The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-08-26
GOLDEN STORIES.
Returning Klondikers Bring
Weird Tales Of the
Bonanza Region.
POSSIBILITIES OF THE FUTURE
Sixty Claims staked out-hen
Wanted to Work the
Fine Gold.
POSSIBILITIES OF THE FUTURE

lsleft St. Michael's at the month Of the
Yukon. July %. was spoken last night off
Race Rocks at $3.50 by The Associated
Press tug Vigilant which was in the
straits watching for the arrival of the
| steamer Portland. The Colman brings
four passengers who have been in the
Klondike and who left Dawson City July
II. The passengers are Charles H. Met
calf, of Detroit Mich; B. e. Jones, Berk-
eley. Cal, an assayer for the Alaska Com
mercial Company at Dawson; G. B. and
q. B. Patrick, BROTHERS. from Humboldt,
Cal. They left Dawson ten days after
the Thorp party, which arrived at Seattle
last week on the steamer George q. Carr
from Dyea.
They all tell stories of the richness of
the IIondike. Bonanza and Eldorado
creek, but all say that very few clean-ups
Metcalf has been engaged in the merchan-
disc business at Dawson City, Circle City
and other points for three pears past and
| has been out every year. He goes in each
year over the Dyea trial and last spring
| he took twenty tons of freight. 1t took
| him from March to May l TO get his
| freight over the pass with one man, two
horses ana eight dogs. From Lake Lin
sderman to Dawson city he was fourteen
| days.
| When the Colman left ST. Michael's,
| there were about twelve men waiting to
| come out on the steamer Portland and
another steamer with passengers was ex-
| for the sailing of the Portland. The men
| waiting at St. Michael's all had from five
| TO fifteen thousand dollars, but no phe-
nomenal strikes were reported by them.
| Metcalf said 1t takes from 20 to % days
| to go from st. Michaels to Dawson City
and passengers leaving Seattle later than
/ August 20 will have no chance of reach-
ing Dawson City this fall The Lippy
| claim on Bonanza Creek, from which
| gold amounting to $1l2,000 was taken, he
L Of hecf 1atTo Ia NC
| in the group. Others will doubtless prove
| just as rich when fully developed.
| The first claim located on Bonanza
| Greek was named Discovery and is recog-
| nized by miners as the center of the
| field many others being numbered each
way from it. Sixty claims are now To-
! in all fifteen miles being taken. On Ell
| dorado Creek, which empties into Bon
| ANA, sixty claims are located, twenty
| nearest the junction of the creeks be-
Gated on Skookum Gul6p. tributary to
| Bonanza Creek. N. w. Porters of Den
| yer and Joseph Goldsmith of Juneau
| took $500 in nuggets, Ignoring fine. gold.
| They afterwards sold the claim for S25,-
600 cash. They worked only four weeks
Bear Greek, small tributary to Klon-
| dixie, is also remarkably rich IN gold.
B. E. jones' of Berkeley, Cal, said:-'I
| should say there are about 2,500 people in
Dawson and on the creeks about there
| This summer only about twenty claims
have been worked and thus far not a
| large sum of money has been taken out
Most everybody is getting ready for the
| winters work which will be pushed as
! vigorously this year as last, As far as |
can estimate, the great wealth of the
1 Klondihe is holding out. Still the
amount of gold that will come down this
| fall will not be as large as estimated in
some quarters, l should say that there
will be in the neighborhood of 175 men
down by the Portland and Excelsior, and
very fair average to each man would
not exceed $4,000. Many will bring down
practically nothing. would not care to
say what the Alaska Commercial Conn
pany has in gold on hand.
"At one time gold was SO plentiful at
Dawson people did not know what to do
were filled and the stuff was packed
away in saloons and in any place the
miners could find. But most of the gold
was taken out when the clean-ups We're
completed last spring. Since then there
has not been such large amount of gold
coming out as the wet season does not
there will be about 600 claims in active
operation. They will nearly all do well
according to present indications and next
winters output will be proportionately as
large as last. although there will not be
as many very rich strikes.
The schooner Fred E. Sanders arrived
early this morning thirty days from st.
Michaels, Alaska, with six passengers
from the Klondike country They ares
=. s; Dinsmore. well known merchant
land, Ore; James McNamee, Juneau; j.
Lowe, well known miner of = Puget
Sound, and Harry Ash and wife, of Daw-
Only, three of the number have been
engaged in mining, but all are much
pleased with their prospect and intend to
in nuggets brought by Sanders is about
$50, 600. James McNamee. of Juneau, who
is on his way to Bartlett Springs, Cal,
probably made the luckiest strike among
them. He took from his fourteen claims
$137 600 but reinvested most Of it."
Mr.. McNamee said:-1 went into Alaska
about four years ago, but only went to
Klondike one year ago. There are about
$500 people in the Klondike district and
unless the Yukon steamers make another
trip this year there will be q shortage of
provisions at awson. The reports of rich
strikes on the Stewart River are untrue.
Bars pan out well; but no big strikes
have been made there, during the last
twelve months. II think the entire
Klondike district has not produced to
exceed two million dollars If we could
have secured men to work our claims,
more would have been taken out, but
although wages are SIS per day, men
desired to prospect for themselves.
stIf we get men next season. | believe
the district will produce eight million
dollars.
Puget Sound, brought down enough to
s.get back on" as he termed it, His
promise well. He states that Minook
Creek. 25O miles below Circle City, in Am
erican territory, has been attracting
some attention. Several claims which
have been located there promise well
The steamer Portland is due from St.
Michael's. Alaska, today, and for many
days speculation has been rife as to the
amount of gold she will bring down from
the klondike fields. The arrival. Of the
schooners Fred E. Sanders and j. M. Cole
man. from st. Michaeis, early this morn
ing encourages the belief that the Port
land will not bring a large treasure on
the present trip.
Sound has been pressed into service by
various newspapers and the race from
the straits Of Fuca to the nearest tele-
graph station will be an exciting one.
The weather down the straits is very
thick this morning and the Portland can
easily slip in without being sighted.
HARMON STREET MANH0LE
The City Engineer has at last taken the
Harmon street matter from the hands of
John j. Ficken and has taken measures
to make him comply with the regulations
nd al Rpards 4 san