The evening times., 1897-07-17
RUSH FOR THE colo F|ELOS
'tTto
Argonauts of 1897 Are Fastening
to Find Riches.
STORIES OF RETURNED MINERS
son Francisco Has the Fever Again.
In the Region Now Worked There
-Are Score of Creeks Rich in
Gold Deposits-The First White
Woman at Klondike.

San Francisco, July f7.-The two score
sIu-tanned miners who have Just returned
from the New Klondike camp on the Yukon
River, In far Alaska, have stirred up a
gold mining fever In this city, and apparent
Iy all oves the country, that is almost as
Widespread and virulent ds that which
filled California with fortune-hunters in
'49.
] O. Hestwood, of Seattle, is a typical
returned argunaut. lie is a small man.
wei ghjnr not over l 40 pounds, and has
hight blue eye. clear skin and firm, square
law. lie has been a preacher, teacher,
and lecturer, having delivered lectures all
over the coast OF Alaska 10 pay his way
up there. He spc1t three years in the ter
rtory before his great opportunity came.
He was at Glacier Creek when the news
was brought down OF the immense strike
on B.5ua ANA Creek Here is his story in his
own words, V nicli gives an admirable idea
of the way the mines are worked.
with Hundreds | rushed to tie new
fields After few days became disgust
ed an.. started tn leave the country lad
gone. only h short distance down the river
when my boat got stuck la the ice and l
was forced tn foot IL back 10 Dawson Clty.
well. NJ was Providence that did that
I purchased claim No. 90, below discovery
claim and it prov ed on of the richest pieces
OF ground in the district. My claim VIII
average 10 or = cents TO the pan. and, In
addition to wlatI have already taken out,
there If at least S25o,0q0 in sight. Last
season / worked thirty pen, and ] intend
to employ more rext year.
Our manner of ressbpg gold Is simple
and not particularly expensive when one
considers returns. Huge fires are built
over ground and when II Is thaw ed out inen
set to work The frost is 10 hard, how
ever. that the biggest fire thaws the ground
for only one foot The gravel is packed
In a kind OF clay that, w4en frozen, makes
4 s,onglomeration Ike ooqorete. through
v hich the strongest man cannot force
pick. When this gravel is thawed II Is
brnken up with picks and tbrpwn la hig
heap with shovels IL varies in depth
from fourteen to twenty feet. and ~ -
rchest In gold close 10 ied-rOCk You
never saw gravel so filled, with coarse
gold We have only the rudest APPARATUS
yet. We use short sluice with riffles
arranged every few Inches The gold Is
20 ooarse that we save abOpt 90 per cent
without any quicksilver. Many men sim
ply use the pan and rocker.
what we need Is a device for the rapid
softnning OF this gravel | am now AZ
work on one which. II perfected VIII en-
able us TO do as much work In one day as
we do now In a week
'In the region now worked there are a
score OF creeks ga oh rich In gold deposits
The creeks comprising the bonanza dis
uiets are BONANZA, FL Dorado. Ntcsoria.
Adams, Mccormick. Reddy Bullion, Nugget
Gulch. Rear. Baker and Chee-Cha w-Ka. In
the Hunker district are the Main FORK,
HunEer aud Gold Bottom cree ks The
banks OF these streams are dotted with
white tents OF miners, and prrtter sight
it would be hard tn find. Over ON Dominion
Greek gold has been found, and 300 miners
started for that place the day we started
for San Francisco. The surface Prospects
are quite as favorable as on the bonanza
1T Is easier to reach Dawson City now
than when the discovery Of gold was an
nounced- Appliances have been placed at
all the mountain passes, so that heavy
loads are pulled up steep inclines and let
down on the other side look for big
rush next year, and there will be wonderful
stories to tell when the season Is ended.
Dawson CITY Is not a paradise by any
means, but there are much worse places
The winter cold is intense, but aS there Is
plenty of timber around we do not suffer
Our summer lasts about six weeks, but
during that tim it is very warm. The day
we started it was 80 degrees in the shad-
The mosquito is our worst enemy"