the schemes pro- jected is impossible. The Government is already alive to the necessity of providing better postal facilities and will shortly be on hand with troops fc»* the protection of the far distant adventurers. There is substantial talk of laying a telegraph cable from Dawson City to Juneau, not suspended on poles but roughly carried over the ground, and this enterprise, if completely developed, in spite of the really serious obstacles which would have to be surmounted, will be of untold value to a remote community and also to those who desire to direct operations from eastern and other centres. Another proposal is to supply specially constructed bicycles ^vhich can carry heavy loads of freight, and I hear that a company has been organized for the manufacture of this newly "patented" inno- vation, but I regard the idea as chimerical and do not covet possession of stock in such a concern. Sufficient has been stated in preceding pages to lead to the conclusion that even if gold mining, taken as a whole, be not profitable to the majority of its adherents, it does, at any rate, open the door to vast commercial transactions. With a glass of beer selling at Dawson City for fifty cents and board and lodging unobtainable at less than $io daily ; with saloon-keepers turning ENTERPRISES, 55 over as much as $20,000 within a few weeks, and successful miners spending, in some instances, as much as $500 in a single day, there can be no question that iracU^ pure and simple, in the Klondyke region, is on the boom. The mouth of the practical merchant must, indeed, literally run with water when visions of such profitable trading operations as may be carried on around the Klondyke are unfolded. Trade in tbat new, undeveloped country is likely to increase to an extent that the ordinary mind can scarcely realize. With the advent of a possible twenty or thirty thousand persons at the Klondyke^ up to the month of June, next (very few of whom will, notwithstanding all warnings, carry with them any adequate amount of supplies), and with a probable increase in population to, say, forty thousand during the following year, an amount of money will be turned over— ^at c high prices which obtain and which must continue to rule — from which fabulous profits will be derived by those who devote their exclusive attention to plain buying and selling. The merchant, in the long run, is invariably more succe sful tha the adventurer ; just as is the quiet patient investor more prosperous than the mere speculator. Except- tions prove the rule. Better facilities for transportation of goods to the gold region will, in time, be provided, involving again, another form of enter- prise, and, in this category, may be mentioned the projec- tion of a light railway which, although regarded in some quarters as a Utopian idea, will I believe be constructed, and which will infinitely lessen the difficulties now existing in regard to the conveyance oi freight and passengers after the journey up the Yukon River has been continued to the furthest limit. Again, in the light of special enterprise, one has pleasure in referring to the expedition recently fitted out i\\\\\\\V\0\AVVVV;' \ \ v^ -v^V^^ ^.•/-. *'.''.- •t\\' '' /w \ V' ..^^^^^^— ^ Sc"^"^ 1 .^>^^ /' "V \v ENTERPRISES. 57 b}' the Nan York Journal which, to use its own well- chosen words, is ** to investigate the riches of the Yukon gold fields and to tell the tale of Nature and human nat- ure in the new Ophir of the far North." Th^ Journal staff consists of happily selected men, and a woman, whose names are well worth recording. Edward H. Hamilton .Charles Gregory Yale. Joaquin Miller* the poet. Edward J. Livemash and Mrs. Norman Brough, known to the world as *' Helen Dare," constitute the little band of explorers who are braving the terrors of the northern winter, and who will next summer confront the attacks of the terrible mosquito, not in searchoffil*hy lucre, but oiticu's. All who appreciate journalistic enterprise can- not but hail with admiration its latest development, but. like all other enterprises judiciously conducted, it will undoubtedly pay from a commercial point of view. It would not appear, however, that the leading in- surance companies are anxious for "Klondyke busi- ness." Their desire for "premiums" is tempered by lauch discretion, for they are. it appears, positively in- s.'^ructin'/ their general agents not to assume risks upon the liv<:s of persons who contemplate visiting the gold region. I have not, in my experience, found that the fin v.AX.\*trs and underwriters who bet upon' the lives of their feilow creatures give very much away. They have their uses like house flies and other annoyances and they do not hide their lights or their prospectuses unde' bushels ; but, in consequence of that healthy competition which permeates even ihe atmosphere of the professional actuary, they have reduced premiums, during late years, to a level which leaves them reasonable, in place of exorbitant profits. No doubt, in time, they will cater more liberally for the patronage of even a Klondyke explorer. Even old England has caught the "Klondyke fever" and the spirit of enterprise has entered the hearts of London's financiers! The latest news is that a company has been organized over the water which proposes carrying out on the Yukon what the chartered South African Company has effected in Afirica. The 58 THF KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS, 9tt k*Hl :.jce. company seek.s a charter from the Government giving it the right to build and govern cities, maintain militia, build railroads and, in fact, to do just as they feel inclined. It is a very large order but I think Uncle Sam will keep well ahead in the business. Once more enterprise is to the fore as represented by some concern in New York which offers to convey people all the way from the East to the gold fields for the sum of $103.25. I do not believe they can do it and make money, but what worries me, more particularly, is the 25 cents. It looks like a fake. Other forms of enterprise, and here we approach a subject of the most serious moment, are in evidence through the loud appeals for money being made by company promoters, gentry who arc dangerous to the com- munity and, as a rule, utterly unscrupulous in their dealings. I have been at some pains to obtain inside information regarding many of the advertised schemes. My table is littered with prospect- uses, nearly all of which bear unmistakably the hall- mark of the confidence genius. Investors beware ! In the greedy rush for Klondyke gold dust people who can not go are apt to hand over their savings in exchange for sweetly attractive chromos representing *' full-paid and non-assessable stock." I would impress upon the reader the fact that stock issued and purchased below its par value, that is, at a reduced pi ice, cannot be non-as- sessable. Such stock carries with it a heavy and indefi- nate liability and should be avoided like a leper, lip- fortunately it is next to impossible to investigate these concerns. Their prospectuses disclose nothing that should, of right, be made.known to the investor. The profits to be secured by the promoters, the salaries and expenses to be paid, the friends to be placed in office, and the channels carefully cut for absorbing the compa- ny's fuads, in a legal manner ^ aie systematicaUy with-* mmm ENTERPRISES. 5^ .! held. It is, indeed, a pity that when legitimate enter- prise is so loudly c^alled for, and when snch exceptionally splendid opportunities exist for its creation and develop- ment, the ground should be occupied by so many hypo- crites and irresponsible adventurers seeking whom they may devour. Many companies are being formed in New York and elsewhere in which but a few wealthy men are associ- ated. These may be describ^^d as high-class projects in which the general public are precluded from securing an interest. This brings me back to the mere capitalist who, guided by his native instinct, is always on the watch for opportunity, and his money is abundantly ready the moment he perceives that an investment may be productive. And he does not look for two or three hundred per cent, like a gold miner. A compsratively moderate return satisfies him. Hence no long time is likely to elapse before the frozen wilds, which now al- most forbid locomotion even in utter discomfort and not unattended by danger, will be traveled with some degree of speed and undei conditions which would, at least, re- lieve men from acting as beasts of burden In the mean- while the merchant will continue to thrive, and millions of dollars will be made by those who possess the requi- site capital, who have the courage to embark it, and who are gifted with that peculiar tal- ent which, in trade, lifts a man from penury to wealth. So far, trade will, according to my lights, be found more perma- nently profitable than gold min- ing, and I heartily commend these observations, founded as they are upon practical experi- ence in several parts of the world, to the attention and con- sideration of those who prefer to carry on business in a wild and unsettled country rather than in a slow, prosy, though comfortable, city, in the heart of civilization, where competition kills profit. Pipyi% So THE KLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS, Returning, once more, to the subject of investments, which is an all-important one, I should contradict my own words, as they appear in the chapter devoted to **gold mining," were I to sweepingly assert that it is altogether impossible to discover suitable investments for comparatively small sums of money. It being my intention to write further upon the "Klondyke Gold Fields *' I am naiurally anxious to secure the support of those of ray readers who may regard this, ray first issue, as useful or entertaining. Should, therefore, any inquiries reach me regarding the advisability of investing in any particular stock, I will reply to all such comniunications promptly, provided they contain a stamped and addressed envelope. I shall make it my business to watch all opportunities for investment and I may be the means of saving some of ray readers heavy loss, if not of enabling thera to secure profitable and safe investments. In a previous chapter I stated the possibility of my journeying to the Klondyke region,, but I should only do so if backed up by a strong company, founded upon strictly honest lines, and it may be that such an organization may yet be brought into existence. The field is wide and there is ample room for all. Communications will reach nie addressed, C. ALKXANDKR PLEMPEL, P. O. Box 942, Baltimobk, Md. *• If a boantlless plenty be the robe, Tnwle is the golden ijirdle of the globe, Wise to promote whatever end he means, God opens fruitrul Nature's* various scenes. Each climate needs what other climes produce, And olFers Bomething to the general use; No land but li!>teiis to the common call. And in return receives supply from all." 6i NO gold mine was ever worked with- out producing tailings, which are sometimes of great value. Having Tailings. presented all the nuggets available, I will wind up these pages with a few scraps and incidents that may be found interesting. It has been estimated that the claims already staked out on the Klondyke will produce $50,000,000 worth of gold, all of which may be taken out within a year. The demand for miners' outfits at Seattle is simpl> enormous, and storekeepers are working night and day. One might do worse than stait business in Seattle. Claim jumpers and others who interfere with the rights of miners are severely dealt with under Canadian laws. The Tanamar River, a tributary of the Yukon, is reported to be rich in gold. Prospectors, bear this in mind. A cablegram from London, England, was recently received at Seattle, asking if five thous- and men could be provided v/ith outfits. The mean temperature at Klondyke is: Spring 14'* above zero ; Summer, 50** above zero ; Autumn, ij** above zero ; Win- ter, 30° below zero. Frequently there are extremes above and below these figures. In Dawson City it is not nnui^aal to give a pinch of gold dust for a long drink. The Klondyke fever does not abate, but is spreading to all parts of the country. It is epidemic in Texas, and in one small town in Indiana fiye "^'r'y/mz^^jii^//. ip^O^' -"^^"^^^ -V^;'/-??? .y ^. V >•-- 69 THE ICLONDYKE GOLD FIELDS. hundred persons have taken stock in a local company. Work with pan and cradle can be carried on during May, June and July, but during the winter months miners are employed thawing and taking out the frozen earth. One, F. G. Bowker, of Dawson City, states there was no one tnere to die until less than a year ago, and that only three deaths have occurred in the district. Take this statement with a grain of salt. Protestant, Roman Catho- lic, and other missions, exist at frequent intervals throughout Alaska. Churches and chapels will soon be in evidence around , the gold fields. '■*^;:^^^^^-p.yJ7l.^-^ Wholesale desertion of sail- '^'^''^^^^/ff'^t 'h. \ ^^rs, from ships arriving at Alas- y ^ ^ * kan ports, is greatly feared by 5nooT,„Q THt Yw^oHl^'vpios owners. Mr. Wm. Van Stooten, a mining engineer and expert, has immense interests in gold mining all over the world. He regards the discoveries in the Klondyke region as the most important that have ever been made. The miners around Dawson City are said to be quiet and peaceable. Rowdyism is the exception, although gambling is indulged in extensively. There is no cheating or swindling, and thieves do not thrive. The place is described as containing ' ' the most orderly mining community in the world." A new overland route to the Klondyke may be opened next Spring. It covers about seven hundred miles, after leaving Juneau, and runs over a high, level prairie. No person can buy anything on credit in Dawson City. Spot cash for all, and gold dust the chief circu- lating medium. John Cudahy, the great Chicago speculator, is said to be at the head of a $25,000,000 Alaskan enterprise, which is to own steamships, mines, nnd town sites, and is to carrv on general trndine operations. TAILINGS. 63 Clarence Berr>', of Fresno, Cal., is reported to have eained the largest fortune yet made at the I^lonay^ce. He prospected for several years without success, but last summer he struck the richest pocket yet discovered at Klondyke, and recently returned with $135,000- All returning miners agree that the best way to reach the gold fields is via Juneau. The journey is mainly by land, over a snow-covered trail, down numerous rivers and across lakes. On an average, the distance, 650 miles, can be traversed in about twenty-five days. ; I mrmimmmms*