The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-07-12


Tales and Practical suggesuo.s.
Reclining a. ease on q sofa IL his room
u me Lewis Rouse yesterday. Jack Carr.
the kloncike mail carrier. told a Post
Inteiiigencey reporter tales Of the new
mining camp Of the north. and OF poor
men made the possessors Of fabulous
wealth II single night. stories Of thou
sands Of dollars in bright, shining. golden
sand taken from the beds Of the streams
empfying INTO the klondiks. where they
/ have been gathered b. the ley waters OF
the northern rivers during ages pasr
awaiting only the pick and shovel and
nrebranG OF the hardy Arxonauts of
Alaska 20 bring them into the uses Of COM
meyce.
When the recital was ended. the re-
| porter almost expected TO see Carr disap-
pear In cloud OF smoke like the tabled
genii OF cid. Blu, Carr sat there, com-
pcsedly and in the flesh. ard when the
reporter asked for material exhibits to
strengthen the testimony he had given
the mail carrier produced bueksk.n sack.
half full of glittering nuggets and nne
gold. an amount sufficient to furnish 4
man with nice home In Seattle. ground
and all.
According 70 Carr, the residents OF Circle
City and Forty-Mile have emigrated en-
masse 10 the creeks tributary TO the Klou-
dixie, ard that camp, which las. year num-
bered LOO people. now has nearly 1900
Postmaster Merlin, a, Dyea, estimated
that a.oo had gone over the summit this
season.
But while the Incentives TO a man TO go
into the country and dig out fortune in
lew weeks are great. there are draw
backs TO the country. and it Is not all
roses and honey there. Provisions are
very scarce and high. There has been an
advance of 20 per cent. on the price Of
staples and as the feet OF river steamers
which was last year insufficient TO keep
the camp supplied with provisions, has
not been augmented. the outlook for this
winter is not encouraging.
'There'n De suffering enough" said
Carr, speaking Of this phase OF life on the
klondike. II would not advise any man
10 go there with less than years pro-
visions. A man with $500 or 500 In that
country Is strapped.
Wages are high. though. Think of
paying man SIS per day TO dig and
shovel sand and gravel Carr is au-
thority for the statement that q man
can live on 81 per day if he is economical
and "baches." He ought 70 accumu-
late tidy sum At the end Of the season
at this figure.
Jack Cars narratives when he reached
Juneau on his last trip out were so filled
with tales OF great riches suddenly ac-
qulred that the residents of the town did
not believe him. But when they opened
the letters he brought down TO them,
written by men well known here as well
as At Juneau, they turned from scoffers
TO enthusiasts. aud after hastily apologize
Ing TO the mail carrier for doubling him,
they chartered a steamer and SGT sail for
the Klondike.
Here are some Of the tales Carr tells:
One piece Of ground on Eldorado creek.
forty-nve feet vide. yielded $4,000.
bookkeeper named Beecher, formerly
from Chicago. but lately a purser on the
steamer Weir. worked sixty days ION u e
lay with Conroy. his partner. In the
cleanup this spring they had s.. 100 each,
after paying the owner Of the claim an
equal amount. Nearly $500 onth
beats keeping books.
Some of those claims up there will
Yield million dollars said Carr. They
have only gotten nine miles from the
mouth OF the klondike. and there ought
to be plenty or paying ground In the
ether streams in the vicinity"
Clarence Berry bought out his two
partners in claim on Bonanza creek.
paying one s6o. 900 and the other $685. 900 ION
the strength of the dump" AT the
end Of the cleanup Berry had s4s,oo, and
the claim left.
On another claim the dir ran an ounce
OF gold 10 the shovel per minute.
This is the klondlke. as described by
Carr. Under its golden refuigence. the
fame Of the Yukon as the home of the
rieh piacers is apparently soon to fade
and wane.
Carr left Dawson City June last with
his mail, Going in. he crossed the sum-
nit March -, having left Juneau March
He arrived at the klondike April
80. The weather on the trip in was tine,
and Carr cast his stove and tent "a. ie
needing neither during more than half
OF the journey.
As showing the great exodus of people
irto the klondike country. Carr says
that when he came out last December
there were 600 people at Forty-Mils and
LOO at Circle City. Going in the last
trip there were only twenty people at
Forty Mile. and two-thirds of the popuiA-
ton OF Circle City had gone. Every man
who could raise 500 for an outf, left for
ihs klond:ke. An outfit consisting Of an
empty sled and two dogs readily brought
aseo
Freight!ng between Circle City and the
K!ondike was 81 per pound by dog teams.
Before the arrival OF the steamers this
spring" said Carr. provisions became
extremely scarce. Flour sold az high as
So per sack. Il is now worth s. PER
sack. II the river steamers do no. do
better this winter than last, there VIII
be great scarcity Of food in the camp.
Prices have lately advanced until the
staples are sold al these figures:
Sugar ~ cents per pound; rolled oats,
* cents per pound: corn meal at the same
figure, and dried fruits from s. 10 10 cents
per pound, canned fruit. 81 20 IS cents
per can"
/ Nuggets are found ranging from 500 10
$50 in value, while the kind that are
worth 500 are seen kicking aoou, most
any old place.
Carr will return 70 the KIondike. isav-
ing here JGiy =. He VIII take his wife
and viii be able 10 travel large part OF
the Journey on horsebac The trip viii
he without many Of the hardships OF
winter travelling. Re IS Interested IN two
claims OF Victoria creek, which he in
tends 70 work.
In conclusion. Carr said lie would adj
wise no man to take whisky 70 the camp
Five thousand gallons had arrived just
prior 20 his departure. and the Alaska
Commercial Company had another con-
signmea. OF al equal amount on ,he way
UP the Yukon.
Could Not Figure IL ont.
James MAY, aged a. years who SAYS
that re Is a miner from Alaska COMPLAIN