The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1890-04-12
4 TRIP AROUND ALASKA.
BY EDWARD BAILEY.
(COncluded.)

We sailed away at 4:l5 P. NJ, and
entered Bartlett Bay at 2:3O P. NJ,
and sailed again in the night for
Juneau, which we reached again at
1O:11 An However, many of the
passengers landed and revived the
trade in baskets, mats, totems, spoons,
etc. I called at the Wizards and
saw Misses Matthews and Duncan,
teachers in the Home school. And
they showed me the school and lodg-
ing rooms, etc. Mr.. Mcdonald, one
of the passengers, offered $50 for the
school if they would specially direct
it for female education, more especi-
ally if directed to rescuing them
from a life Of shame. "He had heard
that fathers prostituted their daugh-
ters and husbands their wives, to
white men;' and he wished to know
if it was true and how it could be
prevented. He had given like sums
to two other schools. I bought
few little things here, but did not
wish to be numbered.
| I called upon an assayer, w. G.
Antorill of Oakland, who gave me
some good specimens Of ores and
coal. He had made discoveries and
made claims on his own account.
I was more impressed than ever
with the threatning pose OF the
mountains which seem to overhang
the town on two sides. Since we
were here before two houses had
been carried away by mountain
slide. Miss Matthews gave me some
photographs to take to her relatives,
the Alexanders, and one for myself.
But I did not purchase pictures, sup
posing they might be purchased for
less money in San Francisco.
Juneau is the largest town in
Alaska, larger even than Sitka.
In the afternoon the steamer
crossed over to the Treadwell mine
which is on Douglass Island. The
steamer At-ki was at the wharf un-
loading machinery for the "Bear's
Nest" mine and we tied up outside
of her, and crossed over her deck to
reach the wharf. / landed with MIR.
Easkill who went with me to see the
works for reducing the ore, and then
we went through the tunnel into the
mine itself. Few mines are more
noted than this from the fact that it
has mill of 24O stamps, and also
from the fact that, SO far as now ap-
pears, the whole mountain is of the
same character as the part now
worked. The yield to the ton of ore
is said to be from six to twenty dol
lars; and I suppose that even this
would formerly have been thrown
away as useless; for all? The gold is
contained in miscreate crystals of iron
pyrites from which it is separated
by roasting acids, etc. Placer miners
claim the right to work the surface
above the solid quartz, and there has
been some litigation to define the
boundary between the "rotton {"
quartz on the surface and the solid
quartz below. The tunnel we passed
through was nearly level, and several
hundred feet in length. The work
men in the mine had just quit work
at 5 o'clock; but two men with cart
ridges of dynamite went with us and
made blasts while we were there, we
retiring little into the mouth of the
tunnel to avoid the flying rocks. The
mine is an open pit one or two hun
dred feet across, and about as deep,
so the miners work in the open air.
The ore is loaded on cars and carried
through the tunnel by which we en-
tered to the stamp mill.
There are some conflicting &C
counts in regard to the Bears Nest"
mine which joins the Trsadwell on
the north. It occupies the same
slope as the latter. But it has not
yet been worked, though very large
building has just been closed in for
the works, and, as I said, the ma
chinery for it has just been landed
on the wharf
But "claims" in near proximity to
each other are often very unlike, and
the whole thing is yet to be proved.
The proprietors will have an ad-
vantage of having an experience of
the Treadwell to guide them.
It is often said in a seminary way
that the whole of Douglass Island is
gold ore; if 80 the world will have
q long job with it, for it towers among
the clouds, and is quite extensive,
though I have not the means of
knowing exactly what its dimensions
are. In work by j. 81. Patton en-
titled "The natural resources of the
United States," it is said p. It's, that
"the Treadwell mine presumably
on Douglass Island has works, etc,
by which about 800 tons of ore are
crushed daily, and it assays from
eight to twenty dollars TOM
Some random statements are also
made of mines or indications of gold
on the mainland adjacent. Eager
prospecting seems to be going on in
all the region, and it is not strange
if it is little difficult to come at the
exact facts of the case.
The papers speak Of the "Bear's
Nest" as if it had failed or have
given up, when in fact it has not yet
begun, but preparations seem to be
going on in very business-like way
for working it.
We left Douglass island in the