Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1898-01-20
OPEN ALAS LETTER.
Frank r. Houston Writes Interest
ingIy from the Gold Fields.


Before he started for the land of
ice and nuggets the REPORTER asked
Mr. Houston to write back his honest
and unprejudiced impressions of that
country as soon as he could speak
with accuracy and detiniteness con-
cerning them. To-day we give those
impressions to the public vOuching,
upon Mr.. HouStOn's promise, for the
reliability of every word which fol-
lows in an open letter addressed to
Mrs. j. t. Houston:
DAWSON CITY, n. W. T., Oct. Is, '97.
Dear Mother: Your letters of June
20 and July 10 received the first of
this month (October) and found me
in the best of health and spirits but
as far from a good claim as if / were
on a creek back in Wisconsin. Rube
and | have built cabin-12X12-
whose only good feature is warmth.
1t is not an architectural masterpiece.
They build cabins in this country of
logs, placing layer of moss between
the logs and allowing weight of sub
sequent logs and roof to jam firmly
together. You may read reports of
impending starvation up here. 1t is
true. Rube and l have enough but
many will GO very hungry this winter
if they remain here instead of going
to Fort Yukon where food is plenty.
You see the difficulty (alleged) con-
sists of getting the heavily laden
steamers over the stretch of bad wa
ter known as the Yukon Flats or bars.
| believe much of it to be due to ma
chination of the trading companies
to boost up prices. The poor, deluded
fools are pouring in here, even yet, in
swarms, most of whom have no out
fits at all and will have to face the
hardships of trip out over the ice or
starye. 1t is not eXaggeration to say
that starvation is possible for some;
scurvy and disease probable for many,
and privation certain for ALL. Flour
is sold daily for 800 per 50-fb sack
and hard to obtain. Beef is $1.25 per
pound. Butter cannot be found. Ba
con will bring from S1.00 to $1.50 per
pound if one can be found willing to
SELL paid 43 cents per pound yes
terday for oatmeal and some hominy
and was tickled to get it. In here
you lose all idea of money value as
compared to food and comfort. Salt
is 80 cents and none to be had. Sugar
is 25 and 30 cents and is plenty. Cof-
fee is all gone. Dried fruits played
out also. So you can see what cOndi-
tions are in here in the line of food.
NOaC, all this would be endurable if
there were anything sure or even
barely possible in the way of gold. 1t
is'a 1000 to ! shot that man will miss
striking anything here, AS there are
5000 people here and only about POO
claims on the two creeks that have
created all this excitement. Of these
200 claims probably one-third are
good. These claims are all taken up
and have been since last aCinter. There
are many little gulches and creeks
that have been located and recorded
but Hunker creek is the only one from
which claims have paid, and then
there are only four or five and they
pay only wages. You enclose clip
pings from Chicago paper telling of
''tOn and a half of gold. | wonder
if any one has taken the trouble to
figure out how much a ton and a half
Of gold amounts to. 1t is about $780,
100000. What is that amount when
produced by the efforts of some 1000
to 1000 men? There are now some
5000 here and the estimated output
will be from S3,O00,000 to S5,0OO,0 900.
What is that when divided by the
number of men here. The best these
men can get is work at wages, for this
amount to be sent out next spring is
O1Ulled nO,U by the mine owners and is
| just as secure as if locked in the Wood
County National bank. In one or
two of the Eldorado claims the gold
is literally found in a two-inch layer
and taking it out is much the same
as going into the First National bank
of Wausau and into the small COM
partment where our suave friend,
''ScOOp" Smith presides, and helping
yourself, only the amount in the bank
is pocket money compared to what is
in one of the good claims on Eldorado.
There is no question but that the
strike was one of the greatest ever
known but how in the name of all
that is great will that help me or the
thousands now on the trail at Skagwa
Pass and Chillcoot Pass. To young
man the trip and probable failure
does no harm, but to a middle-aged or
old man it is suicidal to come in here,
leaving all behind and property mort