The McCook tribune., 1897-08-27
(Sitka, Alaska, Letter. J

The sudden finding OF gold in hith-
erto unsuspected country has made
millionaires out of poor men. In a
minute from poverty they came into
afnuence. The United States will have
more multi-millionaires than ever.
more plutocrats, and more sudden
riches" Canada has not struck it so
rich, for the successful prospectors have
almost without exception, been United
States citizens and residents of the
states. In the sudden. making OF mil
aionaires it is difficult to tell who has
struck 1t richest, accounts are SO wide
ly divergent. But all agree that no ac-
counts have exaggerated the facts, so
far as the finding of great quantities
OF gold is concerned The richest man
among the new Alaska millionaires is
Joseph Ladue. the owner of the town
OF Dawson, and the finder of enormous
gold deposits. Ladue is resident of
Schuyler Falls, Clinton county, N. Y,
where, it is said, he is SOON to be mar
ried to an old sweetheart whom he
could not before afford to wed. When
the gold fever broke out in mild form
two years ago he went to Alaska, after
. failure in the Black Hills, and found
enough to tell him Of greater things Ia
ter on. He returned to his home, but
later went back to Alaska. took up a
claim in the very heart of the country,
paid for certain quantity of land
which was then for sale at very low
figure, and started in to look for gold.
h
the dozen. Dawson" the place was
called, and as the owner sold Off small
portions of the land his fame grew and
spread. He now owns Dawson, having
sold but little, and is so many times
millionaire that his wealth cannot be
estimated. He Is the Barnato of Alas
ka, the man who struck it rich, and,
knowing good thing when he saw it,
held on to it. 1t is only another tale of
SOuth African luck, but much nearer
Aome-enviously near. The rush to the
Alaska gold fields is such that all out
Soing steamers are filled far in ad-
tance. These steamers run intermit-
tently after the cold weather sets in,
and there are long intervals when few
Alaska voyages can be made. This ac-
counts for the awful haste to reach
there before the inland waters become
unnavigable. There is also an over
land route, but this also becomes i'm
practicable after awhile; owing to the
lack of travelling accommodations and
The long distances that must be gone
sver without finding a habitation.
Alaska has never been settled" ow-
ing to the great cold there, but it is
thought that it might in time be made
as livable as any of the other cold cit
les, and, indeed, as St. Petersburg or
Christiania or any of the large North
of-Europe cities. But this is quite
step ahead, though not at all i'm
probable.
At present, if you want to get to
Alaska and become a Barnato, there
are two ways of going. One is by sea
and the other is overland. If you take
the sea route you can start by steam
ship from Seattle. if you have been for
tunate enough to secure accommoda-
tions ahead, and crossing the Gulf of
Alaska, touch first at Unalaska, passing
through the Aleutian Islands. From
there the route lies directly north, get
ting colder and colder every minute.
Here you will need all the arctic wraps
you have brought with you The ships
fare will be warm, nourishing food
cereals, chocolate, meats and spices.
Bit for all that, you will need fur over
coats, fur hoods, blanket wraps, woolen
mittens and big, warm, fur-lined bags
IN which to sleep. For one going from
q very warm city into this region the
change is so great and so sudden that
there is sure to be great suffering, and
many of the would-be Barnatos turn
back here. The crew, on the other
-hand, enjoy it, being accustomed to a
polar latitude-for you are now ap-
proaEhing the pole. In spring the
weather would be getting daily warm
er as the season advanced, but now you
would find it steadily growing more
biting The steamship stops at st.
Michaels; and here, within sight of
Behring sea, almost within hailing dis
Sance of the Behring strait, you leave
the steamship and start inland to
search for gold. The Barnatos have