The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-02-28
PRICES IN 1865.
They We're As High As Those Now
In the Klondike.


/ Helena Independent: Just now when so
much is said about the high prices of
commodities in the Klondike, it is in
teresting to knoM that there was once a
day in Helena When prices were received
and paid for the same articles that were
higher in many Instances than the klon-
( dixie schedules that are attracting so
much attention. Alderman Marcus LisS-
ner, who came here in 1860. and whose
memory still retains with wonderful dis
tinctness the incidents Of those days, and
who was in business here from the time
he came, racalis-so of the examples OF
the prices of the early days Of Last
/ Chance gulch.
Mr. LissneF started a restaurant in
Helena at what is now the corner of
State and Mainrstraets, June II. 1863. From
that Time his enterprise. grew. He en-
larged his establishment into a hotel later
Oh, ana as the camp grew became one OF
the leading business men Lissners
corner. as it was known 80 years ago
and for long time afterward. was the
principal center of the city.
Everything was pretty high those
days, said MIR. Lissner last evening,
and l remember as an example that l
received $3.50 a. meal or S2i week for
table board from the time the restaurant
was started. Whisky was sold then; of
course, and one-Of the early kegs drank
in the camp had in my place with
little tin cup attached, while the COM
mon price of the liquor was 80 cents
drink. | afterward started a lunch house.
where | remember that / sold pies at
s. each and found the people glad to get
Charley Cannon, who were here then.
also sold pies. ! remember that they got
higher prices than l did part of the time.
selling them sometimes as high as $l.25
and $50
L bought the first load of potatoes that
ever came here from Salt Lake City. for
which l paid $500. There were two tons.
1 paid $50 for Salt Lake eggs. had
some building to do about that time and
l paid Junius Sanders. who ran a saw
mill up the gulch $50 thousand feet for
rough pine lumber. l put liz a billiard
game and paid s1o0 for a set of billiard
! balls The charge was 81 a game and
We had 10 run board with q list of
names registered on it so that men could
play in their turns, so great was the de-
mand for cues at the prevailing price.
Staple groceries We're high, of course
Beans were 10 csnts a pound. bacon was
3 10 cents pound. and sugar was $50 for
a l01-pOund sack. / once bought a sack
Of flour from man named Stokes from
Denver. for $40 and IL was hard 10 get
wanted 100 pounds OF -four to send up the
gulch and had To send five men after it.
/ because they wouldn't sell more than 20
''Whitlach. of the Whitlach- Union. who
VIII be remembered by many, was here
then. He completed pavilion at Union
vile in time to give dance July 4. 1865,
and he sent an invitation TO the people
of Last Chance to come up. and dance.
The day opened bright and clear and the
whole camp turned out to go up there.
Bugcies were scarce and every means of
conveyance was pressed into service. 1t
cost y TO ride up In dead-ax wagon In
the afternoon a snowstorm came up.
Inc dance was broken up and the people
had to walk home through the storm in
five inches of snow. j. G. Sanders. Martin
Hotter and lot of other old-timers who
are still in the city trudged home through
the storm. The music was given by
couple of fiders. who received from 81. 50
to 81 an hour for playing That fall 1
gave the first Masonic dance ever given
in the camp. up stairs over my place of
business at the corner of Main and State
streets. Tickets were SO each. After the
dance supper was served at 81 a plate.
We charged $40 pint for wine. and they
were small pints, too. Three cigars were
sold for 81. Yes. prices were even higher
those days than they have been in the
Klondike.. and nothing was said about
them. either.
Wages were as high as they are up
north Miners got from $40 to sl5 for
working in drifts and from 81 to IS for
working on the surface. Bricklayers'
wages were SO and stonemasons received
s. a day. A man named Jim Mason. who
lives here still. got - a yard for plaster
ing that NV coses - cents yard; Car
pay my cooks $500 a month each and
walters were worth 81 50 day and board
Bartenders received 5000 n month. They
sold Kessler'S beer for SIG for an eight
gallon key.
Wearing apparel was high. too. and as
an instance. / can remember when I
bought d pair of beaver pants for $2i
that would cost probably 81 today. Every
thing else was in due proportion
M. Lissner subsequently acquired the
spring that furnished water to the city
for domestic purposes. The sources of
supply from which some of the city water
is now obtained was then used in mining
and it was too muddy to drink. The peo-
ple used the mineral water now so much
i'm demand that it is bottled and sold in
smaller quantities without knowing that
II was as good as afterward IL proved to
be. When the city water was taken from
other sources and the mineral character
of the Lissner spring was discovered the
latter became commercial enterprise
and the bottling works now run In con-
junction with it became established and
its business grew.
Some idea of the flush times those
DAYS may be obtained from the fact that
Nj Iissner was three times burned out
losing $4,000. and that every time he re-
covered and went on as il nothing had
happened.
a Professional aT,i&