The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1898-03-09
The LAND or GOLD.
The Klondyke not Frozen Mo-
loch as Has Been Rep
resented.

country have Been Greatly Exager-
ateG---GoId mining not the only thing.
Revolution In the manner Of mining.
very Interesting talk Lecture to-
night to be NEST Entertaining one
and will be Largely Attended.
From Saturdays Daily.
Prof VIM A. Pratt of the State
University, Of Delaware, who is to
lecture to night at the Commence
ment Hall on the Klondike arrived
this morning and is stopping at the
Peabody. He is very affable gen
tleman and half hours converse
tion with him showed that he has
no equal as an entertainer when the
subject is the alluring one of the
new FL Dorado
Prof. Pratt went into the new
country last summer to survey a
railroad from the salt water naviga-
ton to the freshwater For some
years it had been the intention of a
company of capitalists of whom AID
dicks the gas man was the head to
build wagon road into the country
and when the gold strike came it
was decided to build railroad.
Prof Pratt was given charge of the
work and went over the ground
thoroughly last summer. While
there he made wonderful collec-
ton of photographs of the country
and from these number of lantern
slides have been made These will
be used in his lecture to night on
the Klondike at the Commencement
Hall for the benefit of the athletic
association.
When asked if the country was
the terrible place that it has been
pictured to be the Professor said
that the accounts of its terrors had
been greatly exaggerated He had
liked the experience very much and
would go back again next summer
if possible. sleeping in the open
air with nothing over me but a
blanket exposed to the weather all
the time the experience gave me a
new lease OF life. The country is
rough but nothing like the reports
of it. The rigors of the weather have
been exaggerated and the hardships
that the miners have to endure are
less than they have been pictured.
The reason that they have suffered
so much is that most of the men
who have gone into the country were
not used to manual labor. Those
who had been accustomed to hard
work did not especially mind the ex-
perience.
About getting into the country.
The trouble that has been is also
one of the exaggerations The trip
from salt water navigation is but
thirty-four miles over to the water
shed of the Yukon and fresh water
The reason that the trip takes SO
long is that man must take in an
outfit and provisions to last year.
If he went in light he can make the
trip in day. But when ton of
stuff has to be carried on his back
he will take month to make the
transfer. The parties usually go in
parties of four. One of these is left
at the foot Of the pass and when the
summit is reached one of the others
is left there so that leaves but two
men to carry four tons of stuff on
their backs over the pass. OF course
this takes time.
The reports of the suffering and
starvation among the miners is alb
solntely untrue. They have all taken
in provisions enough to last them a
year and they are well fixed. The
action of the war department in
buying reindeer to take in fresh sup
plies was very foolish and the plan
has now been abandoned. Mules
would have been better in the first
place but nothing was needed at all
About the chance for a man there
to make money. / did not see sim
gle man who had been there any
length of time who was not doing
we'll if he showed any energy at all.
The gold mining is not the only thing
however. To illustrate. At the head
of fresh water navigation, after you
have crossed the pass, boats and RATS
are built to go down the river. The
method formerly in use to get lumber
was to whip saw. it out. A man saw
this and had a small portable saw
mill built and carried it over the pass
and set it up on the lake. Here he is
saving lumber and selling it at $3.50
a Thousand. The demand at this
price is so great that there are buyers
standing there ready to take each
plank as it comes off. He is making
more money than the average gold
hunter.
Prospecting is lottery. Some
make big strikes and many get moth
ing, but for young man who has
average ability and energy trip to
the Klondyke can be nothing but ben
eficial. The cost is not SO large as
has been made to appear. A man eau
go from here to the gold country
and have an outfit and a full years
provisions for less than seven hundred
dollars. There are many men there
who started with less than five hun
dred and they are doing well.
The greater part of the mining is
done in the winter. In summer the
ice melts and the water fills the
shafts. Some thought that it would
be good idea to dig the ore when it
was frozen and wait until summer tn