The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1897-08-19
THE KLONDyKE REGION AND ITS WEALTH.,
n CHICAGO WOMAN WILL MAKE
THE TRIP.
The Fascinations OF Frontier Life
Tho Dangers and Privations Are
LCsscncd by Wise PrCpnrntiona

Inc Dangers and PrivatiOns Are
Lcsscncd by Wise Preparations.
Mrs. Eli Gage, OF Chicago, whose
husband is Il son Of Secretary Gage, l.
ono woman who will bravo tho terrors
OF tho klondyke in the early spring
She will wear tho dress OF tho Siwash
Indians, scale the crags Of the Chilkoot
pass, plunge through the whirl OF the
Horse Head Rapids and join her hus-
band on the banks OF tho golden bo-
nanXa.
This looks easy enough in print. 1t
sounds like the prospect OF little
summer Jaunt to some seaside retreat.
1t means in reality an adventure which
has been faced by but two other
women. 1t will take thirty days cover
ing the 600 hard, perpendicular, rocky,
ir'Z,n and snow bound miles from
Juneau to Dawson City. Her com
panions will be Frank Phiscator and
q. j.. BE 'ry-the now gold kings-and
will be done on their claims this wintor
will hoap upon the shores Of tho creek
more nuggets than u horse can haul.
Mrs. Gagc has no mine in hcr own
name, since in the cyo of the law u
married woman is not considered cap
able OF owning such property. Her
husband has two. She has caught the
fevor, and there is no temptation in
tho gcntle life Of the Evanston Ave
nuo home in comparison with the
charms Of a wild hunt for tho pot of
gold at the tip of the rain bow. 1t
l takes courage for Il man to mako the
journey, but courage is easy when the
real motive Is infatuation. Mrs. Gage
is infatuated with frontier life, and IL
week at home has been enough to con-
vince her that thcro Is more content
mcnt for her in the loghut in tho land
OF mushroom fortunes than on the
piazza Of Il pretty rcd house with a
green lawn.
ut is wonderful how fascinating tho
life on the frontier becomes" she said
the other morning. "rhe man or wo-
man who gets u taste of it and succeeds
and thrvcs by it rarely gets to like
anything else. 1t may be Il barbarous
confession, but it seems to me that the
kindes:, most considcrato and most
practically honest people that ! ever
met are the miners who arc risking all
at one throw in the work Of the Klon.
dyke. 1t was hero that saw u code Of
honor which made all men honest-a
life in which each man must live IL fair
part or get Il forcible and roughly
polite invitation to move.
'lt takes men Of sturdy charactcr to
get into the valley, and the virtues they
/, no man to part. | do not think that
heard OF II single case in my SUMMER
: stay in upper Alaska where prospec
| tors and diggers had been guilty 0
dishonesty. II may be that honesty is
r trait which thrives because it is backet
n by the point Of Il gun, but it is ther,
t nevertheless. Explorers going to the
S field or miners coming out frequently
= undertake greater loads than the teams
=. can pull through. 1t is the custom at
{ such times to put the surplus at the
, roadside and go on with half. Tho
part left behind is perfectly safe until
it shall be called for. Doubt that this
rule would work in Chicago or other
civilized places"
Mrs. Gage is SO enthusiastic over the
customs in vogue in this region
tho manner BORN" This is uil wrong.
Sho does not come within IL thousand
miles OF being the ideal typo OF the
frontier woman. Thero is absolutely
nothing frontier about her * ;ept hor
inclination to cha,npion the syio Of
men and bravery that she had found
among tho new Argonauts. 1t is this
inclination that is taking her back to
the land OF the midnight sun.
"Mr. Phiscator and Mr.. Borry were
on tho Portland-tho ship which
brought the ST 100000 cargo OF yellow
metal into Seattle. 1t l. not likely
that one man in fifty could picture
\ these two mon as they arc. The usual
thing would be to have them half
savage, uncouth and hardened by Il
long season away from men and the
world. This sort Of description would
not fit ether in the slightest particu
lar. They arc both modest, decidedly
bashful and lack all the traits which
I hn fn ,riu TO hn
They have no boastings to makc--and
this in face of the fact that 1t is moro
than likely the next year will prove
they are among the richest men in this
country.
at is probable that they were the
money kings OF the Portland, although
the ships safe and the captains state
room were filled to overlooking with
the earnings Of other members OF the
. passenger crew. 1t was like an actual
representation OF the air castles OF
, tairyland. There was gold stacked
upon gold, nuggets and in dust, tied up
, in SACKS and also in bottles with the
cOrks sealed. asked the captain if
, he did not fear to carry such a load OF
} pure money. He said he feared moth
| ing so long as he know he had no one
= aboard but miners.
, ct was most interesting to study the
men ana women VINO nau LakCn JDe
S desperate chance, and had won. Some
= of them had gone into the region with
a barely enough to keep body and soul
5 together. They had only made the
: try rs a last resort. Having failed to
make success at homo they had re-
o solved to make one plunge and die or
: come out rich. The most pathetic case
$ Of this Kind was that of Mr.. and Mrs
t Berry. They vent into the Klondyko
Q without even Il grub-stakc. They were
= on their wedding tour and when they
= left they told their friends they Nigh
! never get back to Hresno alive.
y "This pair sat on the deck OF tn,
l. Portland fifteen months after their de
! parLurc, and thoir plans embraced big
c ger things than schcming to find ma
d who would loan them 500 while the
C riskcd their lives trying to get owe
the mountains and into tho placer dis
i trict. They were like two children
}. MIR. Berry planning to buy the farl
h upon which he had been unable t
'f make living wages and Mrs. Berry &c