The San Francisco call., 1896-10-21
Struggles of G c. BEETLES and
Rev. Mr.. Provost in Issuing
the Yukon Press.
SOME BIG GOLD PROJECTS.
Mr. BEETLES Interesting Story Of Life
in the Alaska Wilder
ness.

Gordon c. BEETLES, who for some time
past has been publishing paper at the
most remote point on the American con-
tinent, is at the Commercial. The paper
is the Yukon Press, and it appears three
times a year. The reason it is not issued
oftener is because, as he says, the news
has to be collected for 1000 miles. and 1t
takes four months each time to do it.
Mr.. BEETLES, though also big mining
operator and running three trading posts,
learned the printing trade in his youth.
At the post at Tanana, near the mouth OF
the Tanana River, 1U00 miles up the
Yukon, the Rev. Jules L. Provost has been
doing missionary work among the Indians.
He desired to translate and print portions
of the Scriptures in the Indian tongue, so
Mr.. BEETLES told him 20 get little print
ing outfit, and in his leisure hours in the
long winter he would teach him how TO
set the type.
The missionary got the material and
then it struck him it would be good
thing to get out little paper also. So Mr..
BEETLES has been steering the little journal
through. He has also taught the minister
so that he can now get it out himself. 1t
is a paper Of sixteen small pages, and is
printed on job press. The news is very
interesting, and the paper is highly appre-
ciated there, for 1t seems to break the
monotony of things. 1t has mum ber of
advertisements, but owing to the, as yet,
limited circulation the rates are not high.
Mr.. BEETLES is an all-round sort of q
young man who can turn his hand to any,
thing and make a success of it. He is a
brother of 81. a. BEETLES, president of the
famous Home stake Goldmining Company
of the Black Hills and superintendent of
the Granite Mountain Mining Company
OF Montana. He went to the interior of
the Yukon nine years ago and this Is the
first time he has been out.
The enterprising gentleman disclaims
much OF the credit for the appearance of
the Press. He is a practical milling man,
having learned the milling of ore at Lead
vile for Senator Tom Brown in the Sum-
NIT district of Colorado and at Granite,
Mont. He now has number of big quartz
leads on the Yukon and tributaries, which
with his fur and goods trading posts make
him, as the miners with him say, in the
way of making million or SO of dollars.
Mr.. BEETLES brought down with him sew
eral hundred pounds OF quartz. He has
before had big assays from it and now he
is going to have some mill runs. If the
ore runs as be expects he will take up a
quartz mill with him when he returns in
the spring.
1T is difficult to publish paper up
there" said Mr.. BEETLES yesterday. ''be-
cause it takes so long to collect the news.
Why. the result of this election IN the
United States will not be known there for
eight months, There might be war here,
and it could continue for most of a year
before we would hear of it. To get the
news of the Yukon alone means covering
1000 miles of country by dog teams. It is
by these teams that the news is brought.
81 would have been on visit here be-
fore, but | didn't want to come out till
had tested the country and found out
whether 1t was any account or not.
thought if it was not / wouldn't 20 back.
Now that l have fully tested it | am sat-
ished it is going to be one OF the greatest
of mining countries. There are enormous
quartz lodges there, and they are very
rich. Quartz mining is TO be the thing in
that country, but this kind of mining has
been very slow because it takes money 10
carry it on.
Our miners were poor and had to make
money as they went along, so they turned
their attention first to placer mining. 1t
is in quartz, however, that the big money
is to be made"
Aside from the trading post in which he
has an interest at Tanana, he is interested
in one at Nulatto, 800 miles up the Yukon,
and also up the Koukuk River, 600 miles
from its mouth. Mr.. BEETLES SAYS that in
his judgment Tanana is TO be the great
camp of the interior. There is a great
deal of quartz there and it is rich. The
Tanana River is 1900 miles long and lies
between the Copper and White rivers. 1t
is a mile wide at its mouth.