The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-17

When this gravel is thawed 1t 10 broken IN with
picks and thrown in a big heap with shovels. 1t
varies in depth from fourteen to twenty feet, |
and it 10 richest in gold close to the bod rock.
You never saw gravel so filed with coarse gold.
We have only the rudest apparatus yet. We
use a short sluice with riHles arranged every few
inches. The gold IL 20 coarse that we save about
per cent. without any quicksilver. Many
men simply use the pan and rocker.
What we need is q device for the rapid soft
ening OF this gravel. / am now at work on one
which, II perfected. win enable us to do as
much work In one day as we do now in q week. |
I'm tho region now worked there are q score
of crooks, each rich in gold deposits. The creeks
comprising the bonanza districts are Bonanza, |
RI Dorado, Victoria, Adams, Mccormick. Reddy
Bullion. Nugget Gulch, Bear, Baker, and Chez
In the Hunker district are the Main
Fork, Hunker and Gold Bottom creeks. The
banks Of these streams are dotted with white
tents Of miners, and o prettier sight 1t would be
hard to ind. Over on Dominion Creek gold has
been found. and 800 miners started for that
place the day we started for San Francisco. Tho
surface prospects are quite az favorable as on
the Bonanza.
1T is easier to reach Dawson City now than
when the discovery OF gold was announced.
Appliances have been placed at all the mountain
passes, 80 that heavy loads are pulled up steep
aNhhAN ehe V saSVh VII thV thC ~ \ iooA
for . big rush next year. and there viii be won
derful stories to tell when the season 10 ended.
Dawson City 10 not o paradise by any means,
but there are much worse places. The winter
cold is intense. but as there is plenty of timber
around we do not suffer. Our summer lasts
about six weeks, but during that time 1t is very
warm. The day We started 1t was 93' in the
shade. The MOSQUITO Is our worst enemy"
Mrs. Tom Lippy is the arst woman who
- G-.l - a. - Nyv---
dixie camp. She is a little, 1.-the, brown-haired
woman with honest brown eyes that have no
fear in them. She does not think she did any.
thing remarkable in following her husband
where many men are afraid to 20. She dresses
neatly now and in the latest style, and the only
mark of her hard life is the tan. which 1t will
take months to remove. She said to-day:
II was the first white woman on the creek
and the only one in our camp. There was an
other one mile from us, Mrs Berry. She was the
only white woman I had to speak to while we
| were at camp. When we got to FL Dorado
Greek we lived In q tent until Mr.. Lippy got our
log cabin built. It is twelve feet by eighteen,
eight logs high, with mud and moss roof, and
moss between the chinks, and has O door and
window. Mr.. Lippy made the furniture "a
rough bed, table, anG some stools. We had q
stove-there are plenty Of stoves in that coun-
try-and that was all we needed. The cabin was
cosey and warm. Hooked after,the housekeep-
ing and Mr.. Lippy after the mining.
Everything we had to eat was canned.
Things were canned that 1 never knew could DO
canned before. OF COURSE, we missed fresh food
dreadfully, but we kept well and strong. We
had no fresh milk or meats or fruits or eggs.
"Amusementsl Well, nobody bothered much
about amusements. Every one was busy and
kept busy all the time. I did my work. Mining Is
hard w~ork-one doesn't pick gold Of the ground.
1t 10 genuine toll, and when Mr.. Lippy finished
he wanted to rest. All men were about alike on
that point.
"Th country is beautiful and quite warm in
summer. In winter it 10 different. with the
mercury away below zero. Still I went out
every day. but when snow was on the ground I
didn't go far from the cabin.
Fashion Well. we were not entirely cut OF
from the fashionable world. People were COM
ing in oil the time. We got fashion papers, a
few months old, to be sure, but still they kept
us fairly up to time. One trader brought some
skockingly old-fashioned cloaks to camp, but we
wouldn't look at them. He had to sell them to
Indians. I didn't change my way of dressing
particularly. Idressed moro warmly to suit the
climate. and wore fur boots and a cap constant
~ during the cold weather. but in summer We
dressed much as at home"
One of the peculiar features Of the new Gang
10 the lack OF shooting, due to the fact that the
Canadian Government does not permit men t.
carry firearms. Police disarm miners when theJ
enter the district. so that there is not any of tn,
lawlessness and crime which marked early place.
mining in California. There IL much gambling
and play is high. An old miner. Alexander Orr
who spent eight winters in Alaska, but will moi
return, said to-day:
Dawson Is not like most of the largo mininl
camps. 1t is not a tough town; murders are al
most unknown. The miners are a quiet, peace
able kind OF men. who have gone there to worl
and are willing that everybody else shall have al
equal chance with themselves. A great deal O
gambling Is done In town, but serious quarrel
are the exception. As Q gambling town / thin
1t 10 equal to any 1 have ever seen, and this, b
the way, 10 Always the test of O mining camp
prosperity. Stud poker is the usual game. The
MAY 81 ante, and often bet $500 or $500 on tn
third card"
Orr sold out his claim for sc, 000, and th
men who bought it made the purchase money II
four months. Perhaps the best idea Of what ha
been done in the new camp can be gained fror
the following short interviews with returne
miners:
William Kulju said:
81 brought down Just 1000 ounces of dul
and sold it to smelling works. worked at i
Dorado Creek, near Dawson. and was In tha
country about a year, and had . couple Of do
lhTo hlll - pbSA A-ob NL4ANSt
sold my claim for S25, 900. part cash and tn
> balance to be paid as It is taken out. New I n
> taking a trip to the old country-FinlaDa-"n
an coming back next year"
Fred Lendeseen:
~ went to Alaska two years ago, and when
D left there six weeks ago / brought $4,000
gold dust with me. have had considerable O.
. perience in mining. and say without hesitatio
that Alaska 10 tho richest country I have ey'
. seen. have interest in a claim near DawsC
= and am going back In the spring.
Z Greg Stewart:
a 81 had q partner and I sold out my intere
for S45, 900 and put my money back again
interest In mines. My partner had 1900 ounc'
t of dust, but 1t fell short four ounces on the wa
r down. The dust will go over SIT an ounce. b
q we are all waiting for returns from the smeltir
works. I brought = few hundred ounces wi
y me. but I get interest Of 2 per cent. on sho
o loans. expect to return next spring."
John Marks: