The record-union., 1898-04-08

| them altogether, SO Dy summer We VIII
| have quite a city There is no law up
here except what the miners them
selves make. We just hold a meeting
and decide what to do, and that is the
| end
Most ali our clothes and grub Chat
| is, what we have not been able to get
to our claims) are sin town in cacle-
that is, in small houses about 10xo and
about six feet off the ground, so the
dogs can't get at them. The penalty
for stealing is 100 lashes of a bull
whip or send the culprit down the
river on a cake of ice Either one IS
almost certain death. In that way we
can leave our things right out in the
| open without their being tempered
with. Provisions, etc, all have to be
packed out to the claims on men s
backs, or those who have dog. teams
sled them out.
Just imagine our nearest claim is five
miles over a trail on a hill side, ana
| We have to pack everything on our
backs, When you first start out
/ 50-pound sack Of flour don't seem any
thing, but when you pack it five miles
! it seems to weigh about five hundred
! pounds When / first started to pack II
/ was all I could do to get out to camp
with fifty pounds. Now | can pack
seventy pounds and walk right along.
| You have to get used to all these
things and the sooner the better.
There is many a man up here that
! is Disguised and wishes he was pack
in civilization, but l enjoy 1t now. II
is so -and-easy going. rms Is no
place for a man over thirty five or forty
years, unless he has plenty of money
/ and has been used to being Knocked
! about in the hardest kind of way. EY-
| erything is Work-no idle moments, ana
| only those who are in good health have
any business up here. 1 wouldn't ad-
! wise anybody to come up here.
A person on the outside has not got
! the faintest idea what kind of coun-
/ try this is. Although I seem to be get
/ ting fat off it. | eat three hearty meals
| every day. since I have been here. L
! was weighed at the store and with my
/ coat off [ tipped the scales at 100, a
! gain of % pounds. Just think OF that.
l did not have on as much clothes as
7 would down home. The cold weather
! don't bother me in the least as yet. 1t
was % degrees below last Thursday,
and / was dressed about the same as
! down in Frisco, with the exception OF
a fur cap which comes over my ears
and neck
1t didn't seem any colder than a win
ters morning down in Frisco, with the
exception of one!s ears. l never felt
! better than I do at the present time.
am stronger and heartier in every way,
and 1 can do just double the work and
not feel it, Nobody shaves or cuts his
hair up here, SO you can imagine how
we all look.
The outfit which we have cost ST.
| 024 so for the four of US, which means
S256 20 apiece. That includes grub,
tools and other things that were neces-
sary. and yet we don't seem to have
anything to show for the money. Ev-
erything is very high. Picks and SHOW
els are worth $50 apiece.
We had to walk five and half miles
for a stove, and then paid double what
it was worth. but we were glad to get
it at any price. 1t throws out lots OF
heat and cooks. good enough, but it has
no oven, so we have to get our bread
baked at our neighbours. Anything your
neighbor has belongs to you in this
country So in that way we get along
very we'll. 1 am chief cook part of
the time.
All the Indians deserted the boats al
ST. Michael, so they had to call on the
| passengers to do the work, and, Oh
course. L was one. of the first to jump
in. We gQt1$1 an hour and our board
so you see we didn't do so bad. OF
course it took most everything to buy
the outfit, etc, and if we don't strike
some thing by next summer we will be
busted" But if it comes to that,
can go to work at any time on one OF
the river boats and make a grubstake
for next winter. There are two friends
of mine working on the boats, one an
engineer and the other a mate, so you
see that part is all fixed
We expect to have a big competition
on the river, as there are five or siS
new companies started up, so that viii
make plenty of work.
If any of our griends are coming uI
this way 1 would advise them to have
at least 81 ,000 or stay away.
AS to Dawson and the Klondike there
has been found very rich claims. The
Bonanza and Ell Dorado are pups OF
the Klondike and on them also have
been found very rich claims, as wei
as a great many more too numerous te
mention.
This is the month for doing the repre-
senting on Little Manook Creek, and
I was UP there last week. Everybody
was very busy sinking, but No. above
was the only claim that had got any
thing. He showed us about $50 ir
nuggets that he had found. He is down
twenty-one feet and has just struci
pay dirt. Two days after I was dowr
on Hunter Creek, and a friend of mine
told me that he had just seen McClair
of No. 9 on Little Manook and he
showed him two nuggets he had just
found on his claim. One was $50 an6
the other $136
As I had to go to town I passed him
| on the way. He didn't seem very much
excited over it, but just said the GOLD
is here. and all you have to do is tt
find it.
When I got to town I found every.
body greatly excited The gold is here
no doubt, but it is a very hard matter
to find it.
All these nuggets he found were JUS
: lying on top of the bedrock, and he
cannot tell how much he can get out O.
the claim until next spring, when ht
washes. It might turn out rich, ant
there might be nothing more there. No
body can tell until spring. By the mex
. letter I write I will be able to tell the
full particulars.
The mail leaves here on December
18th and it will take about twenty day!
to get to Circle City. From there i
goes to Dawson, then over the pass
then to Juneau, and from there it goe:
on the steamer, taking about sixty Of