The Republican journal., 1898-08-11

Ion De AFRAID all the good claims will be
taken There will be thousands of acres
here to be prospected 10000 years after
Gabriel blows his trumpet. This is a land
OF great possibilities, when it comes to pro-
uuclng Ice; great expectation, and poor real
ization
thousand square miles to each square
meal. have met many men who say they
never swore in their lives until they came
to Alaska. Well, they are adopts at it now.
The air is blue with curses and invectives.
However, the winnings are generally spent
in good humor, and some of the boys who
have bump of hope larger than an
Alaska glacier still "have hopes" l came
worth long ago. You could not hire
man to make the trip if he knew what he
was doing. We have all made it for
nothing and paid enough for the privil-
ege to travel year through Europe on
fine ocean steamers and Pullman cars. din
ing at the hnest hotels and having wine with
our dinners. What fools these mortals be-"
Here you paddle your own canoe and wait
on yourself, or you are a long time waiting.
A voice: Think of it, an average expense
OF $50 day and no pie for breakfast" Pie!
pie! The bill of fare reads Beans for break
last; beans for dinner; beans for supper:
beans, beans, beans I hope no wife or
mother will have beans on the table "When
her Johnny comes marching home. Women
mere, as rule, wear trousers the same as
the men. You can walk along side of a
woman for an hour and never know it until
she speaks. In the meantime you have
probably expressed your ideas of the coun-
try in language more forcible than elegant
or possibly told an interesting story. At
home this would make you feet like fool
Here you feel that way all the time anyhow
Doubtless there is lots of gold in Alaska,
but 1t is scattered over so many thousand
miles of territory, mixed with so much dirt,
a kaa jfyjn pla
a washtub to find it. In one way the trip is
a grand success and good Investment. A
TRUE philosopher, they say, requires very
little gold. What he wants is contentment
| imagine now that when 1 get back to the
States ! will be very easily satisfied here
after. | think the meanest man I ever
knew in my life lived in Cheyenne (all the
boys know him). They say misery loves
company, but would not advise even that
man to come to Alaska. 1t is very difficult
to get into the country and once here it is
more difficult to get out. Polling up swift
rivers is the hardest work in the world. /
hope to catch one of the first boats down the
Yukon, but my feet are all blistered now from
wearing rubber boots, and we have several
hundred miles to travel.
When prospecting and travelling overland
we cannot make an average of over four
miles day. The way of the transgressor
is hard Verify, verify, / say unto you
whosoever will may come, but l beg to be
excused. All men are equally we'll off here,
with or without money or letters OF credit.
Every one must walk until his feet are so
sore he can't stand up, and work until his
bones ache so that he cannot lay down Boys,
it's snap. All you have to do is to find the
gold, pick it up and take it home with you.
The success one has makes all the difference
In the world in his report on Alaska. The
lucky ones view their hardshlps with the
operaglass reversed at distance, while
others magnify them from a parquet seat
Every man starts from Seattle with money
belt and chamois skin sacks to carry gold
and money. You never need them long
after you reach here.
| have been looking for some way to market
the great resources of this country, and have
finally developed the following scheme that
L consider worthy of the efforts of any ambi-
tious broker. As soon as l can get on
speaking footing with the devil, and that
point is surely near at hand, | hope to be
able to negotiate deal to consolidate he'll
with Alaska and receive good commission
from both sides They ought to neutralze
one another nicely, and both places will be
commission, l think it will be good turn
for many of my friends, and possibly at the
same time feather my own nest little, 50 to
speak, later on. Each day adds a few lines
to my tale OF woe, few cuss words to my
vocabulary, and a continuous story of tlissat-
isfaction. AS | despise all kinds of GROWERS
| therefore tell the facts with as much good
honor as possible under the circumstances.
My motto has always been to take your
medicine and saw wood" WE'LL we
have all sawed and chopped great deal of
all kinds Of wood since coming to Alaska ),
and paid ) to 10 cents pound for lots of It,
We have also taken good deal of bad medi-
cine, but it is hard to swallow "the whole
cheese without winking little. If my
letters are too pessimlstic you must send
another correspondent with more esthetc
nature one whose poetic soul might en-
joy moments of ecstacy while ravng over
the mountain scenery and the snow "the
snow, the beautiful snow"
G. B. RICHARDSON.