The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-08-10

time prospector has spent months or
even years with only his pack animal
for company in his lonely search for
wealth, and has avoided his fellow man
as he would pursuing vengeance,
Ills outfit is simple. If complete, ne
rides horse or mule-Where he can.
upon another animal Is packed his out
mt. The old saw buck pack saddle is
still the best, and upon it is put roll
or blankets, a war bag" a seamless
sack, containing a change of shirts, a
frying pan, coffee pot, few tin dish
es, and such provisions as he has,
which are usually flour, bacon, coffee,
baking powder and salt. All these are
covered with canvas tent or sheet.
On top are strapped his pick, shovel
and pan" which looks like a large
zized copper wash basin.
Arriving at a raVine which looks
promising, the miner gathers in his pan
some of the finer sand along a solid
bottom, and by repeated washings,
which are performed with rotary mo-
ton, the coarser particles are sluiced
over the sides. He then has in the bot
tom little gray-black sand, and If he
has struck it rich he can see with the
naked eye the particles of gold mixed
With it. They may be so fine that it
takes a glass to determine the presence
OF color" or very fine grain. If
then he feels encouraged he stakes off
a claim, digs down to bed rock and in
vestigates more thoroughly. If he has
struck pay dirt he hurries away to the
recorders office, files his claim obtains
help to work it, either with money, if
he has it, or by taking in a partner.
He sinks a shaft to bed rock and
drifts" up along the real bottom of
the gulch. If his tales of gold to be
had are encoura ging, others follow him
back to his location, stake out mine
claims, and, if the gold is there, a
stampede" is on, a new Eldorado her
aided, and men are made rich or poor
as they may play the cards.
AS soon as the existence of pay dirt
has been established more permanent
works are built. Long, narrow wood
en- boxes, called sluices, are built, with
narrow cleats across the bottom. Wat
err is turned into this and the gold
bearing gravel shoveled in at the head.
The heavy particles of gold drop to the
bottom, the dirt is washed in and out
at the lower end AT night the water is
turned off, cleanup of the boxes is
made, and upon the results depend the
days earnings. The plant is mostly
labor, hence placer mining is called the
poor mans mining.
These later corners pay for their
claims, and where water is scarce it
must be brought. In California as
much as four hundred thousand dollars
has been paid for water enough to run
the sluices. When the placer ground
is all taken up search is commenced for
the quartz lode from which the gold
came. Shafts are sunk, stamp mills for
crushing the rock are built, and the
pulp is washed for gold, much on the
same principle followed by the miner
with his pan. This has been the histo-
ry of the discovery and progress of ev-
cry mining camp in the United States.
Who shall tell, however, of the years
of weary days spent in fruitless pam
ning-horses getting weak, grub get
ting low, and mans hope about ex-
hausted, and still no gold in sight. 1t
is here the strange fascination Of the
hunt for gold comes in play. From
early sun up the miner tolls for the pan
full of gravel which will tell the story.
Hardly stopping for breath, he delves
on. The sun sinks below the tops of
the pines far up on the mountain top
above him. The long shadows creep
across the gulch. An owl boots some
where from the black shadows. Eager
ly scanning the bottom of the pan for
that he seeks, he fails to find it. His
labor is for naught-but there is an
other gulch just over the hill, and there
is still another day. With aching limbs
he lies down on his hard bed, rolls the
blankets tight around him, and with
his war bag for a billow sleeps undis-
turbed and dreams of pans of gold too
heavy for him to lift, nuggets greater
than those ever found before, and to
the accompaniment of the wind in the
pines, the derisive boot of the owl, and
the distant scream Of a mountain lion
which scents an intruder in his domain.
That is the story of the gold mines Of
the west, but what of Alaska? There
a thousand new features are encoun-
| tered. No patient horses to carry the
miners pack but a handsled upon I'M
| fashionable SHOWS. A fortune in bag
| of flour, nine months of winter and
three months of cold, wet summer.
Five thousand miles to get there, and
| five thousand miles to get back. The
cream of the fortune SKINNED ere this,
and only the leavings for those yet to
come. Multiply the difficulties by a
thousand, the disappointments by ten
! thousand and you will have the story
of the Klondike mines.-Kansas City
Star