, 1898-10-18
FROM DAWSON CITY
CONDITIONS IN THE KLONDIKE AS
SEEN BY AN ALBANY
COUNTY MAN.
Charles N. Northrop Tells Of Some OF
the Fancy Prices Charged in the
Big Mining Campfire Tender
feet are the Ones Who Do the Most
Kicking.
Dawson, Northwest Territory.

3W6Ol NORTHWEST lcEIruoAJ, |
August 10. 1898.
Dear Sir: We reached here on the
9th of July, after a very pleasant trip
especially coming up the Yukon river.
It was the first time in my life that l
had to go to bed by daylight and get up
the same way. Some of the passengers
would sleep in the heat Of the day and
sit out on the boat and read nearly all
night. Dawson is growing very fast.
There are five saw mills running here
day and night. Lumber sells from $l5o
TO $3.50 per thousand feet. Some OF the
largest buildings here rent for $2,5OO
per month. l know Of money being
loaned here for IN per cent per month
Some OF the hotels charge $12 per day
for board and room. Men with teams
get SO an hour. 1t costs $25 to get a
pair OF horses shod. l think there are
20, 900 people here, including quite a
good many women. Most OF the people
here came over the pass. The beach,
or rather river bank, is lined with tents
and log cabins. I must say one thing
it is the most orderly place I ever saw.
I don't know how many saloons there
are here, but they run day and night
and when a man gets the least bit dis
orderly he Is locked up. 1t Is a great
sight to see men starting u Just at
night for the mines with a pack ON
their backs. and there are hundreds OF
them doing It, too. A man wants to
learn to bray the first thing when he
gets here, for the minute he starts out
he becomes a jackass, and the bray is
part Of the animal. Jim Coughlin and
Tom Dugan looked around a little and
were not satisfied and went back. So
far l like 1t here. l know 1t Is a hard
country to prospect in, and the winters
are long and dreary, and we all know
that all that come here will not be sue
cessful. A man will find that in all
branches Of business, but there are
some that have certainly struck 1t very
rich. They are just commencing to
find out that some of the bench claims
are as rich as the bottom claims. There
is one bench claim that was discovered
last winter on what is called French
hill that is immensely rich. A man
with money can do we'll buying mines
here. At present 1t is overdon~that
Il. there are toe many people-but I
believe after n gets sebtaed down n VIM
be a great mining camp. The royalty
will be taken OF down to 2 per cent
and there will be better mining laws.
I counted fourteen large houses
today and they are building as fast an
they can.
Our latest war news was that Dewey
had sunk n of the German gunboats.
1t was read out Of a paper on the street
one evening by a man standing on a
big box and I ! have not for years heard
such cheering as there was by that
crowd. There is a fair kind of q band
that plays every evening-that, OF
course. Is for the benefit Of the saloons.
The Salvation Army is here and they
have some very good music and sing
ing every evening and then to see and
hear the dogs you would think all the
sheep ranches in Wyoming were con-
gregated here.
l have been watching very closely
and I find most Of the people who are
condemning the country and are get
| ting out as fast as they can are the
| ones who came in this summer. OF
those who have been here a year or
more, some are going out well fixed.
some are going out to come back again
in the spring and Of course some go out
on account of their health. A great
many Of those who have made fortunes
here have spent 1t. For instance. 1 was
told OF a man selling out his claim hast
winter for 10000 and the money lasted
him Just seven days. He is still here
and I am told in a fair way to make
another stake. There il not going to be
any scarcity of provisions here this
winter. II is wonderful the amount Of
money that has been spent by COM
panies In building b0ats and ware
houses. The Alaska Commercial COM
pany and the North American Trans
portation and Trading company are
the only two reliable companies. There
arn sovoroI othor commands hint voS,