The Opelousas courier., 1898-07-30
LIFE AT DAWSON CITY.
Interesting Facts About the Metropolis OF
the Klondike.

the Klondike.
A journey of forty-five miles from
Sixty-mile Post brought us to Dawson
City, the wonderful city of the new
mining district, populated almost in q
night. Although really sixty-fve
miles distant from the Klondike, it Is
a typical mining camp, minus the
guns. The laws of the British govern.
ment are enforced at Dawson, and
those laws prohibit the use Of fire.
arms; consequently few men carry
guns. In and around Dawson at the
present time there are about fou1
thousand men and one hundred and
fifty ONE Dawson, of course, is
very primitive and verydirty, although
from a recent conversation with Mr..
Ladue I understand that every effort
is being made to clean it. There are
large stocks of provisions in all the
storehouses, and it looks as though
there could be no hunger in the Klon.
dixie. There will lie little or no law.
lessness, and there is aprobability OF
very little sickness. The Alaskan
winters are healthful. In September
can be seen Quantities of black ducks
-wea1-a5 their way southwark, and
even on the~streets of Dawson you
can see the sparrow and hear its
chipping. Here, as everywhere in
Alaska, nature has stored her trea.
sures in q safe of ice; in fact, one
writer has called Alaska the nations
icebox, but to me it represents the
future paradise of poet and painter
Nature has done much for Dawson, but
the energetic American has done more.
He has built warehouses in which he
has stored acres of food, built com
Portable log-cabins, erected q theatre,
established many saloons, billiard
rooms and dance halls. The sums OF
money spent in these billiard saloons
and dance halls are simply fabulous;
fortunes changed hands every night
at the different gambling devices. Al
poker in a single night 500, 900 fire.
quently changed hands, it being moth.
ing unusual to see $40, 900 bet on a
single hand. Yet do not infer from
this that all the miners are gamblers.
Many of them never enter d saloon OF
dance hall.
I have a little friend out there, an
old schoolmate, who is IT teaching school.
She hugely enjoys her winters there.
She is at Circle City. She takes a
daily ride behind splendid dog team:
and, I tell you, it's great fun. Yor
ride a while, and then you get out anc
run; then you get in and ride again
No one really knows what sleighride
is until he rides behind a fine dog
team. The inhabitants manage to get
considerable amusement. They have
private dances, parties, and in the
summer time they even have picnics.
The Arctic winters are most keenly
felt by those miners who are obliged
all through the long, dark winter te
live in tents and dugouts.
Dawson Cityis rectangular in shape.
It is laid out in town lots. Its streets
are sixty-six feet wide. It is situated
on a stretch of low ground on the
northwest bank of the Yukon, just be
low the mouth of the klondike. Towr
lots in Dawson City are selling now at
$4,000 each. Up to the present time
cents at Dawson is the smallest
] iece of money used; it is called fom
bits. Both Protestants and Roman
Catholics have already established
mission churches in Dawson. Those
who visit Dawson next spring will see
a live metropolis.