The herald., 1897-07-28
when it gets back to a fluid state. The

Wnen IL gets BACK TO q nulQ state, Inc
water is taken right from the creek.
THE mining is all done along the edge
of the creek or river. The formation
seems to be coarse gravel, with mix
ture of clay, and looks as though it might
all have been subjected to the action Of
a glacier or water at some time or other.
Each claim runs 500 feet up and down
the stream and extends across on each
side to the top of the mountains. The
Bonanza district is just a narrow can
yon, say perhaps two miles across from
summit to summit, and the mountains on
each side are a thousand or more feet
high. While the first mining was all
done in the bottom Of the canyon, still
they have begun to prospect in the hills
at each side and they have found pay
dirt as high as $3.50 to the pan. think
there will be good deal of work on the
hills from this time out.
PLENTY OF ROOM
my idea," said Mr. Norcross, sis that
there Is a very extensive territory in
that northwest country which Is gold
producing and fifty years from now 1
believe there will be a good deal of it
about which people will know practically
nothing. 1t is an immense country and
the difficulties of getting through 1t and
working 1t are so great that there will
be chances there for a long time.
AS 1t stands now a great many small
mines that would be worked in any other
part Of the country have been aban-
dohed by the parties who rushed to the
Clondyke district. There are lots Of
good chances for men to get hold of these
moderately well paying claims.
THE MINING LAWS
Elm the northwest country under the
Canadian law a man can take up only
one claim in district, but he can buy
and hold as many claims as he can pay
for, and the pay is made pretty easy in
most cases or had been up to the time
I left. Everything goes. If man can
pay little money, the seller will then
give him a chance to go to work and
wash out the gold to make up the bal
ance. I know of one case like this
where man took out enough with a
rocker to pay for his claim. Up in that
country mans word is about as good
as his bond and credit is easily obtained
for anything except grub
the worst on the Clondyke district. They
went in there and because the trees did
not lean the right way they gave it the
go by. 1t did not hitch in with their old
mining prejudices. When they went
back and found what the tenderfeet
were doing they were the most excited
set of men you ever saw. The tenderfeet
were not excited at all. They imagined
that things were always that way and
they worked right along and took gold
out, but the old prospectors were in a
perfect furry"
The reporter questioned Mr.. Norcross
as to how much Clondyke gold he had
brought away with him, but he modestly
declined. to state the amount of his
"clean up"
IT did pretty WE'LL" he said, "but if
begin to give figures folks would think
I wanted to blow about it," and then he
pulled out buckskin pouch and showed
a score or so of nuggets just as samples.
When questioned as to his future plans,
Mr.. Norcross said he thought he should
not go back to the Yukon country.
$4,000 FOR COOKING
Another gentleman who knows some
thing Of Mr.. Norcross's adventure in
the north, however, puts the outcome of
it in about this way. ''The old man
cooked for the party he was with
through the summer, and for that they
gave him about $4,000 in nuggets and
then he sold his claim for $4,000 more
and he brought about $4,000 down with
him. That will make him comfortabl
for the rest of his life. He found, how
ever, that the gold was not so valuable
as it was supposed to be in the Yukon
country, and the $4,000 in nuggets fell
short about $1,000 when he disposed of
them, but he thinks the men who bought
the claim will make it good. A thous-
and dollars more or less under the cir
cumstances does not amount to much,
and miners word is good under all
ordinary circumstances.
Some of the sample nuggets were
loaned by Mr.. Norcross to the Herald and
were displayed in the window of the
business office yesterday afternoon,
holding crowd of interested spectators
almost constantly.