The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1897-07-28
INTELLIGENCE OFFICE,

grees Fahrenhit below zero, II there was not
too much wind, was the most comfortable
temperature for travelling; when the Their
mometer was twenty degrees above zero
one was apt to get too hot, while, when the
temperature descended to sixty or more de-
grees below zero, travelling became intol-
cradle.
Dispatches from Seattle read like fiction.
B. w. Shaw, formerly well-known insur-
ance man of this city, has written letter
| to business man OF this city in which he
states frankly that he does not expect to be
| believed.
"This is a great mining strike" says
Shaw, "probably the greatest on the Ameri-
can continent or in the world. Gold has
not been found in great paying quantities
except on two creeks covered by about 200
claims.
Some OF the pay streaks are nearly all
| not an uncommon thing, and as high as 100
ounces have been taken out in single pan.
| 1t is not unusual to see men coming in with
all the gold dust they can carry.
"You would not believe me when l tell
you that l went into one cabin and count
ed Ave fve-galion oil cans full of gold
dust, but it is a fact. 1t is the result of the
work of two men during the winter, and the
dump is not much more than half worked
out.
taken out 30 far in the district. At a low
estimate believe there will be S50,000,000
taken out during the next year.
Charles FL. Kittinger. private secretary OF
J. Edward Addicks. the millionaire Della
ware gas magnate, has received telegram
from bis brother, George B. Kittinger of
Seattle, Wash, in which he gives encour-
aging reports OF the discoveries of immense
quantities of Alaskan gold, and further
says that he will leave Seattle tomorrow
in company with ex-Gov. McGraw and Gen.
Carr, both Of Seattle, for the Klondyke field.
In his telegram Mr.. Kittinger says: 1.-THE
reports sent out are not exaggerated. 1t is
the richest ground ever discovered. There
are two millions at St. Michael's Island, at
the mouth of the Yukon, ready for ship
ment taken out in the last three months"
George B. Kittinger of Seattle is one Of q
syndicate organized there last spring, known
as the British Columbia and Alaska Gold
Mining Company. j. Edward Addicks OF
Delaware is at the head Of the syndicate.
P. B. Weare, Vice-president OF the North
American Trading Company, is receiving
hundreds OF letters asking for information
regarding Alaskan gold fields. He said
yesterday: 1.-THE boats which sail from Seat
tie this month are full-every passage taken.
That means that any one who wants to go
to the Klondyke must wait for the August
boats. And the journey, 1000 miles, people
talk about as il it was was walking across
the street. They don't realize what Alaska
is; 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 trip to Eu-
rope 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
! % the weather settles and the Yukon River
is frozen solid until next May.
The expense Of getting from Chicago to
Seattle is $50, and from Seattle to the
Behring Sea is $50. There will be thou
sands OF Western men who will 60, but of
course people expect everything in their
favor. One thing must be remembered
that the Klondyke country is in British do
minion and will be governed accordingly.
, Hon. @. b. Mcintosh, Governor Of the
Northwest Territory, in which Is included
the far-famed Klondyke!d district, is in Seattle.
The Governor freely subscribes to the truth
fulness Of the stories sent out as to the rich
ness OF the new diggings, He estimates
that the Klondyke and its tributaries
yielded over $4,000, 900 in gold last winter.
OF this amount, he says, $1,000 600 and up,
ward came via the steamships Portland"
and Excelsior" More than million dol
; lars in dust, he said, is now stored away in
the cabins of miners along the creek being
developed.
" The British Yukon yield OF gold for
1897" the Governor resumed, will not be
: less than 100000 0O."
, He says surveyors are now at work trying
to ascertain the feasibility Of the construc-
: ton Of a railroad into the Yukon. One
route contemplates a line OF steamers from
Fort Wrangel up the Styken River.
: Frank Moss, an old-time miner who has
; been in Klondyke four years. describes the
; camp as placer seven miles long and thir-
teen miles wide. walled in by rock three
! thousand feet high. Gold abounds, but no
ordinary man can stand the rigor of the
climate and the lack Of provisions George
Hornblower of Indianapolis, twenty-one
years, found nugget worth 5000. Moss
says the richest section of Alaska is as yet
undeveloped. 1t is 100 miles from Klon-
dyke, known as the Black Hole of Calcutta
and is now in hands of Bohemian ex.
convicts.