The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-08-06
Reasons for the Slow Develop
ment of the Klondike.
MINING LAWS ONEROUS
Retards Development OF Claims-Pro-
cesses Are Still Imperfect-Interview
With a Man Who He's Been
-Four Years in Alaska.

where he VIII remain until spring, when
he intends to return To his claims.
When asked by a Standard reporter
for some Information regarding the
country where he has been for the past
four years. Mr.. Christ was reluctant
to make any statement for publication.
There have been too many interviews
about the country already" he said.
and many Of them have been injuri-
GUS But he finally consented to say
something about his location. and, IN
answer to questions. spoke as follows:
The country up there is all right.
There is a great deal of IL to be de-
veloped and it will take a long time
To do this. There are two reasons for
the slow development of the Klondika
region. In the first place, the pro-
cesses are imperfect and IL takes a
long time to work the ground by the
methods now employed. Two men in a
season cannot work more thar a space
seventy feet square i'm the best condi-
tons. In the second place the 10 per
cent royalty hat is exacted by the
Canadian government retards the de-
Nelopment OF many claims, whose own
ers are not willing to give up so much
OF the proceeds Of their ground. The
government is everywhere apparent in
the Klondike. In addition to this roy
atty there is the miners license and
the cost OF renewing a claim. which is
Sl5 a year. Until recently. too. there
was a wood license of % cents a cord
that made building and firing expen-
sive. 1t has now been so range that
the miners license allows him to cut
enough wood for the operation of his
mine At first he had to pay for All
the wood that he used, ever TO the logs
IN his cabin. This has led many claim
owners to do only enough work to pro-
duce dust enough to pay their way.
They are saving their claims till the
government gets more liberal.
II have been four years and a LITTLE
more in the Yukon country. | was at
circle city for three winters and spent
some time at Forty Mile, which is
fifty miles above Dawson. II was AZ
these two places that most of the old
timers were located. 1t so happened
mat the men who got into the Klon-
dixie eighteen months ago were lust
IN time. The older residents had not
touched that part of the country ana
there was plenty of room for all who
We're there. All Of the stories that have
Deen told of the stampede have nos
been exaggerated. The rush was a ter
rlble one. Last year i'm Dawson oil
OF the groud was staked out for miles.
Much OF 1t was no good and was stakeI
on Wildcat speculations. The men
who got into Dawson last year did not
ma much ground left. There was
some new rumor. however. every day
that would start the GROVE off on an
other stampede. There were scores of
men who chased around on these
PUSHES. They would not take any pro-
visions. Some of them did not even
wait Tor blankets, but went off on a
run I" get IN the newest strike. Most
OF these stampedes were false alarms
u nothing came of them but suffer
ing.
Il have an interest In five claims
Ihey are on Bonanza. El Dorado aud
bunker creeks. The klOndlke river ~
Dawson Is about three times as large
as the Missoula river at this point. |
The FL Dorado river is about the size
OF the Rattlesnake here. 1t is thirty
miles long, though The other streams
are not as long. The working of
claim, as | have said. is slow. we sink
through the muck To bedrock and then
drltt. In thawing the ground. we law
the wood along the face of the drift
IN a long pile, mixing a little dry wood
with the green and placing large logs
on the outside, SO as to force all The
heat toward the frozen face of the
driit. rms is fired at night and is
N'H"iis ptlhtd Out III the morning 81 I
that a man can remove "A foot of bed
rock. The cleaning up and taking out
OF this amount of dirt keeps a man
busy all day. In the cold weather there
is not much trouble from smoke and
gas, but as the temperature rises IN
the spring the gas makes the work
hard. The gold is nearly all found i'm
the bedrock. In places IL runs away
up into the muck, but not often. The
hEhE hAE. Is uAWNH H.
gold. In the FL Dorado d~iggings the
gold runs very evenly through the
gravel, but i'm the other placers il is
ound in pockets.
The coolest that | have seen is so
degrees below zero. M was three
years ago. For six weeks that winter
mercury remained solid. Liniment aud
other mixtures containing alcohol
freeze all winter. Some of the whiskev
that they have up there freezes pre-
~ easily. The winter weather Is
clear and not windy. The snow falls
and does not drift much. The
winter depth is about three feet. We
were able to work our claims until the
melting snow made our drifts too wet
in the spring.
There will be more suffering in
Dawson this winter than there was
last. There will be more people with
out money and without work. The
town has been an orderly one for a
mining camp. The combined efforts Of
the Canadian police and the miners
have kept the lawless element well in
control. | did not see any hans n".
but there were several men shipped
down the river for stealing dust. only
one OF them was seen again. He came
mp the river on "a boat the next spring.
but he did not ston. He kept going.
Many Of the miners spend their dust
as fast as they get IL. There is a
deal of gambling and the dance
halls get a big slice. There are a good
women in the camp now in these
dance halls and other places. They
came in on the ice. in boats and over
the trails. They couldn't be stopped.
They get plenty OF the dust of the
miners who sport. There is not much