Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1898-10-29
HONEST MIN ERS.
Gold Dust IL Left Lying Around Care
iessfy In the hIondike.

ooio Dust Is Lett Lying Around care
iessiy In the klondike-
Much has been written OF the won
ders of the Kiondike gold fields, a cor
respondent writes, but practically
nothing has been said OF the almost
phenomenal honesty of the miners.
What amazed me most during my first
few days in Dawson City was the reck-
less way in which miners left thou
sands Of pounds worth OF gold expos
ed in empty cabins and tents, as IL in
viting the first conner to help himself.
There were millions lying about with
out any one looking after them, and
so far as one could see, they belonged
TO nobody. | explored many of these
cabins during their owners absence,
and in the very first cabin / entered
saw dirty, tattered blanket careless
ly thrown over two mackerel kits.
lifted the blanket and found that the
kits were almost full to the brim with
gold dust and nuggets to the value of
at least e 5 900. The miner was out
prospecting on Bear creek, and had no
more anxiety about his pile than IL
1t were safely housed in the bank OF
| England. 1t was the same in nearly
every cabin | entered. Gold greeted
me everywhere. There were shelves
full of oil cans. meat tins. fruit Jars.
and buckskin and walrus bags. packed
with the precious metal, all as unpro-
| teeted as IL they were full of potatoes.
One Norwegian miner on Hunker
huA
pair OF canvas overalls, the legs of
| which he had sewn up. l lifted the un-
eanny safe and found that IL weigh
| ed a good 100 pounds, every ounce Of
| which was virgin gold. and the least
| value could place on these dirty over
| alls was 6 5000. There were five-gal-
| Ion oil cans full of gold carelessly
pushed under the miners bulks. every
one of which held fortune, for which
most men strove a lifetime. Out on
| Eldorado creek there is a settlement
| OF miners who have no fewer than IL
rich claims, and are washing out gold
| at the rate OF many thousands of
| pounds a week. Their strong room ia
common galvanized washing tub. and
/
ters full OF gold. and much too heavy
for two strong men to lift. Had |
been inclined / might have pinched
thousands of pounds worth. Gold
| abounded on every side which seemed
| to belong to nobody. Even IL a miner
| leaves his cabin for a week or more he
simply leaves a notice to this effect
| attached to the walls. He never thinks
| OF putting guard over his pile. OF
| course there have been attempts at
| theft. but the perpetrators have been
| invariably detected. In one recent
case the thief managed to carry hiA
| booty distance of ten miles. when
| cold and exhaustion compelled him to
| take shelter at the cabin Of one of the
miners. His hosts suspicion was
aroused by the mans conduct and by
| the bags OF gold, for which he could
| not satisfactorily account The miner
detained his guest, communicated with
some OF his fellows; and fifteen of them
assembled In the hut, and sat in judg-
| ment on the thief. He was found gull
ty. and half dozen bullets put sud-
den end to his career. Such cases
however, are very rare, and 1t speaks
volumes for the honesty of the 40. 900
I'men who are now gathered in Dawson
City, and they can see hundreds OF
thousands OF pounds worth OF gold
lying about. without even thinking of
laying hands on it.