The evening times., 1897-07-24

that one year the larger part of the popula
tion may be In American territory ana
the next year I'm fSrf iaEh.
AS a rule, though" said GeolDgist
Spurr, 1.-THE miners prefer the American
si.fe, on account OF the difference In min
ing laws These miners, with few eScep-
tions, were engaged in gulch digging
The high price OF provisions and other
| necessaries raises the price OF ordinary
labor in the mines to SO per day, and.
therefore, no mine which pays less than
this 10 each nlsn working can be even
temporarily handled
Yet, in spite OF these difficulties"
continued Mr.. Spur, "tbere were prob
ably taken out of the Yukon district dur
ing he year / was there, and mostly from
American territory. approximately ST.
o0G 900 worth of gold"
Mr.. Spur thinks that an overland route
shoald be surveyed and constructed to the
interior OF Alaska. All the favorable
routes which can be suggested pass through
British territory, and the cooperation or
the two governments would he mutually
beneficial. since the gold belt lies partly
m American and partly In British possess
sions MT Spur believes that the best
route lies from Juneau, by way OF the
-hilkoot Pass, overland to the Yukon, at
the junction with the Pelly. This trail
had already been gone over by pioneers,
who reported good grazing country, and no
great obstacles TO overcome. The Chill
koot Pass is onsiderably lower than the
Chilkat over which the geological party
passed last year. Mr.. Spur thinks that
If a good wagon road, or even a good horse
trail could he built, as indicated, the cost
OF provisions and other supplies would he
greatly redsaced. many gravels now useless
could he prof;'ably worked, and employ
ment would he afforded for many men.
Mr.. Spur has this to say about the
climate: For four or five months in the
summer tie climate is hardly to be distin-
cuished from that of northern United
States Minnesota or Montana, for instance.
Although the winters are very severe, the
snowfall is not heavy. Work could he car
ride on underground throughout the whole
OF the year quite as we'll as in the higher
mountains of Colorado
There is also a great area OF coal in
ALASKA. In the younger rocks that over
lie the gold bearing ser les there are beds
Of black, hard, glossy, very pure lfgnitic
coal. An area OF these coalbearing strata
lies very close 10 the gold-bearing dis
trict. in the northern Part OF the region
examined, and as the beds OF ccai are
often of considerable thickness. and the
coal in some of them leaves very little ash
and contains volatile constituents in con-
siderable amount. it Is probable that the
coal deposits VIII become an important
factor in the development of the Terri
tory. There is also abundant timber
throughout the whole Of the interior OF
Alaska along the valleys Of the Yukon.
The New York Sun OF January "a, 1897,
contained the description Of an unknown re-
gion lying north of Cooks Inlet Tt was
accompanied by sketch map made by
one OF the prDspectors This map takes i'm
y large area and shows that the 4 laska
mountains are broken down north of Cooks
inlet and tn ST the Shushitna River extends
almost directly north $50 miles, when ir
branches, one large tributary coming from
the west and another from the northeast
The latter was followed up northward
200 miles to a large lake. The prospecting
party reported that they found fine gold
in nearly every panand on the upper river
they found platinum. The rocks for thelast
Forty miles below the falls and above
the forks of the river are slate porphyry
and granite many veins of white quartz
running through the slate One specimen
ASA yed wellin silver, copper andg gold