The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1895-10-08

i've III OudlllS, Dub 10 uOW up Ou
the Yukon river. in Alaska,
placer mining, writes to his old
partner, Carl Lane, of Challis,
that he is highly pleased with
the country, and wants Carl to
come up there at once.
y n T. =
Fred A. Fay, writes to friend
in Seattle, dated at Deadwood
creek, Alaska, in which he says
Here am lying in my tent,
July 13, chewing spruce gum.
Bacon and beans always did give
me the heart burn, and gum acts
as an antidote. Well, God hates
a coward, so I am going to tell
you the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth, SO
help me God. In the first place
Alaska is the most barren, God
forsaken spot that the sun has
ever shone on, and if there ever
was a place on this earth that
wasn't intended to live in this is.
| Words utterly fail to express
ones contempt for this country,
who has had the misfortune to
see it.
"The work that one must per-
form to exist at all is the work
of animals, rather then men; it
is one vast swamp, thousands of
miles in extent, covered with
moss and frozen to unknown
depths. The only resources the
country has are the fur bearing
animals, and the natives are the
ones allowed to trap them. Five
dollars of gold has been brought
in here to every dollar taken out
of the mines. There are only
two sections today that are being
worked, one is Forty Mile Greek
and very few tributaries to it,
;, such as Miller and Glacier creeks
and Mastodon, Independence
and Deadwood creeks, near Circle
City, the two sections being 250
miles apart. Now there were
about ten of them that paid more
than wages, and about five men
went out with from $4,000 to
$4,000; twenty-five men went
out with from $1,000 to $1,000;
one hundred made enough to buy
grub for the winter and 500
! more went broke.
Nov this section is SO new
only struck last fall-that it is
hard to say just what it will turn
out, but every claim is opened
! up some. So far they are only
a grub stake and far poorer
than Forty Mile. Now that is
the extent of the mining in this
part of Alaska, with the excep-
ton of working bars on the riv-
ers, paying 81 per day, which is
9 only half wages.
e "The working season is about
il 60 or 20 days, and one is lucky
r if he gets in half of them. The
e wages are SO per day, and on'
9 can save more, outside, at ST.
per day than here at $40. Bacor
is 80 cents per pound, beans 81
cents, flour $24 per sack, sal
$3.50 for lob sack, and 81
on; 40 cents per pound of this i
for freight from Circle City t.
the mines, about 100 miles. Yol
will see that it doesn't take Ions
to eat up 500 worth in grub
We are out of sugar and it cost
us so cents per pound.
LAS to the weather, / neve
saw finer. No rain scarcely, an
sun all the time % hours of tn
day. You can hardly believ
that for two months we have ha
broad daylight. We work night
here as much as days, in fact. W
have no nights; the moon doe
not have chance to get in it
work, by and by the moon wi
have it all to do. Oh, the countr
lg is so strange and wild; now th
'te heavens are all right in the sun
er mer but the earth, oh, my ! Th
is trails are through dismal swamp
VS. with water foot deep, and th
Sc mosquitoes 1t means that on
De has to be covered with chees
v cloth and long gloves. You ca
IL form no conception of this tel
rible plague, to sleep is out {
the question. They disappes
! about the first of August, the
the black grat comes-ten tims
worse than the me auitoes, an
es then the cold weat, ! comes-t
he or 20 degrees beloI zero. A
s. one of the boys sa If Gc
would forgive me ha lould nev'
come here again OK, it is
terrible country for huma
being to stay in, and if spaC
n would permit me | would tell yo
ty more about it.
nd 1.-The chances of making q rails