Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1897-09-25
KLONDIKES GOLDMNE.
AN INTELLIGENT MINERS ACCOUNT
OF THE NEW ElooRAoo.



swamp-More Than $4,000 In Gold
Dust Taken From a space s5xsS
feet-Bcosfuls Of the yellow Metal.
Everything il Klondike now. de-
clares the Washington Pathfinder. and
whether n man is going or not he Is
interested IN all the real facts sur
rounding this remarkable region
facts that are so auique that we have
in the Klondike affair a new chapter III |
the history of gold discovery. dead |
loads" Of literature. % use the appro- !
pirate term. are being published about /
the Klondike. Much of it is suDerfiu-
Gus. but ont OF il all we may be sure a
vast amount of inowiedge concerning
our ice-bound polar territory viii be
spread abroad. Even now We can see
that the prevailing notions ~ 20 the
climate and other conditions of Alaska
have been In the main wrong. From
THIS on. however. the Yukon country
will no longer be terra in,Ognita.
One of the most interesting stories
that has come from the klondike is in7
| the shape OF diary kept by Samsel
| Clark. who left for the Yukon in the
spring and who writes iu'elligently Of
the country. lie says hat the Oh
server would never suspect the exist
ence OF goli-bearing rocSs IN such a
! country. where there is only black
lava. white and gray sand. limestone
aud slate. and nothing 90 AT 10 indi-
cate the immediate vicinity Of tho
| countless millions which lie unearthei
beneath the galches-
Mr.. C.ark's diary goes on: 'Many
! claims pay thousan Is OF dollars to the
day. AMI some clean mp from two %
five Thousand twice a day and think
nothing of H. Every can pot. bucket
and sarN ON the claim is used. they
cannot -et vessels of the proper kind
quick enough Two men iefs on tho
last steamer tle other day with seven
| tv-fvc pounds Of dust each Men
come down from the claims with pack
OF gold on their backs aal throw it i'm
90 corner. and there il u.s. Nothing
is locked up or hidden away; gold Is
scon everywhere AMI everybody has
some.
People are paid big for filling
sacks with moss % chink Log cabins
with. One woman asked q man go fiji
a sack with chips from q tree near 10y
AMI gave him Si.25 for his five min-
utes' rDlble. Gold is more plentiful
than water. for thas Is scarce The
river Is muddy and the springs ar,
colored from moss The SAW mill Is
rushing day and NIGHT. Men stand
ami watch cash log sawed and gral
the lumber "a soon as i. is ripped up
. \ man can sell anything on earth ans
at nearly his own price.
Have been 70 the diggings. At
, the best ground is in swamp. an,
81 the rock slides, bus gold Is all u
places where no sane man would eve
dream OF looking. The mines wer
discovered 10y a squav man VINO wa
salmon fishing. ia bedrock whic
came 20 the surface ma the onlv lttl
- spot in the creek There they du
4 twenty feet IN swamp and morass an
n thicket. frozen. IN this strangest plac
=, on earth for gold. In BeTrys clair
:, he took out Sl3l. 500 in space 75x7
y and 20 feet deep. by burning an
~ drifting under the pay streak. Othe
claim owners about him did still be
:. ter. Claims were 500 feet up an
- down from rim 20 rim. In places the
~ are a quarter of mile wide aud a
= pay. AMI In others not SO wide. Dow
l., narrow creek men are hllng rubbe
- boots, tin cans, canvas bags, IN IA
- anything that will hold dust 1t Is e
! timated that S6. coo. 900 has bee
:. taken ont SO far June i5) aud not on
4 half of the Bonanza and Eldorao
claims even open to bedrock. The
:. is room for 800. 900 men yet on al
- kl0ndike and side streams If they a
- all good. The country Is not hs
prospecsed nor any idea of the exte
~ OF its wealth known rs yet: been iii
- covered only ten months"
go rnd,,ns and Animals In nronre