The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-02-20

yet, and of those worked thus far Mastodon
creek has yielded the most gold. This creek
was first prospected by Kinnaley and Gregor
| in 1888. They located the Discovery claim,
and Nos and g. 1t is now staked up to
| ffty-seven above ard nine below, and while
| of course some of the claims did not pan
out well, most of them have been considered
| good, and some very rich. In lSS4-So Kin
naley and Gregor worked as high as sixty
men at time on their property, and to-
day are considered two of the richest men IN
Alaska. During the summer of 1896 they
took out $4,000 The pay streak through
their claim is about 600 feet wide and five
feet deep and they have to dig about eight
to twelve feet to get their pay, which will
average about S2.75 a yard. The digging at
Mastodon lasts all summer from June to
Sept. 20. with double shift of men of ten
| hours each. On Deadwood creek about
sixty claims have been worked, which pay
| about SIS per day a man. This creek is
! pretty well worked out, the pay streak not
| being very wide There are acres upon
acres of good ground in the Birch creek
country, but because of the high cost of
labor and the limited time for work the
properties are not counted as being very
rich. But without question there is gold
| there in abundance and plenty of water.
| and all that is needed is machinery. When
they get hydraulic machinery here it will
be one of the best mining properties of
modern times. There is certainly great
future for this particular part of the coun-
| try.
POLICE ARE mo GOOD"
AT Dawson the Canadian police are gen.
orally looked upon as mo good" Thieving
and crime were almost unknown when the
| on for
ton. Men Aen would leave their cabins I'M
locked gold dust often lying around in tin
cans. They needed to take special precau-
ton only against the dogs, which are no.
torous robbers. But with the advent Of the
so-called police protection all this has been
changed. In the old days when man was
caught stealing he was dealt with in sum-
mary fashion and punishment was swift and
! severe. Now men will often commit some
crime with the hope and expectation of get
ting caught, for they are sure then of get
ting good warm place in which to sleep
and plenty to eat and drink. Something of
the same condition prevails in Circle City,
although not in such aggravated form. Up
to this winter people left their goods in
caches wherever they were convenient on
the route to the mines and locks
were unknown. Petty thieves were
horsewhipped in the public square
and robberieS of any consequence
were punished either by hanging or depor-
taticn, which in wilmer when the victim has
no grub or shelter means sure death The
government was kind enough to send a
| United States commissioner up here, and
the result is somewhat ludicrous. His NOM
inal powers are something like those of
police justice, but he has no money or no
iaiI RI 10 In in w
best he can punish larceny only by light
sentence in some warm cabin temporarily
| fixed up for a Jail. 1t is all farce He
| cannot administer any law or justice In
his presence the people generally cannot
| take things in their own hands or they
would be called mob and would be rem
| dered liable to future reprisals at the hands
of the United States government. The re-
| suit is there is no law. Fortunately the
people are law-abiding in disposition
a good story is told about little Swede
named Anderson, who a year ago was in the
Klondike diggings. One night some of the
roysterers of the place got him drunk and
while he was in that condition they induced
him to pay $500 for Claim Is, on Eldorado
creek, which had been staked by one of the
jolly jokers and was supposed to be worth
less. In the morning when the Swede got
the gang laughed at him and thought it a.
good joke. Anderson had no money left and
decided to go and find the claim and live
on it and perhaps make wages. He did this
and the claim PANIED out so good that in
three months time he sold half interest
for 100000. There was another laugh in
which the jolly jokers did not take the
slightest interest
MANY MEN FROZEN IN.
Reports that reach us from time to time
show that the situation along the Yukon
river is serious. Between Dawson and Fort
Yukon, a distance of four hundred miles,
there are probably two hundred men frozen
in. Most of them have fallen victims to a.
desire to reach The provisions at Fort
Yukon. They started out in small boats
were overtaken by cold weather and the
river closed before they could reach their
| destination. Many of these are known to
have left Dawson and Circle City without
tents or stoves, and it is feared the break
ing up Of the ice in the spring will reveal
an awful harvest of death. At least ten
have been found frozen to death by tour
lists along the river. This arctic cold can
not be trifed with. Frozen hands, feet or
ears are everyday occurrences. There is
scarcely any wind, but the cold does it's
work before you realize it. Here in town,
where you can run quickly to shelter, it is
not SO bad, but the men who are obliged
| to be out on the trail suffer untold hard
| ships.
| Edward Mcconnell left Dawson with six
| teen horses on a scow, intending to go to
Fort Yukon and freight provisions back up
the river. About half way to Circle City the
scow got froze in and the men were unable
| to go forward or land the horses, the ice
| on either side of the boat was not strong
enough to bear horses weight. One man
was left in charge of the scow and the rest
came to Circle City for assistance. Dogs
were obtained and the party, with rein
| forcements, started back after the horses
They succeeded in saving five of them, but
the rest were drowned in trying to get them
| to land or died from starvation and ex-
| posture. This accident was more serious
| than it seemed for many people in Dawson
| were depending on the provisions that the
/ horses were to haul up TO them. The five
| horses are now III Circle City. This Nc
| Cornell is looked upon one of the
| shrewdest men in the Klondike region. He
| has secured some of the richest claims in
| thes whole prospected territory, and must
| have made an immense amount of money
| in the time he has been up here. He is
/ reticent about his ventures and extremely
| conservative, but he is a man who will be