The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1897-09-02
It IS LIKE A LOTTERY
Prospectors' Rules Are of No Use
in Alaska.
PLENTY OF GOLD IN SIGHT
Gold Seekers Take Chances With Death
Intense Suffering in Store at
Dawson Provisions Scarce
Unmeasured Wealth.

san Francisco, Sept. The Bulle-
Tin has received letter from Charles
Haincs. dated Dawson CITY. July ~.
He says The rich diReings have been
comparatively Idle during the sum-
mer. although the output from Eldo-
RADIO and Bonanza creeks Was cnor-
nous and therc is plenty II gold In
sight There Is every prospect of an
immense output of gold from The dis
trict next spring. The total output this
season u.s. as near as I can Judge. about
s. 0o0. .eoo hut very little ground has
been worked and the dumps viii. like
some of the tailings Of Did California
placcrs. pan oul thousands of dollars
when worked with improN "a machin-
cry.
The plac,fs are tn. most pgzzling
and deceiving ! have ever seen. lmag-
inc man working on good color and
finding the ground worth only n few
dollars per day and then turning to a
waste of mud and moss with no sur
fac Indications and uneafthne bo-
nanza. That Is the situation here and
all over Alaska. The man Who comes
here to mine does 50 M the expense II
health and happiness. aud II ls with
him question of making a fortune
quickly or taking chances with death
About me are scores of men who can
weigh their gold by the buCkctful and
who value their claims al millions.
-Four hundred valuable digrings are
stretched along the creeks and every
digging is a fabulous mine ol gold, yet
there are weary men Who have gone
and returned Ia Dawson after search
ing the great country hereabout and
never "A nugget do they show for their
toll. their long tramp over hrnlsrn
ground and into country whose natu-
lal advantages are exceeded by no
other place on earth.
/ This Alaskan on Northwest terri
tory gold field Is an odd prize drawing
proposition that l can lik,n To nothing
that admits of better comparison
than lottery 4 number OF spots are
selected ON the creeks and rivers and
for one year the miner lahnrs. The
year closes. III. water runs. and III,
=, ason's output barely pays cxpsns :.
Not two miles away from th. unfor-
iunate one works "A man who has taken
from an uninviiing bit of earth sack
ful of gold The lucky one did not
strike the po.ket because Of his ability
as "A miner: chance favored him and
that was sBl In short. ths min'r
guesscs al aud locates any and
everywhere. In ~ cases out Of ~ he
misses IL and has 10 wait another year
for new trial. Dawson H. merely a
collection OF log huts. saloons and a
mass of tents. about 900 I'm number.
when the long night comes and The
glass goes down la 81 degrees below
zero there will he intense suffering
h.rc. and ! shudder to think of the re-
suits.
Provisions are going To be very
scarce aud there Is little reason 10
doubt that the entire town viii have In
go on short rations during the Winin
and that scur,y will be- rampant. The
gold tina, win 10 down the river for
san Francisco aud Seattle will amount
la about S. 000. 000 There Is "A lot ut
gold that viii remain In camp for II II
used as the equivalent of money and
II legal tender at Sli per ounce. oi
these three or four thousand inhabii-
ants only couple nf hundred have
mude hig strikes. There H. plenty or
work AT from SIS To so per day and
many men have paid s2.5o ar less for
living and saved the balance.
News Of other strikes are constantly
received here and many are authentic,
so far as Stewart and Pelly rivers are
concerned, but nothing 50 rich as the
Klondyke has been reported. Quite "A
number of people are preparing 10
lave here for JUNEAU In ease the st"am-
ers do not get through with provisions
and the outlook for good grub sup
ply is not encouraging. In conclusion,
the Alaska and Northwest territory
gold fields viii u" developed SLOWLY,
Ten thousand men may come here. but
they will Il. lost In thy vast country