The herald., 1896-03-22
ALASKA and The M|DGES
4 vHRITABLE TERROR TO THE NORTHERN
GOLD HUNTERS
The Ubiquitous and Pestiferous Insects Are
There In Force and Make Lite Almost
Unbearabie- Mining Is Fierce Work There.
The Thermometer's Ranges

Indications point toward big rush
of gold hunters for Alaska when the
warm weather sets in. The fact that it
is the new land of gold will attract
hundreds and thousands of adventur-
ous spirits, and every one of them will
expect to become q bonsnZa king.
All the experts who have vi5ited
Alaska say that there are tons of gold
there. Some say that it is the richest
gold country the world has ever known,
but all agree that it is the toughest land
to live in on the face of the earth, and
the unanimous opinion of those who
kr.~- what they are talking about is
that the man who goes there without an
abundant supply of health and cash
will probably stay there for all eter-
nifty. :,
Many men, lured by the wonderful
tales OF gold, have doubtless decided o
join the miners of Alaska. For tneir
benefit few facts concerning the coun-
try will be given, so that they will know
what to expect. From a climatic stand
point Alaska is easily entitled to the
blue ribbon for having the meanest in
creation. In winter time the average
Temperature is 60 degrees below zero,
while in summer it jumps az high as
100 degrees above. This is almost a
clean leap from the north pole to the
equator.
The rich placer mines on the Yukon
river, which have given rise to all the
glitterinR stories. are not easily reached.
The "Forty- who crossed the
continent in prairie schooners in the
early California days had pleasant
saunter compared with the hardships
of the journey to the Yukon. This
latter trip is only trihe more than
100 miles. but it means more concen-
trated misery than the imagination OF
most people can picture. =
From Sitka the gold diggers must
travel by wagon on foot u hundred
miles or so over the divide, where they
must hew trees and build RATS on
which to descend until they are about
twenty-five miles west of the boundary
line between British America and the
United States. Here are the small
creeks and streams where the gold is
found.
swARMs OF INSECTS
To make the trip in winter is next to
impossible for any one not accus-
toned to living in the most intense
cold, and to make it in summer time is
torture because of the swarms of every
variety of insect which infest the river
country. Volumes could be written
ABOUT these insects. 1t may seem
trivial to attach any Importance to
them, but when it is said that more
than one miner has lost his mind on
account of the pest some idea Of their
torturing power can be gained.
On the subject of these insects an
expert sent out by the Washington
authorities reported: when the waters
of the river come down in spring the
mosqultos, by far the most annoying
of the insects, come along in swarms.
Gloves were worn at ali times, aud the
faces of the miners we're covered, but
even then the mosquitoes would get to
their flesh, crawling up the wristbands
of their gauntlets and down their legs
into their boots, until the miners
almost lost their senses from the con-
tiuued battle with their small poison
Gus foes"
A NIGHT AND DAY WAR
From one end of the warm season to
another there is no let up by the in
sects indoors and outdoors, in daytime
and night it is the same. Clouds OF
midges penetrate everywhere, and ordi-
nary netting is perfectly useless as
safeguard, for these insects pass
through the meshes without difficulty.
Out of doors one is completely at their
mercy. They fly into the eyes and
lodge under the lids; they cluster in