The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-12-08
NOME GOLD FIELDS.
Views of a Returned PrOspcctOr Fa-
miIiar With the Region.

views Of Returned PrOspectOr Fa-
miIiar With the Region.
To the Editor of the Globe:
In your paper of Dec. 1 noticed an ar
t1cle headed PLAY With Gold" l read
the article, somewhat amused, and yet
L cannot restrain a feeling of utter dis
gust for the way In which so many peo-
pie express themselves, either showing
themselves ignorant of the facts or will
full prevaricators. 1 can excuse the for
mer, but have a bitter contempt for the
latter, and not without cause, nor am I
alone in this matter Most every one
VIII remember some Of the reports pub
HShed two years ago about the many
strlkse made in different portions Of Alas
ka, where untold wealth could be SHOW
eled up by any one who chose to go there.
The result was that thousands of people
Hooked to the north, many losing their
lives in the attempt to get there while
others reached their destination only to
ma the supposed rich gold fields myth
and, unable to retraCe their steps. were
compelled to endure all the hardships of
an Arctic winter. Hundreds died with
that dread disease, scurvy, while others
who were a little more fortunate were
not only broken down In health and Grip
pied, but spent their last dollar, leaving
not only themselves but their families
homeless and destitute.
Those articles are not only wicked but
criminal, and for the most part are the
work of transportation companies, and
the art1cle7above mentioned seems to have
the earmarks of that kind of an article,
and the marks to me seem very distinct
The first one is the writer is acknowl-
edged to be connected with transporta-
ton company. The second is that he
mas scarcely made q statement but that
is incorrect, and [ will point out few Of
them. Please notice what he says in the
following paragraph:
Every one in Nome has money A
friend of mine named Iindenberg went
into Doc Richardson's saloon While l
was there, and got snubbed by the bar
tender. The owner came In a little while
later and Lindenberg waddled around to
What is it worth, this place? he
- Twenty-Five thousand dollars
We'll, said Lindenberg, I'll buy it
''Fe pulled out sack of dust as big as
a hat and laid it on the bar and then
from other pockets produced about Sic, 0C0
worth more. Then herindorsed a draft in
session"
Now, the fact of the matter is the sa-
loon was purchased from a Mr. Parks,
and not from Doc Richardson, and |
am positive the deal was not made in the
offhand way stated. but was a matter of
consideration for a week or more, and
the rude, snubbing bartender of Mr.
Robinson, who was supposed to have
snubbbed Mr.. Lindenberg, is his partner
and manager of the saloon. The price,
$22, coo, Is correct AS to Lindenberg's pull
Ing out sack of gold as big as a hat,
there may have been reference to a
small hat, but when the writer speaks of
producing from other pockets $40 900 more
which In itself would weigh fifty-two
pounds, I will leave it to your judg-
ment whether a man would be at all
likely to carry ten or fifteen thousand
dollars worth of gold around in his peck
cts.
Please notice the next paragraph:
Gold? There is gold everywhere A
man l knew there pulled out $12, 500 worth
of dust on the beach in twelve hours one
day and porter who deserted one of our
steamers spent few weeks north of
Nome and went back to work with $500
in dust slowed in his jeans. Every one
has money
In regard to the $4,000 pulled out in
twelve hours, cannot say 1t Is untrue but
l will say 1 do not believe it. And as to
the porter who worked for a few weeks
and took out $4,000 (twenty-four pounds)
and showed it in his jeans and went back
to work for the N. A. T. and T. company
for what wages he could get, that is
simply ridiculous
"A Seattle boy, who wasn't much &C
count, either, got notice to rustic from
his father, bought ten horses and some
wagons, and, with SIS left, started from
Seattle for Nome. He got there early
last summer and remained until the last
boat, when he disposed of his outfit and
returned Every day he spent there he
averaged $500 from the use of his horses
and wagons. They were the only ones in
the field"
I never met the no-count boy from Sc
attic.
Nor did I ever see his horses The win
ter he states they were the only ones in
the field, Mr.. Hare of Montana, had ten
horses and wagon there, and if the
wise man from Nome will reflect little
he will, no doubt, remember the log stable
in the center of the street in the busiest
portion Of Nome, which sheltered lot
of horses owned by Charles Saul, the
millionaire mine owner from California
Read the next paragraph and Judge
for yourself as it needs no comments.
1.-The rush in the spring will be some
coast is intense. All the room on our
first boat is taken and we have hundreds
of reservations applied for. Cape Nome
will rival California in 49, and will dis
lance Klondike without an effort
What have said so far is not Intended
to show the true condition of matters at
Cape Nome. but TO show the unreliabiIity
of that class of articles Not long ago
[ read an article in one of the Minneapo-
lis papers which was supposed to be an
interview with a man just back from
Nome, and as a sort of prelude, he stat
ed that he did not want to be taken for a
liar. and wanted to be understood cor
rectly, and then he started off. and al
most the first statement was falsehood,
and by 10 means the only one.
I went to the Black Hills in 1879, and
since then 1 have been in a number of
mining camps from there to the coast
and to Alaska. l spent the last winter
ninety miles north of the Arctic circle
and In the spring came to Cape Nome,
where l spent the summer. I have had
plenty of opportunities to see the evil of
those false reports, and I have pledged
myself to fight their methods wherever
opportunity affords. There Is plenty to
he said about Cape Nome truthfully, and
that will do no one any harm.
p. Eseh.
st. Paul. Mimi. Dec. Z.