Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-08-13
LIFE AT DAWSON CITY
Vigilance Committee Keeps the Ped Men
in Ehectual Check.
Interesting Story of Girl Adyenturer
In Boys C1Oihes--Defcnded Her
Fathers Claim.

A letter lately received at Tacoma.
wash, from a New York state man now
IN Dawson gives an interesting picture of
life in that metropolis 1t says:
Perhaps you would like to know what
scrt OF town this is. You have heard
about wide-open towns. This is one of
them.
Everything goes here; the saloons never
close. and gambling goes on at all hours:
Ii fact, rothing in the way of dissipation
Is ever checked at ALL
There Is no-city government In this
place of tents and shanties, but we have
vigilance committee. which takes the
place of both the government and the laws.
You see, this is British country up here,
ana most or us are Americans, so we do
not know much about what the law is.
This being the case, we run the place
as We think We ought to. / am one of the
vigilance committee.
1t is nothing for thousand dollars to
change hands on the turn of a card-I
Tean in gold dust for real money is a
scarce article out here. Every man has a
sack OF dust, and he buys or CANDLES by
the ounce.
THE dance halls are lively enough, too
for there are a lot of women up here, such
as they are.
Il reckon there are about 1850 people
here. all told. but they can make enough
HoiSe IOT Twice that many.
Not Much Killing.
There is not as much killing going on
here as you would think, because We do
not think much of bad men up here. We
have planted about dozen of them in the
last two months. and it has had the effect
of keeping the tough sort quiet.
Il write about night, but We don't have
any night here. The sun sets about 10
pm. and rises about am, but it never
gets dark. You can read a newspaper out
o. doors at midnight, so you see 1t doesn't
make much difference when you sleep.
The result Is that the people here don't
have any regular time for sleeping or eat
ing. They just live as they want to.
You see all kinds of people here. be-
lieve that every ration we ever heard Of
In New York is represented. Everybody is
az good as everybody else.
There is one cid fellow that used to be
a slave, and his wool is as gray as a
sleeps pelt. -,
He came up herewith freighting out
put, and did not have any idea Of getting
to the gold fields. Iibutt swhen he did get
there, old as he WASH he got the fever.
He staked out afclainE and has cleaned
up $4,000 In gold ddst.
"You ought to hear him talk about what
he is going to do with,lit. His name, he
says. is St John Atherton. and ne comes
from down in Georgia, 'ojust piece out
of Atlanta. fo9
VIII Buy Abe Old Place.
HE says that theq daughter Of the man
that owned him dafing ahe war is. living
there yet on the old plantation, and very
poor. The old man IS going back. he says.
and is going to buy that plantation, and
then he is going to have this woman that
is there do nothing but lsye like lady the
rest of her life. -
.If the papers n,ar,nted half the queer
things I have heard here 1t would be bet
ter than q book.
about three months ego an old man
came from back east and had with him a
boy fifteen years old. He was one OF the
incest boys ever saw. He and his father
staked out claim Just east OF claim
right on the river that the boys call Blue
Richness
1T think the old man said he came from
Massachusetts,. He was quiet. peaceable
old man. minded his own business and paid
no attention to anybody.
AFTER he commenced work on his claim
few days It got around that he washed
out IS dirt. That means that every pan Of
dirt he washed out had 3 worth Of gold
In 1t.
There ID q lot of mean fellows up here
who, when they think man that has =
good thing can be run or try to run him
on.
$50 one night two or three OF these fell
lows went to the cid mania tent with guns
and told him ana the boy that Il they didn't
I a. 4.