The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-28
OTHER SIDE OF 1T.
Some Of the suGerings of thc Men
Now at Dawson

NEW YORK. Jan. 27.-The New York Times
mas special letter from Dawson City under
gate OF Dec j. from E. lie Ray Pelletier
He says:
There are many disappointed haart-sic,1
men working on the dumps here winding on
a Windlass exposed to the rigors of the
climate. and with the thermometer standing
at from b to- 60 degrees below zaro-and there
Is worse to ccme-who had been advised not
TO attempt the trip. Many Of them whfla
grum'5ing about hardships. which thy have
and are Sill enduring. blame the newspapers
for having brought them.
Flour was selling as 500 per sack-ifty
pounds-when l arrived, and little later it
AT present writing the situation seems 10
nave been relieved, for il stared that flour
has been sold as low $50 ger sack in one
many still here who have sufficient onlv tn
last them for from four to- five months and
VINO may procure more in some way. or take
me long tourney out as others have done.
Nor IS food the only thing that is scarce
blankets, seeks, mocCaSins and. in fact &C h
ing OF all kinds are unob;ainable at any
price And these are as so-ely needed as
food We were unable to believe until W.
mad experienced it, that the weather was so
serve mere as reported. But already the Their
mometer has stood at 56 degrees for four days
in succession, and if this winter is as cold
as the average here, it will go a low as so
degrees below before the end of February
find 1t almost impossible to keep NV
hands warm when outside. and my face has
been frostbitten several times already.
Mo0d is plentiful in the vicinity Of the
mines. but at Dawson it brings $50 per cord
And there are few who care to cut and haul
1t at that price. This is not because they
are N such circumstances that they can
afford to be Independent in the matter hut
because 1t involves such hard labor and 81
mpch suffering from the cold. After 1t is
cut 1t must be hauled from four to five miles,
anu anu win the exception Of q few horses-I
think eight in alf-the only power procura bIa
for this IS power.
Dogs are so scarce that ordinary one wi
Elk, I
command $3.50 and a buyer is easily found
for him So great is the demand for these
dogs for freightng purposes and for the trip
out. that few CT their owners care to use them
for hauling wood. even at the seemingly high
prices ruling.
To the man who will say. after reading
this: l could make good money there at
cutting and hauling wood at that price" |
Will say you do rot know, nor can you under
many reasons why you c-u.d not make none;
at this work. There are many however
and the money so earned is. like that earned
at working in the mines here small reward
Tor the labor and suffering necessary to pro-
cure il.
Many of those who arrived here this season
the richest districts. A LAY consists of
the privilege of working a portion CT a
clsim-usually fifty feet In length, and ex-
tending from bank to bank of the creek
This is more ground than four men can work
out in season. with the system of mining
in vogue here at present. and the men who
W'rk the lay receive from 30 to - per cent
of the output CT the ground for the season.
the mine owner taking the balance.
This would SEEM TO one not familiar with
the system of mining and It's many diff rulties.
to be an excellent chance to make money
And yet every day lays are being thrown up
by those who were to have worked them.
The gold is found on the bedrock and N the
gravel which lies on the bedrock. On top of
this gravel is from sixteen TO forty feet of
muck through which the miner must labor
iously dig TO the rich gravel below.
This muck Is frozen sclidly the year around
and pick makes impression at all on IL
Il Is necessary. therefore. to burn it cut
1t may sem Incredible but it is true, never
theless. thet over half the claims on both
the rich creeks still remain unclaimed and
men who have been lured here by the reports
OF wealth on them have declined offers OF
lays on them after seeing for themselves
how hard it was to procure the gold that nm