The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1898-12-15
ATAlE OE GOLD.
Dawson City Miners Ar. Remarkable Fos
Their Honesty.

Their Honesty.
Much has been written of the Won
ders of the Klondike goldfelds. cor
respondent writes, but practically
nothing has been said of the almost
phenomenal honesty of the miners.
What amazed me most during my first
few days in Dawson City was the reck-
less way in which miners left thou
in empty cabins and tents, as If invit-
ing the first conner to help himself.
There were millions lying about with
out anyone looking after them, and so
far as one could see. they belonged to
nobody.
l explored many of these cabins dur
ing their owners absence, and in the
very first cabin l entered / saw a dirty,
tattered blanket carelessly thrown over
two mackerel kits. lifted the blanket
and found that the kits were almost
full to the brim with gold dust and
nuggets to the value of at least $4,000.
The miner was out prospecting on
Bear Creek, and had no more anxiety
about his pile than If it were safely
housed in the Bank of England.
1t was the same in nearly every cabin
l entered. Gold greeted me every
where. There were shelves full Of
oil-cans, meat-tins, fruit-jars, and
buckskin and walrus bags packed with
the precious metal, all as unprotected
as if they were full of potatoes.
One Norwegian miner on Hunker
Creek had made strong-box of pair
of canvas overalls, the legs of which
he had sewn up. I lifted the uncanny
safe" and found that 1t weighed a
good 100lb., every ounce Of which was
virgin gold; and the least value could
place on those dirty overalls was G5.-
900.
There were five gallon oil-cans full
of gold carelessly pushed under the
miners hunks, every one Of which held
a fortune, for which most men strove
a lifetime.
Out on Eldorado Creek there is set
tlement of miners who have no fewer
than fourteen rich claims, and are
washing out gold at the rate of many
thousands of pounds a week. Their
strong room is a common galvanized
washing-tub, and when I was there 1t
was three-quarters full Of gold, and
much too heavy for two strong men to
lift. Had l been inclined / might
have pinched thousands Of pounds
worth. Gold abounded on every side
which seemed to belong to nobody.
Even IL a miner leaves his cabin for
week or more, he simply leaves no.
tice to this effect attached to the walls.
He never thinks of putting a guard
over his pile.
at theft, but the perpetrators have been
invariably detected. In one recent
case the thief managed to carry his
booty a distance of ten miles, when
cold and exhaustion compelled him to
take shelter at the cabin Of one OF the
miners. His hosts suspicion was
aroused by the mans conduct and by
the bags of gold, for which he could
not satisfactorily account.
The miner detained his guest, COM
municated with some Of his fellows;
and fifteen of them assembled in the
hut and sat in judgment on the thief.
He was found guilty, and half-a-dozen
bullets put a sudden end to his career.
Such cases, however, are very rare:
and it speaks volumes for the honesty
of the 10000 men who are now gather
ed in Dawson City that they can see
hundreds of thousands of pounds
worth of gold lying about, without even
thinking of laying hands on it.
To my mind by far the luckiest man
in the Klondike is a man you have
probably never heard of-Halsey Put
nam. Before coming to the Klondike,
Halsey had tried and failed in almost
every calling a man can follow, from
blacksmith to laborer in the Brooklyn
parks, and from printer to barman.
When he reached Dawson he had not
the necessary so cents for a shave;
and 1a1b. of meat at 70 cents pound
would have put him in the Bank
sruptcy Court"
Within few months Halsey had
mined and sold G14,OOO worth of gold:
and to-day, after little more than a
year at his last lucky venture, he could
write you cheque for G50,000, and yer
retire on a fortune.