The herald., 1898-01-13
THE KLONDIKE
An Aqgeleno's Views of
the Gold Fields
HIS NOTE OF WARNING
HOW STARVATION rs GENER-
ALLY MADE POSSIBLE
Due to Wild Rushes to New Discov-
cries Far From Base Of Sup
plies-Will Return

"The Klondlke country Is all right.
I'VE been there and know what I am
talking about"
| The statement was made by Lewis w.
Fox, formerly of this city. who is here
| on short visit. Mr.. Fox is young man
probably not over 2S, and looks any
thing but one who had braved the vi
cissitudes and dangers attendant upon
the life Of a Klondike miner. When
seen at the Van Nuys yesterday, he
opened his statement as quoted above.
But" said he refiectively, Il believe
l ought to modify that just little. You
see, If should be quoted as discourag-
ing people from going there l might be
doing them an injustice as there Is no
| basis upon which to reckon the amount
of wealth lying beneath the snow and
ice along the Yukon and it's tributaries.
On the other hand l feel that I should
| be slow to encourage any one to make
the trip as there is so much hardship
to endure and so many hopes that are
sure to be blasted"
Suppose you had say, $500 or $1,000.
With your present knowledge of the
| country's resources and being entirely
ignorant of the lay of the country,
hardships, etc. would you go to the
Klondike In the spring." was asked.
Positively yes" was the reply. Even
with knowledge of the hardships Incl
dent to the trip would 60 without hesi-
tauon.
IT understand from the reports pub
lished in the newspapers that fully 100,-
| 900 people intend to go into the Klondike
country within the next two months.
This seems to be a somewhat exagger-
ated estimate. from what I can learn,
but 1t is safe to say that the actual num-
ber will not fall far short. Nearly one
half of these will make the Stewart
river an objective point. 1 will say
frankly that I believe over two-thirds
Of them will make a great mistake.
There is gold on the Stewart river-all
kinds Of it-but when thirty or forty
thousand people rush in there in ad-
dition to those who have already taken
up claims. thousands of them will be left
out in the cold. The great strikes re-
ported from the FL Dorado, Bonanza
and Hunker creeks during the past few
| months have been made by the pioneers
who went out quietly in small parties
and had the whole field to themselves.
Much of the suffering reported has been
due almost entirely to hap-hazard
rusheS to points Of rich discoveries.
There is invariably a congestion which
resolves itself into a camp. After the
excitement commences to die down it
is discovered that the camp is getting
out OF provisions and that 1t Is. probably,
hundreds of miles from a supply sta
tion."
Mr.. Fox stated, however that the re-
ports of starvation and suffering were
greatly exaggerated. He left Dawson
City late in the month of November At
that time there was plenty of food to be
obtained, although the Seattle and San
Francisco journals were picturing, un-
der luminous headlines, a condition of
dire distress and want. Just before he
left Dawson City the Canadian govern
ment was taking precautionary meas
ures to avoid any possibility of a fam
Inc by offering free transportation down
the river to Fort Yukon, where heavy
stores of provisions were held. About
thousand took advantage of the op-
portunity, but it was more for the trip
than from any fear of famine at Daw-
son. Many of those who arrived early
pass" became homesick and left for the
coast. Thus the congestion at Dawson
was greatly relieved. All those going
to Fort Yukon were guaranteed provi-
sions during the trip free of charge and
We're obliged to leave all their food be-
hind. This added considerably to the
supply at Dawson, and all possibility of
danger from starvation was effectually
set at rest.
Every American who has gone to the
Klondike and returned to his native land
appreciates almost beyond expression
the superiority of his home government
in every way" said Mr.. Fox. Uncle
Sam never seemed such grand old man
to me in my life as he did when once
set foot again upon his soil. The gov
ernment in the Yukon country is about
as raw as it is possible to conceive. We
have no judges. 1t is a military form Of
government, practically. There is no
means by which a civil case can be
tried. Now and then dispute over the
ownership of a mining claim Is settled by
what is known as the gold commission
ers, with more or less satisfaction to
the parties concerned. The laws passed
particularly to the Yukon territory are
unfair to the miners and have caused
great dissatisfaction"
Mr.. Fox will remain in Los Angeles q
day or two and then leave for the east.
He expects to return to Dawson within
| the next few months