The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-03-31
ARCTIC GOLD HUNT.
EXPERIENCES OF A YOUNG MAN IN
THE KLonplKE REGION.

pectors work-Called on TO Act as jus
tice In Miners Quarrel.
The following private letter from
Lake Marsh, N. w. T., dated Dec. 49,
1897, recently received in New Yorh
from young man who has gone to the
Klondike region in search of fortune
gives very graphic picture of the sort
of life these fortune seekers lead:
Since writing you last / have been
of ON a trip or at least was in the mid
die of it then; only home for few
days to see those men from Dawson. /
was in hopes that the next time should
write l would be able to tell you l had
struck something, but l am not sure
that what l have found will pan out
very much. l had fairly good surface
prospects, and it may turn out good
ground; that can only be told when
reach bedrock, which is from 30 to 25
help bring Fred Johnson and his party
back. as they all had their feet badly
frozen. Fred will most likely lose the
toes ON his right foot. The day he had
his toes frozen it was "a degrees below,
and it has been Sc degrees below. | had
my nose bitten, and for week l was
pretty sight, but it is all right new.
l tell you it is funny living in a tent by
yourself when the cold is as bad as that.
did il for two weeks and got along all
right, bnt some of those out had pref
ty hard time of it, Frozen faces, hands
and feet were the order of the day.
Now, do not put me down for liar
when / tell you of some of the funny
tricks the cold plays on you. When
started, took IL loaves of bread with
me, and at the first camp l made l
found them frozen. put a loaf in
pan and put some water on it to thaw
it out, but it would burn before it
would thaw. A knife would do no
good, for it was as hard as brick. So
had to cut my bread with a saw, just
as would piece of wood. With the
fish we catch l do the same way-rip
them down the middle with saw and
take Ratchet and chip off the scales
Now here is one you will not believe,
off my stove and put it right down be-
side the redhot stove. The side next
the stove kept warm, but the other side
froze solid. Such is life in the arctic.
will tell you just how we prospect
at this time of the year. Everything
has to be hauled by sled. and one has TO
take grub enough to last at least
In haf 20
man can take. We have what are known
as Yukon sleds. They are 7 feet long
and Is inches WIDE the runners an inch
and half broad. On "a sled we put q
tent stove that is feet long and about
16 inches wide and as tall. The pipes
fit one inside another and go in the fire.
box. Then go the blankets, sack Of -four
ESQ pounds) and beans, about o pounds;
bacon, 10 pounds; fruit, rice, oatmeal,
etc; pick, shovel, AK, saw, auger, gold
pan and what extra clothes one cares to
take. In all, when the sled is loaded
there are between $50 and 500 pounds
which one has TO drag over fallen tim
Der, rough ground and deep snow, and
at times take the whole load off and
pack it and the sled up a steep hill.
One cannot make more than five TO seven
miles i'll a day, and that only if one
keeps going all the time. When it is
possible, we always take the river or
lakes. Then it is easy pulling, and
where there is no snow on the Ice the
sled almost runs by itself.
When we come to a place that we
think we would like to prospect, we
pitch the tent and build big fire over
the place we intend to dig to thaw the
ground, which is frozen solid in this
part of the country for about six feet
Sometimes we keep the fire going all
night, and in the morning commence to
dig. If there is any wash. " which
means gravel that has been washed by
the action of water, it is taken as a
good sign, and we usually pan the dirt
right below it. We may find "color,"
but that is not often the case. When it
is, one cannot work fast enough to get
to bedrock and see what is there. II
We find black sand, which usually is
found where gold is, it is taken as
fairly good sign. When speak Of "col,
ors," mean fine pieces of gold, perhaps
so fine you have to use glass to see
them. The days are very short now.
The sun is up about 8 80, and it is dusk
at 2 80. So you see our days work is
short one But after you get the hole
started you either have to keep at work
or else put fire in the hole to keep it
thawed. So you see one has to be at it
all the time.
In the hole have under way / got
three colors in my second pan. About
three feet down below that l struck a
sort Of clay for about four feet. Then q
wash OF gravel and stone, some of which
weighed rs to 100 pounds, for about
two and half feet, and my nuger
showed below that for nearly five feet
clay and some wash in 1t. What will
be below that do not know, but will
find out, you can bet, the first chance
have.
had note from Inspector Strick
line, of the Northwest mounted police,
which he aank down Inv "A dog sled