Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1898-08-25
HOUSTON AND ALASKA.
PROPERTY NOT WORTH a THING NOW
A Good Letter From KIondike. Not Much
Love Among Gold Hunters for Canadi-
an Mining Regulations. Brains of
Little Service up There.

Little Service up There.
The following letter was received by
DR.. Russell Lyon Of Wausau from Frank
Houston. Of Dawson city, and will prove
Of interest to his numerous friends in
this city:
DAWSON, n. w. July 10, '9S.
My dear Russ: Nv most worthy and
venerated uncle, hello! How goes the
battle Of life with you? | am plugging
along here, and am making what back
in the states would be deemed a very
good income, viz, $3.50 per evening.
[ have put in Just four weeks steady
work so far, while Rube was lucky
enough to get in on the ground floor
last December and has been employed
pretty regularly ever since. 1t costs SO
much to live in this country, however,
that it seems to leave a very incon-
sequential sum to go toward that Yukon
Utopia, ''long poke" which in plain
eastern language means big roll OF
money. Here if a man asks "How
realize that you are about to be
more, according to his social standing
and how well he knows you They all
know me and also know, incidently
that | neither borrow nor lend. Rube
and /, of course, are in together and
our money is a regular family "poke."
During the winter / kept house for him
and "beautifed his home" in many
countless little ways, and made him
think (perhaps) after all, bis reluctance
about marriage is not justified by facts
and the comfort of having someone
cook bacon for him and to swear at and
all those little things, is all right Well,
he and [ get along famously. Naturally
it requires two for a quarrel, and both
must be fools.
Property is not worth thing now.
Claims that may contain thousands OF
dollars-sOme of them without doubt
do-are sold at auction for paltry sums
running from one ounce 16.00) to two
or three hundred dollars, simply
because their owners want to get out in
a hurry. Now IS the accepted time to
buy, but one must have enough money
to swing all ,his property, in other words
TO work each claim the amount required
by law which is three months. Here
tOfOre it has cost from 5000 to 81 200 to
secure a man for three months, tho
now | can pick up hundreds who would
gladly do it for $400 or $500, so you see
| it takes cash to hold and own mining
property. Rube and [ have three
claims that we 'set a heap of store by"
| They are on Independence creek when
Joins IIunker creek at No. y below
! discovery. I located No. q on it and
have since bonght Nos % and %,
giving us p. 24and 25. fl could secure
% at Il moderate figure [ would do so.
We have gone against the advice of
some of our friends in buying on it.
particularly the last one. Thew reason
this way; "If there is anything there,
| then YOU have enough as it is Rube
and | are of one mind, we are either
going to make a stake that will enable
US to cut q circular sWath of the bright
est vermilliOn tint from Chicago to gay
Paris, or come out as we came in, poor
as jobs famous turkey Our winters
outfit Of grub will cost us about 81 900.
! Our intention is to hold our job as long
as possible or as long as the wages keep
! up to their present exalted altitude.
| Rube and [ together earn 1868 per
month, if we keep up at that rate,
shall not worry about holding our min
ing property and getting hold of some
more. Business is not to be compared
to last year and | would not be surprised
to see our Jobs last no longer than Sept. l
This coming winter tells the tale, and
we will know our fate, or rather | will
Rube will stay here whether we succeed
or fail, but | WOO tickle fortune nc
| longer than this winter.
There has been but one claim thor
Oughly prospected upon our creek
That was No. 2. Two holes were sunk
to bedrock and drifted between, and
$500 buckets were taken out which
cleaned up over $4,SSO, or over Boz
ounces. But that doesn't demonstrate
anything positive about our claims
"GCld is where you find it, and there
is no rule or previous knowledge that
can aid one in forming a positive
diagnosis or progncsis of the condition
of a claim, from outward appearances
You can scarcely imagine the crowd
that is in here now. Most Of them are
wondering what they came for; many
of them how they are going to get back
and almost all are disappointed. The
laws of the country are tremendous
set back to It's development. Canadian
| law is piCayunish and miserably purl-
tanical as compared with our glorious
| United States and her laws; and wher
those self same laws are twisted anC
warped by cunning men and boodlers
or administered by mentally unqualified
"Canucks" who do not possess the
mental equipment necessary to run {
hen house, you can Well understand
that chaos is everywhere present il
official places, and nothing but the hanC
of a baCkmaller is extended.
| do not believe that the laws al
administered here, relating to mining
claims, town lots, cabin logs, timber
permits and the hundred and one petty
al : h. a.
Of the government at Ottawa. | believe
that they are too brainy and broad
! minded back there (even if in Canada
to enact such boomerangs as are being
enforced here, and which will surely
Yecoil and do a lasting injury to this
country. ! know positively that if the
royalty is not removed, a great many
claims will not have a dollars WOrtf
done on them, more than is absolutelI
required by law to hold them This il
told me by many Of those who have 6
part Of their output confscated in The
shape of royalty"
You see the government officers take
10 per cent. of the gross amount with
out allowing anything for the cost 0
! taking it oct Of the ground, and 1t cost
a whole lot of money to work clam
rsI nom six to nine months, with men &
81 to $I.50 per hour.
Dave Parcher just got back from tht
upper Tanana river. He is now nick
e named "Tanana Dave" He and hi
! crowd were after copper and incident
! ally gold. He brought back a coppe
e bullet that he dug out Of tree. Th
Indians take the native copper which i
! very abundant, and whittle it int,
e bullets or slugs. / see the other Wau
4 saMtes but seldom rs | work in th