The silver lance., 1897-10-22
ExAooERArEr TALES.
ALoudon Man Thinks That the Klondike I
Not InexhnustfbIe.

ALondon Man Thinks That the KlondIke Il
Not Inexhaustible.
Denver, Oct 16.-H. Bratnober,
member of the London Exploration
Company of London, spent yesterday
In the city en- route to London from the
Kl0nd1ke. He is considered one Of the
best authorities on mineralogy living,
and IL the chief expert on all mining
matters Of the company to which he be-
longs. Last spring he was sent to the
Klondfke by the Rothschilds to care
fully look over the country, study its
characteristics and resources and make
a detailed report to the company on his
return to guide them in investing
there. He has been gone almost six
months.
He refuses absolutely to talk concern
ing his company, and what the outcome
of his visit to the Klondike would be
on it's investing there.
"As q whole the mines are good, but
not by any means as sensational as has
been reported here. Some Of the claims
are very good, but the ground is spotted
and Of course there are number Of
blanks or nearly 80. A great deal OF
work will be done there this winter, as
most OF the ground is let out on lays.
A lay is what we call a lease in this
country. Up there the word lay Is an
abbreviation of what we call a layout.
A claim is 500 feet long up and down
a gulch, and parties owning these let
out so or 100 feet to different people to
drift on and they give the owners one
half they take out. Those who are for
tunate enough to get on rich spots do
very well out of it. OF course those
who strike the poor spots will make
very little Or nothing They drift the
dirt out during the winter and wash 1t
In the spring when 1t thaws out, and
next spring no doubt there will be
great shipment of gold.
sIt is impossible to drift this ground
in summer, because it is twenty feet
to bed rock, and that twenty feet con-
sists of ice and frozen glacier mud, and
the eurface water running in would
soon fill In the shaft or any workings
they might have. There are a few
claims where they can strip and shovel
into the sluices, but there are only a
very few Of those claims where the bed
rock comes within eight or ten feet of
the surface.
There are as many people in there
this winter as can find employment.
Wages were SIS a day when I left.
The rush that went in this fall will
have the tendency to lower wages.
"A1l the old timers own the principal
claims. That Is, l mean by aid timers,
the people who went in from Juneau
and the coast, and have been in there
several years. At Forty Mile and CIR
Gle City they have the provisions, and
Of course will have to divide with 9th
er people TO keep them from starving.
No doubt II they find there are not
enough provisions to go around, many
will come out via the Dalton trail. Mr..
Dalton has distributed enough provi-
si0ns along his trail to take out a great
many people, and think they will take
advantage of this and come out on the
snow.
There will be a good deal Of pros
pectfng this winter, as 1t is the best
season to prospect in. 1t Is difficult TO
get around in the summer on account
Of the moss and swamps. They cannot
sink holes In these gulches on account
of the surface water, therefore the
prospecting II done when the moss and
surface are frozen An the creeks
freeze solid in the winter. There is no
running water in the country except
In the Yukon country itself.
'rt IL my honest opinion that every
one in there mining for gold earns all
he gets. There are no dumps at present
Decduse the men nave not more Inan
got started to working, as cold weather
ia just commencing to set in.
''Tt is utterly impossible for me to
even approximately guess at the value
of the placer claims in that country
They are not as rich as has been stated
Neither Is the country inexhaust1ble If
not another man goes to the Kfondike,
and NO more claims are discovered, that
country can be worked out in five
years"