The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-11-13

grow so rapidly anywhere else. In a
few short weeks IL grew waist high.
Native garden truck win not keep for
the reason that II natures too rapidly.
II Alaska had California climate,
and no mosquitoes, would like to live
there. Fl f
During the summer many live In
tents, but In the winter everybody.
whites and Indians, live in comfort
able log cabins chinked with moss.
The clothing consists OF wooden and
fur goods. Cotton will not answer In
winter. The food is all coarse. consist
ing of salt pork, bacon, beans, rice,
coffee. tea, flour, sugar and salt. and
now and then some jerked moose or
Caribou. or dried salmon. The win
tiers are so very cold that they don't
battle often enough and eating so much
salt food many become afflicted with
scurvy. As a result of the many hard
ships and privations the miners wear a
haggard and worn appearance and In
a short time become reckless and more
or less respondent. They seem to lose
their former grip. The Indians are
extremely filthy and are dying of con-
sumption and loathsome diseases.
They are small, thin. poor. miserable
looking creatures. OF course I refer
north the filthier they are. Near and
along the Boring sea. where they feed
principally on blubber, they all stink
and 1t is sickening to look at them.
~ did not see a wheel in that coun-
try, excepting those at the stern end
of the river steamers. / saw only two
horses and one mule, but no cattle In
the Birch Creek district. These had
been brought in for lacking, but the
mosquitoes were so bad that they made
only one trip during the mosquitoe
season. Most of the freighting Is done
during the spring months with dogs
and sleighs. A good dog will do as
much work as a man at sleigh.
They are something of the nature of
wolves and are valued as high as 800
and down as low as a few dollars
Boats are indispensable. In the upper
portion of the valley the Indians use
fine birch bark canoes. and in the lower
country they have skin canoes. The
whites use the ordinary kind of river
boats made of lumber. whipsawed by
themselves"
Mr.. Kramer gives an interesting &C.
count of many amusing and some seri-
Gus experiences he and his party had
from the time they left Butte until
they reached the Yukon mining dis
trict and says sit takes man with
strong back and a weak head to get
along up there" The last steamer
from ST. Micheal," ne said, brought
out $50 miners. out of which number
IS deposited $4,000 in dust in the
United States mint. A number of these
had been In three years. AS a matter
of fact, these IS had all the dust that
was gathered by the $50, for II the re-
naming 65 had had any dust they
would have presented it at the mint
for one cannot handle dust now. A
few of those who were the best
heeled' were not miners at all. but
gamblers and whiskey men, who drew
money from the whole mining district
and hence had considerable dust Sc
cured from men who are yet in that
country. 1t can be seen that the miners
did not make much for their time. TO
say nothing of the time they lost, for
there is absolutely no way to keep
posted on the outside world. They
came out way behind the time and
practically unfit for any other calling.
Never before did see and realize so
clearly that we are living in "a fast
age. A man must rustic to keep
abreast of the times, and once behind
1t is difficult to catch up again.
"I never before visited a place so
universally condemned by the people
who live there themselves, and when
one sees how they live, the hardships
and work, he will have no occasion to
doubt One can endure hardships when
there is something in II, but when one
earns little or nothing and takes
chances of losing his life every day.
besides the innumerable hardships,
then 1t becomes discouraging. 1t is
surely a rough and furious trip,
though I shall never regret having
gone up there, for although an imme-
date loser, 1 believe will come out a
winner in the end"