The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-02

to carry the gravel from the breast OF the
draft to the hoistinS works. rs
Several claims have worked out the pay
streak for q width OF over forty feet. ana the
frozen roof is SO solid that no umbers or
other supports are necessary to hold 1t up.
In fact, 1t is asserted by old miners that the
and safer than 1t would be II the roof were
of granite. In running drift the. uniform
| size of the tunnel is maintained OF from nye
to five and half feet in height The air IN
these drifts is pure and wholesome when a
little time is allowed to elapse after the log
| fire has died out.
There is great popularity about some OF
the claims on Mastodon creep In the Birch
creek diggings. That is the only Place where
| shafts have been sunk below the frozen
ground. In many cases there the pay streak
is found free from ice and the gravel can pc
taken out with pick and shovel 1t is doubt
full If the gravel on these claims is below the
general frost line as on other creeks an
close proximity to Mastodon there are shafts
| frozen as hard as concrete. Timbering is
necessary in the drifts where no frost is
mounds built Of the loose bolders taken out
in the course of the work are employed as
roof supports. In following these drifts
curious Of the aggagg st has
pecting new discoveries creek bed may pc
practically barren, yet shaft sunk on one
Of the contiguous branches is liable to as
close streak of great richness.
The ability to mine IN winter mas lengtn-
| ened the season to mine in Yukon by from
! eight to nine months, and 1t Is possiDle 70
work now the year round. AS soon as 1t gets
| cold enough in the fall to freeze the water
| in the creeks and prevent the shafts from
! filling up the winter miner gets into MS oriIt.
| All during the cold weather he holsts ms
| nav gravel to the surface, and in the spring
| he has several tons on the dump READY 10 De
washed. This gravel, of course, freezes again
on the dump, but it quickly thaws out under
the summer sun.
The Klondyke strikes are likely to do more
for the development of the interior than any
thing that has yet been done. They VIII take
/ in such rush of men this summer that the
trading companies will be stirred to unusual
efforts to get in supplies to tide over the
| winter. There has been great deal OF dis
| satisfaction with the winter situation here
! tofore. The prices of all sorts of supplies
have been tremendous. There was mass
meeting of miners in Circle City few weeks
ago, the object of which was to see what
/ could be done toward getting the trading
! companies to reduce their price on staple
! goods. A fund was raised to send out a
| representative to interview the directors OF
1 the companies In the event of failure to
/ secure satisfactory assurance OF a general re-
| duction it is probable that efforts will be
| made to organize another company.
| The two companies are preparing to in
crease their facilities for getting supplies into
| Yukon this summer. The Alaska CONNER
cal company has five steamers on the river
| and several barges. Two new steamers VIII
| be added this summer. The North American
| Trading and Transportation company will
| also increase its facilities.
The vanguard of the Yukon rush shows
the usual variety of nationality and expe-
| rience. Citizens of almost every nation under
| the sun except Chinese are among those head
| ed for the Klondyke. Very few OF them are
| practical miners, and the great majority
| are tenderfeet whose sole knowledge on gold
! has been obtained from their casual glimpses
| at the product of Uncle Sans mfnts. There
! are clerks, bookkeepers, workmen OF all sorts,
ex-policemen, fremen tradesmen-ali sorts
and conditions of men. Everybody VINO mas
| ever male failure in anything and who can
get enough money to get up from the SOUND
| seems to be among the throng VINO nope ,, 10
! better their condition by digging gold. The
| practical miners will undoubtedly do well
| in the interior. Perhaps few of the others
| may succeed, but the great majority OF them
| will never see tn Minis. What with mos
| quitoes and and hard work they will have
| had plenty of Yukon by the time the klon-
| dyke is reached, and if they can't sell what
| is left of their outfits will give them away
| and out by way of st. Michael's, cursng the
| country and all that is in it. Such things
| have happened every year and they surprise
no one who is familiar with the dlf11cultles
and the hardships of placer mining in Alaska
1t is no boys work. 1t takes man Wno
as Muvaney said ''has all his teeth in their
sockuts and his two feet beneath him"
If the reports from the sound which are re-
ceiyed in Juneau can be relied upon the peo
pie down there, and good many others
| throughout the states have gone mlne-crazy.
There are men who will make almost any
sacrifice to get to the Klondyke dlgglngs.
Men have offered to pack huge outfits across
the divide if their fare was made. to Dyea
and they we've boarded until the mines were
| reached The fact that they would land at
the new camps without a dollar and without
provisions did not bother them in the least
Now, the man who Will start for the Yukon
without money and with no outht IS nj SUP
iect for an insane asylum, and if ne has any
friends they had better look out for him
quick. Some curious things are seen among