The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-30
4 LETTER FROM KLoNDIKE.
1t Has About Decided a Savannahian
to Make the Trim.


Mr.. T. o. Mcbride has just received a
letter from Dawson City. Alaska, from
]. w Basham, formerly a resident of Sa-
vahnah. who went out to the Klondike
with his wife to seek his fortune last
year
The writer gives some very interesting
accounts of his experiences in getting to
the god region. and urges Mr.. Mcbride
to come at once and join in the search
for the yellow metal. The letter was writ
ten in Dawson City on Thanksgiving day,
given TO a friend who was coming down
10 the United States. and was mailed at
Forest Grove. Ore, about ten days ago.
we arrived here in the rainy season."
the letter says, land L was soaking wet
for nearly two months, wading streams
with the pack horses This is the great
est country I have ever seen for money
Money is The most plentiful thing we have.
unless il is ice / saw one million and a
half in god dust in one pile yesterday.
Everyone seems to have plenty of the
dust You never see any currency here;
it is all gold dust and goes at a uniform
price of ST. an ounce.
Everything in the provision line is very
high, -four SIPS per pound, bacon s1.25,
coal oil S25 a gallon, candles $3.50 each, and
everything else in proportion. Whisky
and beer are 50 cents drink"
The letter gives a graphic account of
some of the gambling games, such as faro
bank and stud poker, in which the players
bet anywhere from 500 to $1,000 on the
turn of a card.
Il have located claim on the Bonanza"
he continues, and think l have a good
piece of property. though l haven't begun
to work it yet. l can rub the dirt i'm my
hands and find gold dust, and it Is right
near one of the richest minese in this sec
ton 1t was only by luck l secured it, as
IL had been located before, but had not
been recorded. 1 got piece of land 500
feet in length and the full width of the
river bottom about 400 feet. AS soon as
l can travel 1 am going about eighty miles
from here TO locate another claim. 1t
was 50 degrees below zero last night, but
nobody stops work for that. 1t is a dry
cold, and man can work right along, if
he can keep his face from freezing. We
have a warm cabin and live in regular
Indian style.
I'VE had a good trip after We reached
Lake Bennett, and came through the ia
nous canyon about a mile long in one
minute. We just fell through. Three
miles farther on we came to the White
Horse rapids, a very dangerous place,
where we had to unload all but about 2,200
pounds, and we fell through there in the
same way at the rate of about mile an a
minute. The Rink rapids are not so bad,
but the Five Fingers rapids are rough. If
you ever come through there take the
right hand side.
IF you can get out here by May 1, we
can get to work and make a fortune dur
ing the summer. A good deal of the dirt
is dug out in the winter and washed In
the summer. The daylight now lasts only
about five hours but in summer time it is
all daylight. / advise you to come, but
do not wait for the boats. Come the way
did and bring plenty of
grub, such as flour, bacon,
fifteen hundred pounds, for it may be
very hard to get here. Have everything
packed in paraffine bags to prevent dam
age by water. Buy your provisions in
Victoria then you can bond them through
ard save the duty. which is about 25 per
cent You should reach Lake Bennett
before the ice breaks up as freight rates
are cheaper across the ice. Bring plenty
of warm clothes and fur robes for bed
ding. as sleeping bags are no good. You
can get a heavy overcoat there for $50,
which is worth $500 out here.
THE amount of gold that win be taken
out here next summer will surprise The
world. So come on at once and help us
get it,"
The letter gives further directions with
regard to making the trip. Mr.. Mcbride
is thinking very seriously of going out and
getting into the gold mining business for
season at least. He has not fully de-
cided yet, but will make up his mind
within week or two. He thinks with
friends already there to post him he will
have little trouble In picking up a share
of the fortune that the Klondil1e is turll-
ing out.