The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-08-08
snAc,al Correspondence Of the Globe.

Schlichting, of No. 80 Third avenue,
New York, from a friend Of his, Henry
REIN, now at Dawson City in the
Klondyke, which pictures in realistic
fashion life as 1t actually is in this
principal city of the new Eldorado.
The letter contains many new facts
and gives details Of frontier life that
take the reader back to the days Of 40.
1t gives a new insight into the actual
methods of life in the metropolis of
the Klondyke, and indicates what a
ripe harvest death IS likely to reap
before the first breath of next spring
is felt in those diggings of the north.
1t is a tale that should cause the OPP
timistic gold seeker to stop and think
before embarking on a trip to the
KIondyke this fall 1t shows that dis
erection is by far the better part of
grubbing for wealth as it is Of valor.
This is the letter, for the first time
published:
Dawson City, B. c.. July s.
Dear Friend. When We were oft on
that Fourth Of July trip a year ago,
neither you nor I had any idea that
another year would see me in a place
where American holidays are forgot
ten in a search for such fortunes as
we never even thought about To-
morrow is the Fourth and 1 suppose
that is why 1 think of the things that
happened year ago. Well, this is
the Queerest place you ever saw. l
have had the old-timers out here tell
me stories about the days of '49 in
California that were not in the same
class with what 1 see happen every
day here. I suppose back in the states,
in Gods country we call it up here
x-%r, o. hno ;rocr q LOT q hn
that is being made in these diggings
and how everybody is going to be
rich. There is no doubt in my mind
that there never was anything like this
before anywhere. 1t isn't a question
of finding the gold it is a question
of getting it out If half the stories
we hear are true, there is enough gold
in the Klondyke to make everybody
rich that comes here.
That is one side of the story. But,
friend, there is another, too. Whoever
comes in here, the way things are now,
must make up his mind to suffer in
various ways. If he happens to strike
a streak Of good luck, then he is like
ly to have enough to eat If he does
not, he might as we'll be in Hades with
q broken back. There is no worse
place on earth for a man without
money than mining camp. There are
eight hundred claims staked out with
in twenty miles of this place, so you
can see how much chance there is for
the newcomer. Everything that is
worth anything has been gobbled up
around here. SO that the only thing
left to do IS to move north, and that
means to move farther into a country
that is the worst I ever struck
Perhaps you would like to know
what sort of town this is and 1 will
tell you. You have heard about wide
open towns. This is one of them.
Everything goes here. The saloons
never close. Gambling goes on at all
hours. In fact nothing 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 a vigilance committee which
takes the place of both the government
and the laws. You see this is British
country up here, and most of us are
Americans, so we do not know much
about what the law is that governs
this part of the country. This being
the case we run the place like we think
we ought to. I don't mind telling you
am one of the vigilantes myself.
L wish you could take a, trip around
town here and see these things for
yourself. Why, it is nothing at all for
a thousand dollars to change hands on
the turn of a card. I mean that much
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 or fraction thereof. The dance
halls are lively enough, too for there
Is lot Of women up here, such as
they are, most Of them having come in
from Seattle and Frisco. I reckon
there are about 4,5O0 people here all
told, but they can make noise enough
for twice that many
There is not as much killing going
on here as you would think for, because
we do not think much Of bad men up
here. We have planted about a dozen
OF those in the last two months and
1T has had the effect of keeping the
tough sort quiet. 1 write about night,
but we don't have any night here You
see the sun sets about 10 D. M, and
rises at 3 a. M, but it never gets dark.
You can read a newspaper out of doors
at midnight. So you see it doesn't make
much difference when you sleep. The
result is that the people here don't
have any regular time for sleeping or
eating at all They just live like thew
want to.
You see all kinds Of people here
believe that every nation that we ever
heard of in New York has got some
body out here who belongs to it. EVERY
body is as good as everybody else: it
don't make any difference what color
he is. There is one old fellow that
used to be a slave and his wool is as
gray as a Sleeps pelt. He came up
mere with a Irelghtlng outfit and did not
have any idea Of going after gold, but
when he did get here, old as he was,
he got the fever. He staked out a
claim and you can believe it or not,
but that old devil has cleaned UP $40. 0O0
in gold dust You ought to hear him.
talk about what he is going to do with
It,
His name, he says, is St.Atherton, and
he comes from down in Georgia Just
a piece out Of Atlanta he says. He
says that the daughter Of the man that
owned him during the war is living
there yet on the old plantation, very
poor. The old man is going back, so
he says, and is going to buy that plan
tation and then he is going to have
this woman that is there do nothing
but live like a lady all the rest Of her
life. That's one of the most curious
things I've heard since I have been up
here and 1 believe the old man means
just what he says
II the papers printed half the queer
things see up here it would be better
than any book. About three months
ego there was an old fellow came from
back East and he had with him boy
about fifteen years old. He was one
of the incest boys I ever saw. He and