Omaha daily bee., 1896-08-15

men are all frank and outspoken. They
do not hesitate to tell all corners that there
is gold in the district II you are able to
buy a good claim or have plenty Of money
and a disposition TO work hard, They do
not specify the amount Of gold, but to set
all doubts at rest ] will give some truth
full figures of the amount mined in the
Turnagain Arm mining district this year:
Polly Mining company. o men.,....s $1,000
Log Cabin company, G mcn........ l,g00
Bedee outfit, . men...""".."."...,. 1000
Ducey outnt, Z men l,NVO
The Excelsior outfit has spent $40. GOO in
prospecting, and has not, II is said, gath
cred In a dollars worth OF gold. The In
dividual miners who scattered over the
district were all unfortunate, and OF the
1000 men who started for the Cooks In
let field this year II is safe to say that not
more than half a dozen will return richer
than when they went.
THROUGH A hole IN HI ICE.
But the story Of the Cooks Inlet expedi-
ton can be better told by narrating the eN-
periences of two New York men, who re-
signed profitable situations to Join in the
mad hunt for gold. Their names are Darius
Minshull and Amos Balm. They had read,
pondered over and digested the %alluring bait
of the Alaska boomers, and were half de-
cided to try their fortune In a hunt for the
yellow metal. when an old acquaintance re-
turned to town and told them that they
were wasting valuable time in this great
city, reciting the fact that he had secured
$50 worth of precious metal by digging a
hole in the ice. Moreover, as he wanted
company, this man had staked out two mag
niticent claims which he would give to them
IL they would return with him. They agreed.
Arrived at Seattle, they purchased an out
ft and engaged passage on the schooner Ella
johnson, They reached Kodiak, an island in
the Alaskan gulf, in seventeen days. There
were sixty men in the party, two-thirds ten
derfeet. the remainder miners. They re.
mained at Kodiak three and a half days, and
then set sail for Cooks Inlet. Contrary
winds and tides delayed the schooner when
she started again. She beat around Cape
Elizabeth for two days and nights, but finally
made Coal Harbor, a trading port on Ko-
shemack bay. Here they found five other
expeditions, about 300 men in all. The John
son was held here for eight days. as Turna-
gain Arm was blocked with ice. In the
end the schooner made Sunrise City. on Six
Mile creek, where they found the steam
schooner Albion and the steamer Utopia,
from San Francisco, with $50 gold hunters
on board.
BUT THEY A NOT.
Minshull and Balm did not look for their
claim at once. They knew 1t was all right,
for they found upon landing that Bird
cleek' was only a few miles distant, The
life was new to them and they made tie
most of it. But finally the attractions of
sunrise Clty palleu upon tne taste, anu tney
were eager to begin gathering in their gold.
Then" said Mr.. Minshull, Mr.. Balm and
l sought out the man who had induced us to
leave New York. He is the assistant re-
corder of the mining district. We asked HIM
to pilot us to Bird Creek at once; we wanted
to begin work. He made several plausible
excuses at that time and we let the matter
drop for a day or two. Again we pressed
him to lead us to our bonanza. More ex-
cuses. Then l began to smell a mouse.
''NNa hnnta1 M Marshal Mark Tptapn and
Jack the Pirate, the pilot Of the Ella John
son. We made a clean breast of the situa-
ton, and these two men, both rare good fell
lows, let the cat out of the bag.
oh. yes said the marshal, those claims
are staked out on Bird Creek. | know that,
for Germany who staked them out and
gave them to your friend, told me so. Now
said Tetam, ri tell you the whole truth.
Your friend owns those claims, but he never
saw them, and doesn't know where they
are
" Some mistake about that, marshall
said l., for he told us in New York that he
had PANIED out $50 worth of dust there last
winter through a hole in the ice
" 'Ha! ha!' laughed the marshal. 'Ho! no.
echoed Windy Bill, his partner.
Why said Tetam, your friend is a
wonder. He is the only man in these dig
gings able to pap out gold through snow
sixty feet deep over ice twelve feet thick.
In short, your friend is a liar. 'aa.t ~
THAT settled it; those claims must be
found. We doubled up with two men ac-
quaintei with the lay of the land and started
to blaze a path through stunted alders and
thorny underbrush to Bird creek. 1t was
hard work, but we got there. We found
the claims. We put in three weeks work,
four of us, hunting for gold, and did not
find enough to pay for a silver dollar. We
found some seams of very fine brown coal on
the mountain side" said Mr.. Minshull, but
it wouldn't pay to bring it to New York.
Lets co." said |. All right said
Amos. and we made for Sunrise City. There
we sold our outfit to some spectators, and
after an uneventful passage reached Seat
tle."