Evening journal., 1898-03-22
EVERY MAN EoR asELF.
Terrible selfshness AmO the Gold
Hunters in the North.

Terrible Sclhshuess Amo the GOLD
Hunters i'm the North.
rNobody who has spent the winter in
the KlondilSe viii ever want to try 1t
again" said Thomas Harmer at the
mining bureau the other day. "Thatis,
unless he has certainty of making
enough money to partially repay him
for suffering hardships such as were
never endured in any mining camp on
earth before"
Mr.. Harmer went into Alaska two
years ago and says that he left there
last August never to return. 81 would
not 90 back there and remain five years
for $250,OO0," he continued. "When L
speak of suffering do not mean actual
bodily pain or sickness, because I think
that if q man goes there prepared as he
should and abstains from excesses 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
AtoAAAAC ~ AAAbM away - NAohEh W
make one lose all faith in the fitness of
men to live on the earth. When / was
coming out saw men refuse a nail or
the use of an AK or even the use of n tin
cup to men who were in need of these
trihes. Every man there seems to be
afraid of his fellows-afraid that they
will steal something or have better sue
cess in finding gold. spent last win
ter from September to April with eight
other mon, we having gone together to
save labor in keeping warm.
'Each Of us had a claim or a part Of a
claim, and we went out every day that
the weather was not too cold TO work
our claims. In melting the frozen
gravel we nearly always found one or
more nuggets in the dirt, but during
the entire eight months that we worked
| together do not remember of single
occasion when one oil us acknowledged
that he had found any gold. Each OF
us had a buclSsl1in bag that was carried
on the person, and the ingenuity of al
was taxed to the utmost to devise some
scheme whereby that bag could be con.
cealed from the rest. There was nc
stealing in the camp. A man caught
| stealing would have had q rough time
Of it, but every man seemed to thinl
that every other man wanted TO stea
from him, and do not think that ;
single one of us knew where any othe,
man carried his gold. remember on
night lying awake and seeing five mel
of our company at different times put
ting away the nuggets found durinl
the day, and in every case, after put
ting them in the little buckskin bag
they would thrust the bag under tn
blankets, and 1 could see from tn
fumbling that they were concealing
about their persons. We always had
man sitting up to keep the fires, an
the men were afraid that he might Sc
where they put their gold. There wa
no absolute cruelty, but the total in
difference to the welfare that charac
terized everybody was simply horrible
WIS in the cabin one day reading wit
two men, one Of whom was sick, tn
rest being at work. The sick man had
terrible cold and fever, and asked on
of us to hand him drink.
e "The other man went over TO III
2 bucket in which we kept our melte
,i snow and, with the remark; There
no more than 1 want myself drank
> | all. This, Of course, was cxceptiona
! ly brutal, but there were many instancI
4 J almost as bad. Every man is for hin
4 self, and many Of them are so constan
f ly thinking of their gold that they b
come insane, or partially so. cam
. out with one man who was so excite
t over about $4,000 worth of gold that b
e the time we got to San Francisco /
I was almost an idiot, and it was with di
hculty we could induce him TO depos
his gold in bank and go to a hote
J There is plenty of gold there, and
: think more fields will be found, but a
4 a man is likely 10 get will not pay hi
f for the horrible experiences he is calle
v upon to endure. was not PARTICULAR
d lucky, though brought out enough
:. pay me fairly we'll for my two years
e Alaska, but If I was assured Of $4,000
/. year I would not go back there. DE
y yer Republican.