Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-08-02
DAWS0N'S RlCHMINES
E. A. Miner Tolls Of the Growth Of
the Rev Camp.
OPENINGS For NEWCOMERS
Easy Pass Over the Mountains by
Way Of White Trail.
NEWSPAPER FOR KLONDYKE

NEWSPAPER FOR KLONDYKE
The steamer Alki, which returned to
Seattle yesterday, after trip to Juneau,
brought the following letter from E. A.
Miner to the New York Journal:
DAWSON CITY, Kloudyke river Canada, :
June 20.
This is the land of gold. )
rarely misled. not California in the days
Of 40, not Australia, not the prolific Rand
in South Africa should rank with it.
l venture to estimate the output Of gold
for the season from the placers in the
immediate neighborhood Of Dawson at
$5OOO.OOO. Some Of the enthusiastic min
ers here say that the product for the sea-
son will be nearer 100000 than 5000, 600,
but I have noticed a local inclination to
Drag and l want to be entirely within the
facts in any Information I send out from
this camp of marvels.
Before this message can reach the coast
the story of the richness of these gold
laden placers will be the property of the
world. for by that time the miners who
left here with their bags of gold will have
reached the American cities with their
the skeptical.
Dawson has grown like mushroom
since the news of the richness of the mines
In this neighborhCod mas reached the other
diggings along the Yukon and its trib-
utaries The present population of this
town is about 1000. Men are streaming In
as rapidly as their legs or the river steam
ers or horses will transport them. We In
Dawson have notion that by the close Ct
the short summer season there will be
1000 people in the town.
Dawson Matches Tombstone.
And such a town! 1t has some of the
characteristics of mining camps that Bret
Harte has made into story, but it has quail
ties that California camps never had and
never could have The game of life is
played fast, and the boisterous side of min
ing camps is developing the population
increases. Now Dawson would match Tomb
stone when Tombstone was young. There
are gamblers by the score, and there are
dance halls by the score.
The principal source of fighting in frontier
mining camps-disputes over the possession
of claims-has been missing up to this time
from the Klondyke region. The Canadian
mining laws seem fair, and they are re-
garded and are enforced well possible
by the small official force representing the
dominion government. section in the law
prohibits miner from taking up more
than one claim in neighborhood. This
provision of law leads to caution in the
selection Of claims, and estops land grab
bers from controlling all the claims in sight.
l do not mean that all the residents of
Dawson are willing to obey the law merely
because it is law, for l am certain that
many OF the men are worrying their brains
to devise schemes to get hold of number
of claims, and would be glad to evade the
rules. Miners generally work in groups, or
companies and each member of a group
has an interest in all the claims worked for
the joint account of himself and compan-
Ilyft hn hovy4 v,NI
shows itself in the big population of the
town. There is no good reason that so
many should be here except this provision
of law restricting man to one location"
When a miner has 'only one rattle out of
the box" he takes time before making his
throw Therefore Dawson is base of
operations for men who go out from this
center on prospecting trips. -.---'
Claims on Good Ground Taken Up.
There are no openings here for newcom-
ers to locate claims along any of the creeks
where gold placers are known to exist. All
the claims on the good ground" in this
immediate vicinity have beea taken up. A
stranger has to get out and prospect in
places of which nothing definite is known.
yet. of course places just as likely to con-
tain gold as any Of the claims that have
yielded the big fortunes to the miners.
Parties leave here every day on prospect
Ing tours When a discovery of gold is
reported crowds rush out in frenzy to the
place.
The thronging in of men is making an
important change in the prices paid for
labor. While provisions are DEAR the price
of labor is going down. l have known
laborer to get $50 day for his toll, but
that price was not paid to every man. The
indication now is that many men who
must have food and clothing will crowd
the town and that the rate of wages will
fall to the cost of subsistence. Flour is
IS a sack.
The weather is intensely disagreeable.
The mercury has stood at 81 degrees for
two hours in the shade. and this is morn
ing. And there are neutrality-suspicious.
and millions Of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. as
wharf rats, fiercely singing. They con-
tribute to the discomforts of living on the
klondyke
Three Hundred Miles of Gold.
Gold in one form or another has been
found along a belt nearly 300 miles long.
By the close of the season much more will
be known of the character of this belt, for
the prospecting going on is thorough, the
circumstances and population considered,
and more definite information should re-
suit.
When / can send a trustworthy report
for the guidance of persons contemplating
trip to the Yukon next spring, I shall
hurry it down. Just now not much that is
ground, because of the absence of avajla-
bic openings for stakes in any district
known to be worth working.
Those who have claims on the Bonanza.
the Ell Dorado and the Bear seem certain
Of immense fortunes.
1 cannot truthfully say more
Rich Find Mt Rainy Lake.
A rich strike has been made at the Ran
dolph mine, near Mine Center Rainy Lake
City, MINI. Ore that will assay from $500
to 81 600 to the ton has been uncovered.
A blast that was made there two days
ago threw up several good seed nuggets.
One of them weighing twenty-five ounces
is pure gold. The discovery Is the richest
yet made in the Seine river country The
controlling interest in the mine is owned
by Louis A. Hall of New York. The news
has caused great deal of excitement
throughout the gold fields.
NEWSPAPER FOR KLONDYKE.
Chicago Woman Expects to Start One
in the Gold Fields.
One of the first newspapers to be start
ed in the Klondyke region will be owned
and operated by a Chicago woman. Mrs