The record-union., 1897-07-21
Large Crowd to Sail From San
Francisco Next Week.
Talk Of Charterng Another Steamer to
Go to Alaska.
Scores of Men Throwing Up Good
Positions at Victoria, B. c., in
Order to Seek Their Fortunes
in the Clondyke Region-Propo-
sition of a Merchant to Collect
Customs Duties.

customs Duties.
SAN FRANCISCO, July 20.-The ex-
citement over the recent discoveries
of gold in Alaska still continues here,
and when the steamer Excelsior leaves
for ST. Michaels next week she will
carry all the miners supplies she can
hold. The Excelsior Will be the last
steamer to sail this year from San
Francisco to connect with the Yukon
steamers, but there is already talk of
chartering another steamer to take up
a crowd of miners. No more news
from the Clondyke regions will be re-
ceived until the steamers leaving here
and Seattle have returned.
THE FEVER STRIKES VICTORIA.
VICTORIA (B. CO, July 20.-This
city is full Of prospective miners wait
ing for steamers to take them north. In
short, the gold fever has struck the
town, and scores of men are throwing
up good positions in order to seek their
fortunes in the Clondyke gold fields.
John Piercy, wholesale merchant,
has made a somewhat novel PROPOSE
ton to the Dominion Government. He
has offered to pay $4,000 per annum
for period Of five or ten years for the
privilege of collecting duty on goods
going into the Canadian section of the
Yukon country. To his telegram to
this effect the Federal authorities have
not as yet vouchsafed an answer, but
it is believed that customs officers will
be sent up there to collect duty on
American goods which are being TAX
en- into the country Immediately.
WILL BE A RUSH NEXT SPRING.
PORT TOWNSEND CWash), July 20
Owing to the present rush to the
Clondyke gold fields, and the still
greater rush which is bound to come
next spring, the Puget Sound Tugboat
Company has decided to put a steamer
on the Yukon River to carry passen-
gers and freight from ST. Michaels to
Circle City and the Clondyke Valley.
The company may operate two steam
ers on the river next season. Steam
boat men here estimate that beginning
about the first of next April a large
steamer can leave the Sound for Alas
ka daily with all the passengers and
freight accommodations crowded The
excitement over the Alaskan gold fields
will give to the spring business an i'm
petus never before known in Northern
Pacific waters
HARD LABOR TO MINE.
WASHINGTON, July 20-Dr. Will
liam III. Dali, one of the curators of
the National Museum, is familiar with
the region of country in which the
| Clondyke gold fields are located
through having been on several geo
logical expeditions to the region in
Alaska adjoining the gold district, and
says that in his opinion the reports
from the country are probably not ex-
aggerated.
Formerly they stripped the gravel
off until they came to the gold" he
said. Now they sink a shaft to the
bottom of the gravel and tunnel along
underneath in the gold bearing layer
The way in which this is done is in
tereSting, as it has to be carried on in
cold weather, when everything is
frozen. The miners build fires over the
area of where they wish to work and
keep these lighted over that territory
for the space of about twenty four
hours. Then, at the expiration of this
period the gravel will be melted and
softened to a depth of perhaps six
inches. This is then taken off and
other fires built until the gold bearing
layer is reached. When the shaft is
down that far fires are built at the
bottom against the sides of the layer,
and tunnels are made in this manner.
Blasting would do no good on ac-
count Of the hard nature of the mater
ial, and would blow out just as out of
gun. The matter taken out contain
ing the gold is piled up until spring,
when the torrents come down and is
panned and Graded. 1t is certainly very
hard labor.
Il see many reasons why the gold
fields should be particularly hard to
reach. The streams which cut through
the mountains have probably done so
for centuries, wearing them down sew
eral hundred feet and washing out the
gold into the beds and gravel
1T is country in which it is very
hard to find food, as there is practi-
cally no game. Before the whites went
into the region there were not more
than 300 natives. They have hard
work to support themselves on account
of the scarcity of game"
A VAST REGION.
CHICAGO, July 20-P. B. Weare
President of the North American
Trading Company, is receiving hun
dreds OF letters asking for information
regarding the Alaskan gold fields. He
said to-day:
'"The boats which sail from Seattle
this month are full, every passage be-
| ing taken. That means that any one
who wants to go to Clondyke must wait
for the August boats. And the journey
is 1000 miles. People talk about it as
if it was walking across the street
They do not realize what Alaska is,
or what the Yukon is.
.'They will need a map to convince
them of the truth that the country of
the Yukon and its tributaries in Alaska
and british America, is as large as the
whole United States east of the Missis-
sippi-that it is longer than a trip to
Europe before they reach the Behring
Sea and the mouth of the Yukon; that
by the time they strike the Yukon, the
Alaskan Arctic winter will be upon
them.
by September Goth the winter set
ties down and the Yukon country is