The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1898-01-28

THOMAS tiARMER TELLS OF HARD
St-arS IN MINING CAMPS.

Selfshness and Cruelty of Human Beings
Toward One Another-Men Seem to he
Afraid of Their FelIows-Totai Indiner-
ence tn the Welfare of Others.
Nobody who has spent the winter
in the Klondike will ever want to try
it again." said Thomas Hammer at the
mining bureau in Denver recently
THAT is, unless he has certainty OF
making enough money to partially re-
pay him for suffering hardships such as
were never endured in any mining camp
on earth before"
Mr.. Hammer went into Alaska two
years ago and says that he left there
last August never to return. 81 would
not go back there and remain five years
for $3.50, 000," he continued "When
speak of suffering, do not mean actual
bodily pain or sickness, because ! think
if man goes there prepared as he
should and abstains from excuses he
can keep in reasonably good health, but
to live during the winter season in
those close cabins and see the horrible
selfshness and cruelty of human beings
toward each other, the result of the
rush for gold, which many of them,
even after they have secured it, do not
hesitate to throw away, is enough to
make one lose all faith in the fitness
of men to live ON the earth. When l
was coming out, l saw men refuse
nail or the use of an AK or even the use
of tin cup to persons who were in need
of these trifles. Every man there seems
to be afraid of his fellows-afraid that
they will steal something or have bet
ter success in finding gold. spent last
winter, from September to April, with
eight other men, we having gone to-
gether to save labor in keeping warm.
Each of us had claim or a part Of
claim and went out every day that
the weather was not too cold to work
our claims. In melting the frozen gray
ell we nearly always found one or more
nuggets in the dirt, but during the en-
tire eight months that we worked to-
gether do not remember of single &C.
casion when one of us acknowledged
that he had found any gold. Each of us
had buckskin bag which was carried
ON the person, and the ingenuity of all
was taxed to the utmost to devise some
scheme whereby that bag could be con
cealed from the rest.
"There was no stealing in the camp
A man caught stealing would have had
q rough time Of it, but every man SEEM
ed to think that every other man want
ed to steal from him, and l do not
think that single one of us knew
where any other man carried his gold.
l remember one night lying awake and
seeing five men of our company at diff
ferent times putting away the nuggets
found during the day, and in every case
after putting them in the little buck
skin bag they would thrust the bag I'M
der the blankets, and could see from
the fumbling that they were concealing
it about their persons. We always had
a man sitting up to keep the fires, and
| the men were afraid that he might see
where they put their gold. There was
no absolute cruelty, but the total indif-
| ference to the welfare of others that
characterized everybody was simply
| horrible. was in the cabin one day
reading, with two men, one of whom
was sick, the rest being at work. The
| sick man had terrible cold and fever
and asked one of us to hand him drink.
"The other man went over to the
bucket in which we kept our melted
snow, and, with the remark, There is
no more than want myself, drank it
ALL This, of course, was exceptionally
brutal, but there were many instances
almost as bad. Every man is for him
self, and many of them are so constant
ly thinking of their gold that they be-
come insane or partially SO. l came out
with one man who was SO excited over
about $40, 900 worth of gold that by
the time we got to San Francisco he
was almost an idiot, and it was with
difficulty that we could induce him to
deposit his gold in bank and go to a
hotel. There is plenty of gold there,
and 1 think more fields will be found,
but all man is likely to get will not
pay him for the horrible experiences he
is called upon to endure. Twas not par
ticularly lucky, although l brought out
enough to pay me fairly well for my
two years in Alaska. but if was as
sured Of $50, 900 year l would not 20
back there. Denver Republican.