Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-02-04

but this speculation failed. The days
baking was always sold out day or
two in advance, and customers had to
wait their turn. On more than one
occasion men fought for the right to
the next loaf, and to obviate further
difficulties Mrs. Wills each afternoon
sold twenty-four slips of paper, num-
bered from l to "a. The first slip
sold was No. l, and so on in rotation
until the last fellow had to take No.
"A; each slip was redeemable next day
III bread, and No. called Tor tho s-st
loaf out of the oven and so on down
the line to the end, and when No. "a
was out the bakery closed for the
night. When side issues, such as bak-
ing and mending, did not encroach
too much on spare time, Mrs. Wills
would bake batch of biscuits and
loaf or two of cake. The biscuits went
lively and the cakes sold at $1.5O q
pound. Six mince pies, made of
moose meat, sold at Christmas time
for s. each. But Mrs. Wills was too
busy with plain baking to give much
attention to the fancy end of the art.
At first Mrs. Wills secured and cut
all the wood she needed, but as busi-
ness increased her time became too
valuable to waste in the hunt for fuel,
and Indian labor was cheaper. She
could never establish any set price for
the wood brought her, but each load
had to be dickered for separately, and
the price therefore varied according to
the obstinacy of the red man tempered
by the emergency of the case. AS she
did not speak the Indian tongue, all
their bargaining was Ivy signe. Each
finger held up at full length denoted
ST., and the forefinger crooked at the
second joint stood for half a dollar.
AS the miners congregated at Mrs.
Wills's bakery for their daily bread it
became the news center of Circle City,
and to this is due the fact that she
was among the first to hear of the rich
strike on the Klondike. Although
she was making money at the
rate of $25 a day, it only whet-
ted her appetite for gold, and she no
sooner heard of the Klondike than she
was ready to start. 1t was in Decem-
Der that word reached Circle City to
the effect that Louis Rhodes had taken
dirt that ran $65 to the pan out of
Claim No. 81 above Bonanza, and
few days later she heard of Clarence
Barry taking out 500 to the pan.
This settled the question with Mrs.
Wills. What was the use of wasting
her strength over pans that only yield
ed one-dollar loaves of bread when she
might be juggling with pans that
turned out 500 in bright, glittering
gold? She would 60 to the Klondike,
and to the Klondike she went. Some
months since a miner, as token of
his high esteem, it is said, had presented
Mrs. Wills with big dog. She had
threatened several times to kill or
give away the dog, for he ate more
than he earned at the bakery. But
now that she was going to Dawson
City, the dog was worth his weight in
gold. 1t was 800 long, dreary miles
over snow and ice, through canons and
forests, up mountains and across gla.
ciers to Dawson City. Securing a
mate for her dog, she closed her bakery,
took in the clothes line and started
alone for the Klondike. Two days
later she was joined by a party of cattle
men who had heard the wonderful
stories of Klondike gold, and they, too.
had caught the gold fever. Mrs. Wills
was relieved of the burden of her sled
and her dogs cared for if she would
act as cook for the party. This was a
bargain, and it is said that she stood
the hardships of the journey "like a
man." and, Dawson City in sight, she
proved to be lively sprinter in the
free for all" dash for claims. She
made for location on the Klondike
and filed thereon, and at once set a
man at work while she returned to
Dawson City and accepted a position
with the Alaska Commercial Company
as head cook at SIS day. She paid
the same amount to the man who
worked her claim. Thus she was able
to work the claim and yet employ her
self in the more congenial occupation.
Later she secured a stove, this time
one with an oven that held four bake
pans, and again went into the bakery
business, and inside of two weeks had
customers enough at 81 a loaf to keep
the oven going II hours day. As
soon as all the good claims were taken
up near Dawson City then the claim
jumpers began to get in their work.
Several attempts were made to get pos
session of Mrs. Wills's claim, which
promised to pan out exceedingly rich,
but she fought the case and held down
her claim against all comers. Finding
that she could not be scared off it,
offers to purchase were rendered, but
Mrs. Wills was mining for what there
was in it, and the sum of $250,O0O did
not swerve her from her pupose. She
expects that her claim will pan out
twice that amount. Meantime she is
making a net profit of over $50 a day
in her bakery, with every prospect