The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-07-16
CONDITIONS IN ALASKA
Gold Output Will Not Be So
Large as Announced.
A BIG RUSH is EXPECTED
An Attempt to Be Made to Renew the
Klondike Gold Fever Fake Ship
ments of Dust to Be Made
From St. Michaels.

If the information of a gentleman who
has just returned from Alaska is cor
rect, the reports that are expected to
come of a prodigious output of gold in
the Klondike region this season may
be taken with a grain of salt. The gen.
tleman is f. c. Healy, a relative of j.
j. Healy, one of the Klondike mag
mates. and he tells a very interesting
story of the scheme of the transporta-
ton companies to renew the Klondike
craze. MIR. Healy, during his journey
ings in the north country pretty thor
oughly covered the various sections n
is therefore well acquainted with the
conditions existing and being connected
with the head of one of the big trans
portation companies may be in posses
sion of inside information.
In conversation with a Standard re-
porter yesterday Mr.. Healy said the Of
ficials of the various transportation COM
panies, having made preparations for a
big rush which is not being realized, are
laying plans to excite the public anew.
They freely predict said he, that
the seasons cleanup of gold will amount
to between 500, 900, 900 and $25, O0O, 900,
and of a scheme which / was informed
IA BUN tIf1 VII put lAilc
effect proves successful, they will make
1t appear fully that big. This is the
schemes: There Is no doubt the gold put
put of the Klondike will be something
handsome, they know, but it will not
amount to anything like h they pre-
dict, so to make it look much bigger
than IL really is and start people Klon-
dikeward again, they propose gathering
up or buying up all the available gold
they can get hold of, and take it to st.
Michaels. 1t will then be brought back
from there as Klondike output and they
figure the public will never know the
difference. BY this scheme, if they sue
coed in carrying 1t out, they will great
ly increase the alleged output or Klon-
dixie cleanup and they will probably be
able to bring the ostensible cleanup up
to III figures they are predicting, as
there are considerable amounts of gold
in Alaska that will be available. You
see, operations have been carried on
more or less extensively in the Cook
inlet region, the Copper river country
and various other localities, and the
cleanup has not been brought down for
some W or three years, perhaps more,'
in fact, ever since any mining has been
done in these out-of-the-way localities,
so that, in all probability, there are
some five or six millions of gold that
can be reached in them alone. Then,
too, | was told, they will ever buy up
gold in this country n take it up to
st. Michaels to help swell the grand
total. The londi cleanup will doubt
less amount to $40, 900, 900 or something
over, and with all the gold that can be
gathered up aside from this, the total
they Will represent as all Klondike out
put ought to be very big and the trans
portation companies figure they will
thus be able to start the rush again and
realize handsomely on the result"
Whether Mr.. Healy's information is
good or not. he is firmly convinced it is.
Mr.. Healy does not think especially
well of the Klondike. He says there is
undoubtedly much gold there. but. moth
ing like what is represented and that
already there are too many people in
the country. 1t was for this reason he
left and came back to Butte to live.
Mr.. Healy came within half an hour
of being i'm the great snowslide on Chill
koot pass i'm March. He was in camp
on the pass at SheeD camp and was
intending going Cn that day, but by
good luck laid 81 beu half al hour
longer than he meant t., or he would
have been in the procession when the
slide occurred. He pictures the scenes
of horror as simply indescribable.
Mr.. Healy had previously visited Cir
Gle City and does not speak very highly
of that section. He said after his ex-
p~eriences he was content to come back
and live in Butte.