The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-08-11
A WINTER At DAWSON.
Returned KIondiker Relates Inter
esting Experiences
CAPT. j. B. CROCKER'S STORY OF
LIFE IN GOLD FIELDS.

| AAEG I'm UULD I1ELDSs
The Trip Was Profitable One to Him But
| He Doesn't Want To Try 1t Agaln-Lo
Gated Four Claims During His Visit
There.
| A graphic story of life in the Klondike
was told to PRESS reporter last eve.
ming by Capt. j. B. Croker. who has re.
Gently returned from that region of low
temperatures and untold W saith. Capt.
Croker went to the Klondike last year,
leaving his home in Franklin, Mass, OH
| the Oath of August and arriving at his
destination on the 9th of November.
There for ten months he lived the life of
miner and worker in the Klondike, see
ing it's hardships and sharing in it's
profits. 1T located four Claims" said
| Capt. Crocker, land sold two of them.
I worked only one of the four and while
did not find that one very rich regard
the venture on the four as profitable. 1t
was late in the fall when reached Alas
ka, and went in by the Chilkoot Pass.
The descriptions you have read OF that
place could not make it out worse than
it is. The trail was SO bad that the mud
in places was up to mans waist. l
hired packer to take my outfit in to
Lake Lindemar, paying him 40 cents d
pound for the $500 pounds. AT the lake
I bought boat and in it with number
of companions made the S00-mile trip
| down the river to the Dawson region. 1t
was difficult navigation. The current in
| the river was strong and in crossing
| the lakes squalls were encountele ed which
overturned many boats, especially when
they were handled by men not familiar
with the work. 1t took us 20 days to make
| the trip. Lots of men who went to the
Klondike will never be heard from, los
! ing their lives on this long journey
| through the lakes and river. I saw sew
eral boats capsized and at Dawson saw
boat strike the ice with such force that
the rapid current forced the boat, cargo
and occupants under the ice. Nobody
could have helped them and nobody knew
their names. I knew the men by sight
but had no knowledge as to who they
were or where they came from. Their
bodies were swept under the ice and per-
haps carried far out in Boring sea. My
| first claim was on Henderson creek
about so miles from Dawson. worked
| it in the way so often described. had
| to go two miles for wood. After getting
supply + would build fire and then go
out to it several times during the night
to put ON moro wood. In the morning I
would remove the soil VIII Oh had been
thawed out. Only a few inches of earth
could be taken out in a day, but it was
the only way to get it. out at all. In this
way the miners sink their shafts, some
times going as deep as 20 feet to the bed
rock. A claim varies in size. Formerly
the Canadian law allowed a man to take
claim of 200 feet along the shore of
the creek and extending 600 feet from
one side of the claim to the other. Later
the size of the claims was cut down to
200 feet along the creeks and still later
claim on Henderson creek was 500 feet
long. The holder of a claim sometimes
has to sink a good many shafts before he
finds the pay dirt, even if it is there at
| all. If there are good claims near his he
can Judge from them where he will strike
the claim on Henderson creek and then
| in February I went to Dawson and
bought three dogs, paying $500 for them.
used the dogs in hauling lumber to the
mill and got 800 day. OF this 1 could
save over half. 1t cost me $1,000 day
for my board at the restaurant and SIS q
day for the meat with which I fed the
dogs, then there were repairs to be made
on the sled when it was broken and other
incidentals, all of which cost good deal
in that country. was engaged in this
business until the sle1ghing WAS gone in
the spring. I located more claims in
that time.
eyes, there was good deal of suffer-
ing and privation among the miners, but
did not see time when you could not
buy provisions if you had the money to
pay for them, and it took lots of money.
When I reached the Klondike 50-pound
sack of flour sold for Sl25, :beans were
81. 30 pound and other supplies in pro.
portion. did not meet many Maine
men in the Klondike although passed
good number of them on the trail go
ing In. They were too late to get in last
fall before the river froze up.
1T was agreeably disappointed in find
ing the climate, although intensely cold,
to be evenly tempered, entirely free from
the sudden changes and storms we expert
enced at home. There are no perceptabls
winds until March. During the entire
winter there were only three falls of
snowfakes, neither reaching two inches
in depth. There is, however, generally
a continual, almost :imperceptible, frozen
mist in the air, which accumulates to
a depth of from three to five feet. There
is very little animal life in the region.
Practically no game is found except in
sections 40 or more miles remote from
the inhahited districts, where moose, car