Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-02-12
A KLONDlKE BONANZA

EYES," said the man with a face that
looked as II it had been exposed to a cold
storage temperature for ten years, "yss,
left my partners up on the Klondike, about
twenty miles from Dawson City. but they
are all right. They sent me down here on
bushes and I've got a snap, have. OF
course. I'm not afraid of their freezing;
they are as warm this minute as you are.
They have been up there in the same place
for two winters, too. Tell you about 1t?
Certainly 1 will. You see. there were four
of us, and we concluded to bunch our in
terests and organize an Anti-Freeze-to-
Death Trust. We had claim apiece that
was worth a barrel of money, and we
wanted to stay right by them. We wers
the only people on theIspot at that time,
too, to amount to- anything, SO we had to
depend ON ourselves. Being jack-leg car
penter, the boys SAINT me out to select a
site for our winter residence. and / went
Up among the cliffs on mountain side and
began hunting place where the wind
would have some trouble in reaching us.
AS was pottering around / struck a hole
in the ground. and after pushing the rocks
away and spreading the opening, l got 1t
so / could get in, and In a few minutes l
was back into the ground SO far that got
scared and broke for daylight. Then went
after the boys, and we fixed ourselves with
lights and proceeded to explore our discov-
cry.
1.-THE boys thought they were going to
pretty much everything else they wanted.
including stocks and bonds, and after go
ing back for nearly q mile and finding
nothing except coal seam or two and
some springs-.warm and coli-they began
to jump me for taking them away from
their panning TO waste a lot of time wan
dering around the inside Of the earth, at
nothing per wander. I let them growl
awhile, and then I stopped them and told
them they were lot of blamed fools, for
the cave was our salvation. They gave
me the laugh, but turned them down and
proceeded to show them how we could put
up our shack in there where the tempara-
ture was the same the year round, and
never far from 90 degrees, no matter how
cold 1t got outside. And so on, till they
we're all broke up and began to look upon
me as their benefactor, and agreed to do
anything l said.
was decent enough for time, hut we went
right to work, and after building a blind
shack over the mouth of the cave, we took
timber inside and put us up a four-room
palace In there with kitchen and stove
in 1t, and stone CRATE in our loafing
room. 1t wasn't as elegant as royal
drawing room, perhaps, but it was cczy
and comfortable, and when we went to
sleep at night we knew we were not going
to freeze before daylight. We put our
shack close to the coal seam and as near
the springs as we could, and we had fuel
ard lot and cold water handy. We hadn't
much fresh feed, but we had plenty, such
as II was, and as the weather got colder,
we began to realize what a snap we had.
lrdeed, after the LIST Of December, we
didn't go outside at all for sixty days.
When we did come out again the sun
shine, even the kind ii was, was blessing,
and We thought We would stay out till the
weather froze us in again. but, by hockey,
the mosquitoes swooped down on US one
night and we took to The cave to get rid
of them. 1t was a glorious sleeping place,
and then We made up our mind we might
as well become cave jewellers altogether.
And why shouldn't we, with all the modern
conveniences. including Rot baths in the
natural water?
Il left the boys in November comfortably
fixed for the winter and with plenty to eat
and to wear and to read and to be happy
With, and / came away and have been busy
ever since my arrival iE the states organic
ing hotel company to take the cave ana
open it as a miners resort at fair prices.
There's money in it, end we can give a
clear title, reserving a portion for our
private residence. Affidavit? OF course
I've got an affidavit. I don't look like a
man who would tell lie about one little
cave, do l?'