Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1897-07-23
ALASKA GOLD FEVER.
A GREAT RUSH FOR THE NEW ELDo-
RADIO IN THE FROZEN NORTH.
The Klondyke Fields just This Side of
The North POle-Plenty of Gold
For The Digging Further
on Than London.

The Alaskan gold fever threatens
to spread all over the country. II has
reached Kentucky and even this city.
Mr.. Geo. w. Metcafe will leave in
few days for Seattle, and if circum-
stances favor will sail en- August 10
for Alaska
Several parties from Louisville are
arranging to go. Among those are
DR.. Bowers, druggist, who has sold
out his business and has already gone
to Seattle- Fred Schaerer and Fred
Hummel, two young newspaper men,
and Chas. McDermott, an electrician,
will also go. 1t is said Pat Murphy,
of Louisville, who went two years ago.,
has struck it very rich.
A San Francisco dispatch says B.
F. Purcell, an old miner, has returned
loaded down with treasure.
He says there is room for 100000
men in the mining districts of Alaska
without any crowding, but that the
suffering this winter will be terrible
He characterizes any attempt to reach
there this fall as foolhardy.
Mr.. Purcell explains what has mys-
tilted many, that is why the miners.
are coming back from Alaska when,
such riches are in sight. A man
should not, says he, remain in the
Klondyke country more than one,
season without coming back to civil
zation. By coming out he acquires a.
new lease Of life, as it were, and goes
back better qualified to cope with the
hardships to which he must submit
Gen. W. W. Dutfield, of Washing
ton, who knows the country says:
81 am convinced that the whole ,
country along the 14lst meridian is
full of gold, All of the mountains
were at one time active volcanoes, and
the molten lava cast out overfowedl
the surrounding territory. The craters
OF these extinct volcanoes are filed
with snow, which does not disappear
at any period during the year. The,
water III the old craters continually
sipes out and forms numerous creeks.
These creeks have worn through the
lava, leaving the gold exposed.
1T is my belief that when modern
mining machinery is brought into use
and the miners begin to drift the de-
poslts OF lava they will find gold in.
paying quantities almost anywhere.
l believe the bottoms of the craters
will be rich in gold, but the perpetual
snow will prevent it becoming access
ible.
The whole of Klondyke Creek. saws
Gen. Dutfiield, with the gold mines.
located along it, is within British Ter.
ritory, and cannot be affected by any
veriation in surveying the 14lst meri-
dian. The head waters of Forty Mile
Creek are in Alaska, with thirty miles.
OF the creek on the British side. All
the paying gold deposits are on the.
American side. and unless subsequent
discoveries are made in that field anv.
change in jurisdiction will not be i'm
portant.
A Chicago trader who has made
the trip gives this gloomy view:
The boats which sail from Seattle
this month are full, every passage be-
ing taken. That means that anyone.
who wants to go to Klondyke must
wait for the August boats And the,
journey is 5000 miles. People talk
about it as if twas walking across the
street. They don't realize what
Alaska is-what the Yukon is. Thew
will need 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 of the United States east of the,
That it is longer than a.
trip to Europe before they reach the
Berlng Sea or the mouth of the Yu-
kon. Alaskan Arctic winter will be,
upon them, By Sept. 25 the winter
settles down and the Yukon country
is frozen solid till next May"
The expense of getting from here.
TO the coast is about S65 and FROM
Seattle to the Behring sea $3.50.
There are two ways to get to the
gold regions, which are on the boun-
dairy line between Alaska and Canada,
800 miles from the coast. One is,
overland from Juneau, with dog sleds.
much OF the way and the other is to.
the mouth of the Yukon river and upa
that stream, which is 1900 miles,
further and ends in a shorter overland
trip. The winters begin in Septsn--
Der and last until June and the
thermometers frequently register 10
degrees below zero and the gTOand
freezes to a depth of forty feet.
From Kentucky the distances is.
about 400 miles, several hundred
miles further than it is TO London-