The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-09-02
G0O,000 THIS SEASON
RIOH DIGGINGS HAVE BECOME
COMPARATIVELY IDLH.
PROVISIONS GOING TO BE SCARCE
The Northwest Territory Of Aask Compared
With Lottery--Some Strike Rich
Mne--0thers Miss the Vel
low Metal.

San Francisco, Cal, Sept. 1.-The Bull
letin has received a letter from Charles
Haines, dated Dawson City, July 26. Mr..
Haines is a we'll known newspaper writer
and his letter is the first written by Il
trained newspaper man to come out OF
the Klondyke gold regions. He says:
'The rich diggings have become COM
paratively idle during the summer, al
though the output. from Eldorado and
Bonanza Creeks was famous and there
is plenty of gold in sight There is every
prospect of an immense output of gold
from this district next spring. The toH.
output this season is, as near as L can
Judge. about S7,000,000 but very little
ground has been worked, and the dumps
will. like some of the tailings of old Cali
fornia. pan out thousands of dollars
when worked with improved machinery.
The placers are the most puzzling and
deeeiving I have ever seen. Imagine a
man working on good "color" and finding
the ground worth only a few dollars per
day, and then turning to waste OF mud
and moss with no surface indications and
unearthing a bonanza. That is the situa-
ton here and all over Alaska. The man
|
expense of health and happiness, and it is
with "A question of making fortune
quickly or chances with death. About me
are scores of men who can weigh their
gold by the pocketful and who value their
claims at millions.
"Eour hundred valuable diggings are
stretched along creeks and every digging
| is a fabulous mine of gold, yet there are
weary men who have gone and returned
| to Dawson after searching the great
country hereabouts and never a nugget
do they show for their toll, their long
tramp over broken ground and into a
country whose disadvantages are ex-
ceeded by no other place on earth. This
Alaska northwest territory is an odd
prize drawing proposition that can liken
gold by the bucketful and who value their
parisOn than lottery.
"A number of spots are selected on the
creeks and rivers, and for one year the
miner labors. The year closes, the water
runs and the seasons output barely pays
expenses. Not two miles away from the
unfortunate one work a man who has
taken from an uninviting bit of earth a
sackful of gold. The lucky one did not
strike the pocket because of his ability as
a miner; chance favored him and that
was all. In short, the miner guesses at it
and locates any and everywhere. In -
out of 20 cases he misses it and has to
wait another year for a new trial Daw-
son is merely a collection of log huts, sa-
looms and mass of tents, about six hun
dred in number. When the long nights
come and the glass goes down to 65 de-
grees below zero. there will be intense
suffering here and / shudder to think of
| the results
| Provisions are going to be very scarce,
and there is little reason to doubt that
the entire town will have to get on short
rations during the winter and that
scurvy will be rampant. The gold that
will 60 down the river for San Francisco
and Seattle will amount to about So, 2,OOO,-
600. There is lot of gold that will re.
main in camp, for it is used as an equi-
valent OF money and is legal tender at
SIT per ounce. OF the 5000 or 1000 in
habitants, only couple Of hundred a t the
most have made big strikes. There is
plenty of work at from SIS to 500 per
day, and many men have paid $3.50 or
less for living and saved the balance.
Reports of other strikes are constantly
so far as Stewart and Polly rivers are
concerned, but nothing like so rich as the
Klondyke has been reported. Quite a
number Of people are preparing to leave
here for Juneau, in case the steamers
cannot get through with provisions, and
the outlook for good grub supply is not
encouraging. In conclusion, the Alaska
and Norehwest territory gold fields VII
be developed slowly.
''Ten thousand men may come here,
but they will be lost in the vast country
hen they spread out to prospect. Not
or than 500 of them Will strike q
lpi'.e. When they do strike pay gravel, !
their fortunes will be made. IN years TO |
come. when, at the sacrifice Of human |
life and energy, the treasures or this |
great land are loce led, the wealth or the
North VIII be something beyond compre-
hepsion."
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