, 1898-10-25
SOUNDS A WARMING
A LARAMIE MAN WHO DID NOT
FALL IN LOVE WITH THE
KLONDIKE.
Presents a Terrible Picture OF the
Hardships and Privations Endured
by Many Who Made the Trip to the
Frozen North Only to Find Them
selves Badly Fooled.

Suffer Creek. Cal, Oct. 81, 1899.
Republican:
Dear Sir-I have been requested ~ a
number of my friends since IL, l
from Alaska to give them my views II
that country and wish to use your pa
per as a medium through which to ex-
press them. l hope that any poor man
who contemplates going to the Klon-
dixie will take this article in the spirit
in which it is sent-as a warning which
| sincerely hope will not be passed I'M
needed.
The prediction a few months ago by
the agents OF the transportation COM
was that at least from forty mil
lion to fifty million dollars would be
the output from the Klondike gold
fields for the past Isl This pre-
diction, as is the rule in all mining
crazes, served to set the whole country
in a mad frenzy of excitement. Men
who had hitherto been contented to
work for a comfortable salary and build
themselves homes. accommodating a COM
potency in a slow but sure way. took
every cent they could raise by means OF
ready money, mortgaging their proper
ty. selling everything they could and
joined the frantic race to the frozen
fields of the north. Men who had liter
ally known no hardships or privations
OF any sort; men who had been accus-
toned to a mild climate and who knew
little or nothing Of mining. never hesi-
tated to take their last dollar, leaving
their families behind in the confident
belief that they would on reaching the
gold fields be able to provide princely
means for them at once. Poor and we'll
TODD, old and young. in their greed and
avarice, WED with each other in their
wild endeavors to reach Klondike, i'm
mediately. Old tubs of vessels, long
since condemned. were patched up and
loaded with passengers only to sink
from sight in the briny deep and serve
as huge cofins for all their human
freight. Striking headline. such as
these, Rich Strike on Bonanza Creek"
Free Gold Found in Large Quanti-
ties Close to Dawson" etc, in the lead
ing newspapers kept the excitement at
fever heat, and caused the protests Of
the few starving. broken-down. enact
ated 'wretches who managed to crawl
back to civilization and raise their fee
BILE voices to stay the maddened crowd,
to be passed by with total indifference.
And the rush keeps on until the frozen
north Is filled with famished men, many
OF whom had never done any manual
labor nor ever dreamed OF the rigors Of
ar Arctic winter. And all along the
trail are men and hogses dead or dying
from %hardships M exposure, the mad
multitude passing thep by and push
ing on. though every step is marked
with blood. unheeiing those who have
fallen. for 1t is a positive fact. as many
can testify, that in Alaska man has
gone back to his savage, uncivilized
state and becomes totally void Of hu-
manity. Down the Yukon river float
decomposed bodies OF many unknown
and women who have been wreck
ed in the terrible rapids above and
whose friends will never know to a GER
tainty what their fate has been. Then
came the war. This diverted attention
from Alaska. The house Of cards fell
and 1t was reluctantly admitted that
there was a possibility that not more
than twenty millions would be taken
out of Alaska this season. Then the
reports diminished each time until we
find from Mr.. E. E. Leech, superintend-
ent of the mint, that the Kfondike only
produced five millions. San Francisco
receipts about 81. 750. 900. The as
say office at Seattle has received about
the same amount. About $1,000 0 in
gold and nuggets have gone east to
boom stock companies and there was
Of the first of September. by a liberal
estimate. about $500, 900 to come out.
Add to this $500, 900 sent east by the
Month American Transportation com
pany and it will be seen that Mr..
Leech's figures we're not far from the
actual output from the Yukon. This.
Of course includes all gold taken from
the whole Northwest territory az well
al Alaska, and this as a result OF the
many millions Of dollars taken in there.
the untold lives that have been lost and
the fortunes that have been wrecked, to
say nothing Of the unlimited number
of discouraged. penniless unfortunates
whose brains have given way IN the
face Of utter despair and who have be
come raving maniacs.
Now think for a moment of the two
gold producing states, Colorado and
California. For the year 81 California