The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-01
NOTES FROM CALIFORNIA.
THE PAoIFI0 COAST ALL ARoUsED
OYER THE GOLD MINES.
seattle Bids Fair TO ne Observation-Disclosures
or California H~appy-Japnn and Hawaii
The Estate ana Heirs OF q. y. Crockor-
Mr.. Bryan's Recognition or n Gold MAN,

mr. Hryan's becoEnlton OF = Gold MAN.
SAN FRANCISCO, July 24.-You have heard
by telegraph Of tho gold yield from the new
camp on the Klondiko in Alaska, and Of the ex.
element 1t has created. 1 thought 1t we'll to
verify the stories in tho newspapers by a per.
sonnl interview with Louis Schloss, who knows
moro about Alaska and has made moro money
there than any ono else, and has the reputation
Of telling tho truth, millionaire though he be.
He sayf that the report Of the gold shipment
by the Excelsior, which arrived here on the 14th,
is not exaggerated. She brought down some
100000 in dust, and the Portland. which has
eince arrived at Seattle. as much more. This
is tho product Of tho seasons work up to the
middle Of June.
Tho mines were discovered last August, but
no work was done on thom till January. Tho
chief camp Is at u place called Dawson, some
fifty miles south Of Forty Mile Creek, where
placer mining has been carried on, for sew
eral years. Dawson is on or near the point
whore the Klondike forks into the Yukon, two
hundred miles or 30 from old Fort Yukon. Tho
gold Ia found In the frozen dirt, which is broken
out with picks and piled in dumps during the
winter. whom IL Is as hard rs stone. When the
spring thaw comes the Jumps Of dirt are thawed
out on wood fros and washed in pans. Tho
most extravaganza stories are told Of the yield
bN' b"h' my III 10 usually IOuUu lGn UT
fifteen feet below the surface.
How much truth there Is in the miners
stories II is. of course. difficult to say. But there
seems to DO 10 doubt that labor at Dawson is
worth from $40 to $l5 a day. and that there are
some 1000 people on the ground, including at
least one woman. James La Due, who claims
to be the founder Of Dawson City, says a meal
consisting OF beans and bacon costs 81. so. and
that bacon alone is worth 20 cents a pound.
lie recommends newcomer to bring with them
each 100 pounds Of flour, 100 pounds of bacon.
100 pounds of sugar, 10 pounds OF tea, 80
pounds OF coffee, 100 pounds OF fruit, salt and
pepper, and cooking utensils, all OF which can
be bought at Juneau for 800. The Yukon
Press quotes current prices at Dawson as
follows: Flour, 81. a pound: rubber boots, SIC;
shovels, SIG; caribou, hams, $40; rough lum-
Der, $3.50 per thousand.
There arc two why's Of going to Dawson. One
IS by the Alaska Commercial steamer via St.
Michaol's and up the Yukon; this takes forty
six days and costs $3.50 for u 5000 mile voy-
ncau and Dyca, then over the Chifcat or Chill
coot r~angc-thirty miles-to the head waters Of
14S fiH ats T. and J. de Siave th9 believed lever q tb 5ae d,bISIs s %ss
the charGe for freighftlng goods over the pass
tlclcs In tho. Century Mdgu=ine on the subject.
Yesterday the All XII steamer sailed from Ia
coma and Seattle for Juneau and Dyca. carry.
laneous freight.
Al present the centre of the gold excitement
Is Seattle, which bids far 10 be depopulatcd by
the exodus OF gold reet era An Ex-Governor. an
cx-hrtgadier-G General. several lawyers. bankers,
other railroad men. fremen, farmers, and rncrcan.
tile clerks have secured passage in the Portland
on her return trip, and other stenincrs havo
been pressed into the service. Unless some
&C looks out for tho crowd there will be a good
many hungry and shivcring men on the YIkon
thermometers go to pieces with The cold.
there Is no reason why, the beds of the
paying qu"ntities. Most Of the "o' st rTsrs f IN the he
Yukon Valley are:mctamorphoscd quartzitcs,
cut by the Intrusion Of trachy!iS and basaitiIc
with veins OF gold:b airing diorite occur. and
gold has been found in the alluvium OF that river,
miners. In tho gravel Of the stiSine and Tsheo
Taku have been in the habit OF washing the
mud OF their bay; they report that they get 5
cents to the pan.
The old maps represent the Rocky Mountains
parallel with the Mackenzie River. 1t is now
EnoWn that that chain, after running on q line
tho valley OF the Mackenzie as FAR as 81" north
latitude. bends westward, and. becoming broken,
,rasses TO the west, and combines with the coast
auriferous streams take their rise in this chain.
;, A &C to EeoloEists, Alaska has gone
depression. The whole territory, continental
nnd insniar. Is now passing through a period
OF elevation, which. II continued. may convert
the shallow sea Of BcEring into dry land, and
unite the continents OF Asia and America. This
proceSs, which Is not alterna:ed, IA 1t was in
California, with tremendous flows OF lava from
volcanoes now extinct, may leave the rivers
flowing ON the surface instead of burying them
underground us tho lava did in this State.
Some of your contemporaries pooh pooh the
notion that Japan is seriously hostile TO the an
~nexation OF the Hawaiian group to the United
States. They refer to the protestations OF the
Prime Minister at Toxic, OF the Japanese Min
lister at Washington, and OF other officials, who
do certainly coo rs gently as doves. and declare
that they love Americans a little better than
brothers, and wouldn't oppose their wishes for
anything in the world. Persons who have had
the ontree OF court society in Japan have q
fashion. which cannot be too severely repre-
hendcd. OF winking al these statements.
They say that al outlet for the surplus labor
of Japan has become absolutely necessary. OF
the 100000 square miles which constitute the
area oi the empire, OILY 100000 acres are
under cultivation. The rest is either noun
tain or lcsolatc tracts OF stone or gravel. which
are kept in a state Of wilderness by tho torrents
that flow down from the hills after every rain
storm. Yet the population of Japan is nearly
two-thirds of that OF the United States. II
was to provide the lundlcss japanese with
homes that the Princes of Echizcn and Satsuma
insisted, TO the great surprise OF Gen. Grant,
on the occupation or the Loo ChOo Islands; IL
was for the same reason that Japan demanded
rs a condition of peace with China the cession
OF the island Of Formosa. The enpire OF the
sunrise wanted breathing room. The next
spot on which the japanese eye was set was
Hawaii. That group would accommodate a
million Japs more or less. and they could thrive
by growing su.ar and coffee.
or course, TO annex Hawaii at the cost OF a war
with the United States was not TO tie thought
OF. But much could be done with dcxterous
diplomacy and an affcctation Of indifference.
Nations. like people, often gain their ends by
protesting the opposite, OF what they want.
And Japan had a shrcwd adviser in la perfde
Albion. England no more wants Hawaii than
republic. But II 1t falls into her hands directly
or indirectly, why, she must submit TO tho
cessity the more resignedly because the Ha-
waiian group happens TO be Il halfway house
between Australasia, including Fiji. and British
Columbus.
The de eth of Charles Frederick Croker is n
topic Of the day among men OF money. Charles
Croker, the partner OF Stanford, Huntington,
and Hopkins. is supposed to have died worth
about $50, 1000, 00o; though, of course, appraise-
nlents of property which consisted largely OF