Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-20
KLONDIKE GOLD,
Thousands of Dollars w orth of
Virgin Article Exhibited,
An Exhibit in the Show Window of Hea-
ley's Ticket Agency-lnteresting Talk
by Moses Folsom.

sixty-five dollars worth of virgin gold in
four boxes in the show window of James
f. Healey's ticket agency at 1896 Main
street attracted the attention of hun
dreds Off people Wednesday and in
creased the gold fever among Worces-
ter folks by many degrees. The gold is
shown by the Great Northern railway,
which controls a goodly stretch of the
railroads leading to the gold fields of
Alaska, Washington and Oregon, and
the precious metal is in charge of Moses
Folsom of st. Paul, Mimi, the advertis-
ing agent Of the company, who is ac-
companied by w. A Seward, general
agent of the road and steamship COM
pany of Boston
The gold is shown, of course, with a
view to increasing the desire to go to
the places where it can be picked up,
and If 1t creates as much interest in
every place as it does in this city, the
railway company will be more than paid
for carting it around the country and
paying the expenses of the men who
guard it. Mr.. Folsom was at Mr..
Healey's office the greater part of the
day, and he was besieged with men, who
have the Klondike fever, for informa-
ton regarding the best means of getting
to the gold country and what to do after
they get there. According to the state
ments of Mr. Folsom, it is not necessary
to go away up into the Klondike region
to get gold, as it can be secured in al
most as great quantities and with much
less privation and hardship in the states
of Washington and Oregon.
In talking with a Spy reporter about
the Klondike and other gold countries,
Wednesday evening, Mr.. Folsom gave
some valuable information. He said;
THE Klondike district is in the Can
adam northwest territory, about 90 miles
east of the Alaska boundary line. Until
the discovery Of gold on the little tribu-
taries of that stream, the mining along
the Yukon was all in American territory.
Brick Creek, south of Circle City, has
cleaned up several millions of the yellow
stuff, but when the news of the find on
the Klondike reached there men left
claims yielding from $40 to $40 day in
hopes of doing better in the new dig
gings. History repeats itself in the
stampede of men from old camps to new
ones. From all indications the old story
will be repeated this year in the rush
of men to Minook Creek and other
streams on the Yukon, hundreds of
miles west of Dawson City. Minook
Creek is near the mouth of the Tanana
river and the town of Weare, talked of
as the capital of the proposed new ter
ritory of Lincoln which is to take in the
Yukon country. That there are others
than Klondike is apparent from careful
survey of the whole field And there will
be no need of going into Canadian terri
tory to get a chance to pick up for
tune. Gold is known to exist on many
of the tributaries of the lower Yukon,
and all the rivers and streams running
to the sea from the main land and from
the countless islands along the coast,
show color of gold in their sands.
The Kuskokwim, Alaska's second
great river, drains a region of 10000
square miles. 1t has been but little pros
pected, not as much as Copper river and
the Sushitna, running into Cook inlet
1t is estimated that Cook inlet and Cop
pr river produced a half million of gold
In 1897. These localities can be reached
in week from Seattle. There is gold
in abundance in the southeastern coast
strip, within three or four days trip OF
Seattle Joseph Juneau washed out $2O,-
900 from he gold placers on Douglass
Island before the discovery of the inn
mense ledge now being worked by the
Treadwell mill. This ore is low grade
So ton, but the Treadwell runs night
and day, and even with the largest bat
terry of stamps in the world, it is now
engaged in doubling its capacity. Its
present daily profit is estimated at $1,000
The ore in sight in one body is sufficient
to keep it busy for a hundred years
and there is enough of it known on 9TH
er islands along the coast to supply a
hundred mills like the TreadWell.
One need not, however, go out of the
United States to find gold. California,
since 49, has produced a thousand mil
lion dollars of the precious metal. That
states output last year was $40, 900, 600
Oregon's record in 1897 was 81, 900 and
Washington's 81, 00O,0 900. The nuggets
have in our exhibit came from bed rock
on a Washington stream, property to
date with a credit of $4,000 of which
40 square feet produced $40, 400, nearly
as rich as anything in Alaska. I have
seen a Washington state nugget worth
$1,000. The gold is to be found there
with the advantage Of living in a good
climate with easy access to food sup
plies, transportation facilities and plen-
ty of water and fuel
The eye of the country, Of course, is
fixed on Alaska, and the question OF
getting there is merely one of money
Five days from Worcester will land the
gold seeker at the steamer dock in Sc
attic. Four days on the steamer will
land him at Dyea or Skaguay; seven
days will take him to Copper river, and
fifteen days to st. Michael; then twenty
days up the Yukon to Dawson City
This route is the only one offering three
meals day and bed at night. A good
many will go over the passes, and the
advice to follow the main travelled
road" will apply to Dyea or Chilkoot
as 80 per cent of those who have gone
to the interior have used that pass. II
is only "A miles from ocean tide to navi-
gable water leading to Dawson City.
Then the way is in boats or sleds if the
river is frozen. The hardships of pack
ing goods will be done away with to a
large extent this year by the completion
of tramWays or aerial railways, OF
which two are now being built over the
mountain barriers. A man can cross
over the Chilkoot in q day without a
load
No one should go alone to the gold
fields. Make up small parties, and by
so doing there can be saving in the
purchase Of supplies. One camp and
boat outfit will do for several, and in
various ways there can be financial
saving and compaionship, besides a gen
eral sharing in success as well as grief.
There is a good deal Of talk about du-
ties charged by the Canadian officials
Blankets, clothing, tools, cooking uten-
sis and 100 pounds of provisions are
exempt, and only ordinary customs du-
ties are charged for the excess. For
example, the duty on 200 pounds of -four
is go cents; on 125 pounds Of beans, 30
cents; on bacon, 2 cents a pound, and
so on. The whole charge on an outfit,
above exemption, will amount to about
| $40. The trading companies in the
Klondike are Americans, and they buy
hat. l.. 49,