The San Francisco call., 1897-10-26

so when Bill sits behind a faro layout at
night his hands twinkle like a constella-
tion in the heavens.
"Swiftwater Bill' is as much a charac-
ter and product of fortune in the Yukon
as Barney Barnato was in South Africa
He spends more money around town than
Barnato ever did, and he thinks no more
of letting from $1,000 TO $4,000 go per
night than many people would of ''blow-
ing in" 5 cents for a Hamburg steak at a
sidewalk restaurant.
There IS an i'll concealed jealousy be.
tween "Swiftwater Bill" Aleck McDon-
aid. Antonio the Italian Prince and Clar-
ence Berry's brothers as to who shall
set the pace in Dawson's tenderlons.
They strive for precedence in the largest
amount of money that they elbow inn
II one man spends $1,000 tonight another
one of this coterie will go him $500, $1,000
or $1,000 better to- morrow night.
Julian Trippe brought out the first story
of ''salted" placer mines. He says that
number of claims on creeks tributary to
the richest discoveries have been pur-
posely plugged with dust, and that the
saIted claims have been sold at fabulous
prices on the strength of several rich pans
spots. The reason that there has not
been more noise aboutth sailed work
is that when the men got bit they said
nothing, with the idea of selling the claim
10 another sucker" 1t has GOT 10 be so
now that any man who contemplates buy
ing claim in the Kondike will sink a
sh aft and cut out several drifts before he
will put any money into the prospect.
Mp0 hos taE To
all the locations that he can. He now has
interests in twenty-eight claims. He has
paid for all of them with money taken out
of the ground on mis- other claims. An
tonic, the Italian Prince is close to Nc
Donald a bonanza king. He owns
claims 4, 5 and 6, Ell Dorado, and two
claims on Bonanza. 1t is almost literally
true that upon two Of the Ell Dorado
claims this son of Italy can shovel out
coarse gold and find that each shovelfuI is
half gravel and half nuggets
Antonio has raised the salary OF his
house keeper to $500 week pin money.
and she has In addition to the pin money
a written agree ment for $40, 600 per an.
mum for her services. The name OF this
housekeeper is Miss Violet Raymond.
Miss Raymond has in her wardrobe nearly
son, aud satins of more varied and radi-
ant tlnts than there are IN the spectrum.
The Prince can elbow in" half million
and then come out OF the Klondike with
million and a half in his inside pocket.
Two years ago the Prince did not have
enough money to buy salmon from an
Indian.
Gus Bake, formerly Juneau resident,
ha lot
Opera-house has been built The loi sur
rounded by shanties, huts, tents, dugouts
and numerous nondescript habitations
pitched on moose pasture" almost
within the Arctic circle, is valued at
$4,000. Before the discovery the Klon-
dixie was called moose pasture. Pros
pectoTs who have grown gray hunting for
gold in the Yukon have walked over it
season after season. 1t remained for a
tenderfoot to scratch little on the sur
face and find gold and the farther he
went down the more gold he dug up.
Many people are now idle in Dawson.
The supply of labor exceeds the demand.
Wages are down to $40 day. Most of
the big mipe-owners have ample supplies
of provisions, the value of which ranges
from $4,000 to $4,000 each. Aleck Nc
Donald's supply is worth 1000. Sugsr
has risen in price to $25 per hundred
weight and -four $12 a sack Last Elk at
! Five finger Rap ds -four sold for $52 a
hundred. There was very little of it to be
had at that price. These are the latest
quotations from the Klondike.
When coming over the Skaguay trail
Dave Thompson said he walked part of
the way upon the carcasses OF dead horses.
Hal HOFFMAN,