The age-herald., 1897-08-04
LAND OF GOLDEN PROMISE To Reach Which Means Untold
 Hardship. THOUSANDS SEEKING IT Little Dreaming the Golden Apple May Lead Them to Horrible Death-Wealth
 Nowi Tragedies to Follow

There is a place In Alaska called the K1ondyke. It is heralded as the land of everlasting prosperity, a land where the gold grows on trees, which to be plucked, requires no other effort than that the fortune-huntef put forth his hand. This is the impression spread by the speculat- or, cold facts do not hold out such an inviting future to the unwary gold hunt CT
 The weather man predicts that the nuggets of gold supposed to hang so temptingly on the branches of the tree of wealth, will turn to icicles eight months in the year to freeze the very blood in the finders veins. Facts say it is long. weary journey to the new Eldorado, ne- cessitating abundant funds.
 Klondyke from the Indian word means "a land of fish, which will shortly be in ta.preted "a land of suckers" Forum ately the delusory stories coming from far away Alaska have aroused few Southernefs.
 z Inquiry at the different railroad off, oes in Birmingham shows that not a sin gle application has been made for "a tes to Alaska. Every one who mysteriously disappears now is suspected to have gone to Alaska, and .in!this way Bfrming ham has made it's nearest approach to furnishing a sucker for the land of gold en fishes.
 The fare from Birmingham to Seattle Washington, is $6O, this being the most distant point in the direction of Alaska to which rates can be secured.
 ONLY THE BEGINNING.
 The people of Seattle are wild When .t,.a J,a, Ie i., ,. ,- classed as a gold-seeker and it is only a question of when are you going?" There are a thousand things to buy that you never dreamed of. but the friendly merchants of Seattle have anticipated your necessities. Everything you naed can be procured, but of course in an emergency of. this kind prices aae not in accordance with Populistic ideas. Guide books, fifteen pound boots, undershrts, one inch thick as an armor against the cold a frost extractor, how could you get along without all these things?
 Now there is great demand for horses, Some recommend kind, gentle horses, others wild mustangs that can forage for a living and the stranger is met with an impenetrabie mass of suggestions on every hand.
 
 attle, that is the gold itself. Every fa- cility is furnished to reach the land of promise
 WINTER IN THE KLONDYKE.
 It is estimated that between thirty and forty thousand gold-hunters are on thsGr way to Alaska Every steamer clearing from Pacific ports carries it's full quo to of men and their mining equipments while hupdrsedc and tho1lS rdx. ora route overland. Nothing but the greed for gold would impel them on-through the dangers and privations that confront them in the long, toilsome journey Num- bers of them ate meagerly supplied with money and what they will do when the Arctic winter bursts is fearful to con- template
 Without doubt there will be great suffering during the coming winter even supposng they will be able to make the long sea voyage and overland journey safely. Winter in the Yukon districts be- gins the latter part of September, and what winter means beneath the Arctic circle to men who are but poorly shelter ed and perhaps insuffciently provided with food, needs no eXplana ton.
 Those who have already joined tiie hegira to the gold fields have taken the chance and must suffer the consequences. The talk is now all of gold; later it may be of tragedies. Those who contemplate the hazardous journey would do well to consider some of the facts.
 SIXTY DAY JOURNEY.
 First, as to getting to tlle Klondyke river, the richest of the gold fields yet discovered. Going by the St. Michaels route from Chicago the gold hurter has before him by rail. sea and overland, travel as best he may, a journey of about one-third the distance around the globe, or considerably over 5000 miles, or by the Chilkoot pass route distance of 3.SS5 Eles. The journey by the former re- quires from forty to sixty days, and by the latter at least thirty days. The latter part of the journey for about S00 miles is over. "a sea of mountains" through an uninhaeted country and in an inhospita- be climate.
 Supposirg the prospective nirer to have sufficient money. courage and strength to make this journey safely. NhGse who left last week will find the summer over on their arrival and before them a long stretch of eight months of Arctic writer, during which. in midwin- ter, the sun rises from 9:30 to 10 a. nl and sets from to D. m., giving about four hours of daylight, with a mean tempera- ture of about degrees below zero in November, Il below in December, IT be-