The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1898-03-02


This mack is frozen solidly the year
around ai,da pick makes no impression
at all &C. - IL is necessary. therefore.
TO bu' lat.
IN. res are started first on the
grOund aia Den IN the hole as il is dug
slowly into the ground These fires
thaw out khe muck, which is raised in
buckets u the top. When the gravel is
reached edrifting' is commenced, and
the gravel is thawed and dug out for q
space averaging about 90 feet on all
sides of the shaft.
The richest deposits of gold are found
in the crevasses of the bedrock, which
here. is of y kind of soft slate, and SO in
most of the mines the rock itself is
worked out to depth of from one to
four feet The bed of the creeks-Bo-
nanza and FL Dorado-is wide. and as
the deposits are OH the bed of a former
creek, or glacier, which wound about
in totally different directions from the
present creek, it is impossible to locate
the pay streak" except by sinking
shafts in the slow and laborious manner
above indicated. 1t so happens that ten
or more holes may have been dug OH a
lay without the pay streak-if any
there be there-being located Several
weeks work has been done. and there
is nothing to show for it. True, the
next shaft may strike very rich streak,
but in many cases the men become dis
couraged and throw up the lay.
Newcomers Discouraged.
What inducement is there, therefore,
for men TO come TO this country with
the intention of doing this same work
in localities that are totally unknown?
And yet this is what they must ex-
pect. 1t may seem incredible, but it i $
true, nevertheless, that over half the
claims on both these creeks still remain
untouched, and men who had been lur ed
here by the reports of wealth on them
have declined offers of lays on them aft
or seeing for themselves how hard it
was to procure the gold that undoubted
earth.
1t is hoped that some less expensive
method will have been found soon for
the working of these mines. In fact,
that problem has, think, already been
solved, but it offers no inducements to
the laborer. If machinery or hydraulic
methods are employed less men will be
required than now, and already the sup
ply in that line is far in excess of the
demand Besides, as soon as food be-
comes more plentiful wages will be re-
duced, and man is better off working
at the smallest wages that are paid for
common labor at home-no matter
where his home may be-than he is
when drawing $40 per day here.
might go ON indefinitely enumerat-
ing the many disappointing features of
this region and the many reasons why
it offers to the poor man no real induce
ments at ali, but enough has been said
already TO set people thinking before
stalking everything on the chance of
making fortune in the goldfields of
this region. The same is true of all the
goldfelds of Alaska. have talked with
many old miners here, some of whom
have spent long, weary years in the
country hoping at some time TO stumble
on to fortune, but with very few ex-
ceptions indeed all have found it inn
possible To make more than grub
stake. A grub stake means barely
enough food and clothing to tide man
over till the next season. These men all
tell me that it is not less than criminal
to advise men TO come here
Experienced Miners Helpless.
It may be asked why these men re-
main. That is one of those questions
which are hard to answer. They cannot
tell you themselves. In many cases they
have failed even TO make a grub stake,
and the trading companies have been
compelled in order to prevent starvation
TO give them an outfit, allowing them
to pay for it the next season If luck ia.
vors them. And SO it happens that they
are compelled to remain over another
year TO pay the bill. Finally they fall
into the rut with their companions, and
they live on and on, hoping to strike it
rich some day. And when the coveted
fortune arrives, as it does in the case of
perhaps one in hundred, he finds him
self unable TO enjoy It,
met man few days ago who was
fortunate enough to have bought share
in a rich FL Dorado claim. He is proba-
bly, worth 500, 900. asked him what
he intended to do with his money He
said that he intended procuring COM
plete outfit for two years with which
to go prospecting. l asked him if he
thought he would find another rich
mine, and he said he did not expect to,
but that he had never had complete
outfit for even one year before, and that
his highest ambition was TO have a gen
uine two years outfit.
The old man was so sincere that his
words gave me much food for thought,
and it seemed to solve in part the prob
lem as to why these men have remained
in the country so long and with so small
a reward. They know no other life
there is so little heard of the outside
world, nothing to read, nothing with
which to compare their modes of living,
and so they get into the rut and have