The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-01-09
THE OUTLOOK IN ALASKA.
Not Altogether a Highly Desirable
State of Society for Ordinary
Civilized Man.

State of Society for Ordinary
Civilized Man.
Another view of the mining in.
dustries of Alaska is voiced by q
practical miner, L. G. Hansen, who
has just returned from that coun.
try. Says the Stockton Mail:
1t is true that he did
not 60 to Cooks Inlet nor to Six
Mile Greek whence come the com.
plants Of poor success in mining
He went into the Yukon country,
and even those who cursed their
luck at being drawn into the alleged
gold fields about Six Mile Greek re.
port that had they gone to the Yu.
kon it might have been different.
Hansen will spend a portion OF
the winter with friends in California
and return to Alaska inthe spring
to resume mining. He has been
away from San Joaquin since the
spring of 1894, and spent two years
and q half at Circle City, which il
a town of 1000 inhabitants in the
winter and is augmented by abou,
500 more miners in the summer
season. The town is on the Yukon
river. 900 miles from Juneau. That
river is eighty miles wide at its
mouth, and is filled with islands
AT Circle City the river is a mile
wide and navigable for six months
in the year. During the rest Of the
year it is frozen over. The only
vegetables that will grow in that
country are turnips. rutabagas and
potatoes. The latter, however, are
very small.
In the winter Hansen has seen
the thermometer as low as 70 de-
grees below zero, but it has been
as low as 80 degrees below at Circle
City. The quicksilver in the Their
mometers freezes at 40 degrees be-
low, and he has seen it stay frozen
for two weeks at a time. The FIRST
snow falls in the middle of Septem-
Der, and the ground is covered until
the latter part of May. The only
snow shoes that can be used in
travelling are the ones known as
the ''weo" snow shoes, as the long
ones will sink.
There are no churches or courts
at Circle City. If anyone commits
crime which attracts the attention
of the citizens generally a public
meeting is called and a jury APP
pointed to hear the evidence, and
agree upon the punishment. A few
months ago two men fought duel,
in which one man received two
slight bullet wounds. The citizens
jury fined both men $3.50 each
for dis urbing the peace. The
amount collected was paid to the
proprietor of the hall in which the
meeting was held as the rent for
the meeting. Both men accepted
the judgment without a murmur.
The laws of Alaska do not allow
whisky in the territory, but every
corner in Circle City is occupied
by saloon having a large dance
hall attached, and the miners go
there every night and dance with
the girls and "treat" after each
dance. The price of whisky is so
cents drink, and the article is of
a cheap grade, and all of it has to
be struggled into the country.
A number of the miners have
squaw wives, and seem to get along
very we'll with them. The only
large game is the cariboo a species
of the reindesr) and the moose,
and these are scarce. They furnish
the only fresh meat the inhabitants
have. So 49,
The mining is principally placer,
and the wages are $40 day. A
few quartz mining prospects are be-
ing developed, but as yet have not
shown whether it would pay to
work them.
The miners who stay in town all
year drift out the pay gravel from
the bedrock, which is from sixteen to
twenty feet deep, during the winter,
when the thermometer is above 50
degrees below and wash it in sluices,
during about five months in the
year, which is the length of the
open season. The mines are not
worked if they do not pay an ounce
OF gold a day to each prospector,
but large fortunes are rarely ever
made. One man only, in that Sec
ton. made a fortune during the last
summer. He struck rich placer
claim, and cleared up $4,000 for
his summers work.
The only disease is scurvy, which
is contracted in the winter by the
eating of canned meats and lack of
excise, and lack of cleanliness
among the more indolent people in
The camp.
A Hioh.T0ne6 norria.