The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-11-08
THE KIONDIKE WAS GOOD IL
HIM AND HE LIKES IT.
He BELIEFS IN ITS GREAT fVUlURt
Has a Bag Of the STUFF With him Just to
Show What KIondyke Nuggets Look
Like. Goes from Here
TO London.

- lA+N A41-t' -
make the trip.
Mr.. Thagard is a bit enthusiastic
/! about the Klondyke, as he can afford to
. Ie: for the Klordykc was good to him
III dhe left the e~rsomewhat more rotund
in person and fortune than when he
arrived.
Mr.. Thagard is one of the few North
| Carolinians who tried their luck in the
Arctic Eldorado. He is a native of
ThagardviIIe. Moore county, out went
West fifteen years ago to grow up with
Washington and British Columbia. He
talks interestingly of his Klondyke ex-
periences. He does not advise people to
90 there without due consideration. how
ever. 1t costs about $500 to so to the
Klondyke from here.
Il left Seattle in July, 1885, said Mr..
Thagard, landed at Skagway and went
across the Chilkoot pass. | had 81 In
dams to pack for me and it cost me Go
cents Il pound to get my outfit carried
30 miles to Bennett Lake. There | whip
sawed lumber for Il boat. and With Il
crew of s started on the 500 mile jour
ney to Dawson.
The trip was not child's play by any
means. The lake is subject to squalls
that blow through the valleys surround
ing it. At White Horse Rapids three of
my crew deserted me. SO | did not
have an opportunity to time the passage
OF the rapids to see whether we made
the four mile run in 3 minutes. but we
did make it and in q hurry. We came
out with our 33xS foot BOAT Il fourth
full of water. We were more fortunate
than many for some who tried the
rapids have never been heard of since.
I'VE also got safely by Five Fingers,
where the current insists ON taking YOU
by the left prong. but you have to take
the right. Then after getting over PM
Rapids. three days journey from Daw-
son, we had smooth sailing"
How many people are at DaWson?'I
he was asked.
There were $1,000 there when left.
There We're 200 when | arrived
And what did YOU do when you ar
rived:'
Il bought some claims, staked others
and leased some on shares. Having
some capital | hired men at $3.50 an
hour, the prevailing price then. and
worked the claims. My claiums were
located on Eldorado, Bonanza, Dominion
and bunker Greeks. The Bonanza and
Elorado claims paid the best
Wishing to know just how a claim is
''staked,' | asked Mr.. Thagard for the.
details.
You pay SO for a miners license;
then YOU hunt Il claim and drive down
a stake. register it at the office Of the
gold commissioner paying the fee Of So.
This entities YOU to the exclusive right
to work the ground for 2J0 feet on each
side of your stake. The other claims
are numbered in their order up and
down the stream.
How much do the claims usually
pay"
From nothing to a half million dol
lars. You can not judge by appearance
or locality. y half million claim and a
blank one are sometimes located side by
side.
AS you are perhaps aware Mr..
Thagard continued. the claims are
worked only in winter. \ fire is built
which thaws the ground two feet in ten
hours. This dirt is then thrown out and
allowed to lie unit the stream thaws in
spring, when it is washed as in old Cali
fornia mining days"
Most of the claims," he said, ''are
from 10 to 30 feet deep to bed rock.
where most Of the gold is found. Onei
shaft. however, was sunk to a depth of
127 feet, and the ground was still.
frozen.
"Th dogs which are used for trans-I
portation are queer looking animals
said Mr.. Thagard, with long silky hair.
Two of them can pull as much as a
horse. Some horses have been brought
to DaWSo but in winter they are killed
as food for the dogs. Five OF the dogs
have been known to pull 500 feet OF
green lumber, on the ice
Mr.. Thagard stated that the fishingI
and hunting is excellent. and the peoples
at Dawson would have starved durincI
the past winter. but for the Caribou and
Moose which We're killed and brought
in"
rs not the hey-day of the Klondyke
already past?' he was asked.
Not at all. People were arriving at
the rate of 800 a day When l left, which
was at the season for tlie rush. The
most fascinating thing about it is that
tenderfoot and expert stand almost equal
chances to strike it rich Some of the
best claims are owned by tenderfeet.
These latter when all the claims on
the creeks had been staked went up
and staked the hillsides to the great
amusement Of the old miners. The
laugh changed however when some Of
these claims proved to be very rich.
Mr.. Thagard said that about $4,000
claims have already been staked and that
it requires from four to seven years
to work out a claim with five men. New
claims are constantly being staked. Mr..
Thagard said that experts in the Klon-
dyke estimate it will in a few years be
producing as much gold as all the rest
of the world. A tramway over the Chill
koot pass will soon be completed and
then the trip can be made by river and
rail. Already there are 112 steamers