The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-02-04

purchase adjoining claims until he has
enough to mine on a paying basis, but the
man without money has but a small show.
These are some of the reasons why Mr.
Kemper says the poor man has no busi-
ness to go TO the klondike-
In describing Dawson City as It is to-
day, he says: 1.-THE saloon and gambling
house keepers have yerAable gold mine
of their own making The finest build
ings in the town are devoted to their bus
mess. Roulette wheel, faro, poker,
baccarat and ak the forms of
gambling known to man attract the
miners night and Gay. 1t is a common
thing to see men drop from $4,000 TO
$4,000 in single evening. Young men,
who were formerly clerks or perhaps
throws of craps. Drinks come high. but
they must have them, and on all sides the
saloon keeper reaps rich harvest. Dane
ing halls with all the attractions of the
older cities collect crowds of men during
the winter season of idlehess.
THE sanitary condition of Dawson City
is bad. 1t is built up above muck
swamp and moss which has been decon1-
posing for centuries. In the summer it
thaws out and ia the winter freezes up
again. There is no drainage as yet, and
it will take long time to secure an ade-
quate system. Several persons have al
ready died from fevers contracted from
the damp atmosphere, and many more
are certain to die during the year. A drug
store is a thing unknown. although some
are on the way now. went there in july
which is, of course, the summer season
From the beginning of fall until left the
average temperature was about 20 degrees
below zero, excepting for ten days at the
close of November, and at the first of De-
cember, when 1t dropped to 80 and 40 and
even as low as 81 degrees.
Many men are without sufficient food
~ l. 49,.
cold. People have little idea of the appe-
tites of miners in that country. And they
simply have not got the food to give them
the necessary strength and warmth to go
out in the sluices and streams and dig
for gold
il took Mr.. Kepner just twenty-five
days to go from Seattle to Dawson City
He says the trip across the Skagaway
Pass was not dangerous then, because
the path along the narrow lodges had not
been broken down, ii has been since
by the men and horses and dogs who
have gone over. Save for the mosquitoes
and few rainy days the trip down the
lakes was PLEASANT In company with C.
b. Johnson he reached Dawson Aug 49,
The twelve men left behind to bring on the
supplies did not get through until Nov /
| and not without losing twenty-seven out
of thirty one horses they started with, be-
sides drenching the provisions, which were
to feed the entire party for a year. His
| experience leads him to warn others not to
| venture in without money and plenty of
| supplies Money--a whole mine of it's not
| sufficient inducement to offer i'm exchange
for food in the Klondike. Men are not SELL
ing flour except in small quantities and
| then at big prices.
| Mr.. Kepner points to the fact that all
the returned brospectors or SPECTATORS
| have told the same story by way of an
| sWerlng the question as to whether the pos
| sibilities and discoveries have been exag-
| gerated. He declares the world has never
| seen and will never see anything like it in
| any other region. There is not blank
claim on Eldorado creek 'FRONT.' 10 AZ nor
| on Bonanza Creek from Al above discovery
| to 50 or 80 below discovery. OF these in his
! opinion, there is not one that will not turn
| out something ike a million dollars worth
! OF gold. Mines are selling there now at
| from 100000 to $500,000, and one man is said
to have refused 100000 offer for an es-
pecially inviting claim. The big transpor-
| tation and trading companies are the buy
! ers. The Cudahy interests have already
laid down 81 $50, 900 for the mines they have
purchased along these streams.
| Mr.. Kepner went there to buy property
| and he was slxeptical, according to his own
| confession. Before purchasing he made a
| personal investigation of every large shaft
| and every promising claim that had turned
| up He was finally convinced that the
| stones ne mad heard before going in were
| not at all exaggerations The gold that
! will be cleaned up in the spring will aston
| ish even the miners themselves he be-
! HeVes. All the safes in Dawson city are
! piled fun of bags of nuggets and dust; the
! saloons have their shelves loaded down
! with the yellow stuff and notices have
been sent out to the effect that no more
| gold can be received on deposit Mr. KEEP
ner says that If all this stuff is allowed to
! come out when navigation opens there will
be nothing short of a stampede in Seattle.
| San Francisco and all the setting-out
! ports.
One of the interesting things he has to
say concerns the rate of interest paid for
4 short loans. Men who own big mines
! come into the gambling halls frequently
! without any cash. They think nothing of
! offering as high as 10 per cent. on 81, 900 for
! day. Often the rate is more if the sup
| ply of cash is a trifie short at the timer
! Hydraulic mining will be the method In
common use within short time, Mr.. Keep
ner thinks. He has made extensive ex
| periments and is convinced that 1t Is prac-
/ ticable. Capitalists are sure to find this
out, and thus the laborers will gradually
| come to be in less demand
| There rs one thing of which he is glad to
| speak for the benefit of those who are con-
| templating setting out. That is the number
| of companies which are setting forth flash
| inducements and making unwarranted
| claims. He says he has found in Chicago
| one company, for instance, which adver-
| Uses claim on Eldorado creek He hap
| pens TO know the owner of this claim per
| sonally as he does the owner of other
mines. The woods are fun of all sorts OF
fake companies. and he says people ought
- - l~-s.