Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-07-17
Does Not Think Much of the
KlOndike Country.
ONE In TEN THOUSAND
Is the Proportion of Those Who 60
There That Strike it
Real Rich.

Silver Bow club rooms, returned a few
days ago from his trip into the frozen
north. He did not come direct from Daw-
son City, having left there last summer.
THE proportion of persons that make
big money in that country says he, sis
about one in ten thousand. A few of
those who reached the scene of operations
early in the game of chance have done
quite We'll, but outside of these
lively few have rounded out the fortunes
they had hoped and expected to accumu-
late before going there. On reaching the
north l began to prospect, but found lit
tie to warrant the belief at any time that
l had a good thing. l assembled several
tributaries Of the larger streams, pack
ing my commissary department on my
back. and testing the gravel as l went
along. In many places l did not get as
much as a color. Finally l broke down
completely from over eXertion, and had to
be carried aboard a steamer at Circle
City and brought out of the country.
When l left Dawson it had a popula-
ton Of perhaps 10000 persons. If I
should tell the name in which the in
habitants are compelled to exist I doubt
if the story would be believed. Last year
typhoid-pneumonia and a few other dis
eases made their appearance in the town
and created considerable havoc. The
death rate was about IL a day. Funerals
do not take place there during the day
all bodies are consigned to the grave at
night, and as lumber costs considerable
money there are not many frills attached
to the obsequies. At least % 1000 persons
went into the country last year, and there
was nothing for them after they reached
@l-: ~ .-~~ {1a 49,, :; ~ ~
of his number, and others of the preced-
ing year. stopped en- route and prospect
ed the tributaries of the Yukon and it's
main feeders. with the result that nearly
every foot of ground in that whole Sec
ton is staked. On my way to Dawson l
some awful sights on the trail
leading from the coast to the chain of
Families that had lived in the
same farming community with each other
for years and had been the best Of friends
would fall out as a result of bad temper,
engendered from the h%ardships of such a
Even women took the place of pack
mules. often carrying as much as 50
pounds across the mountain range. The
men. or many of them at least. had terri
bic loads, and some simply worked them
selves to death. They used all sorts OF
c~ontrivances to get their stuff over, bu
sleds pulled by themselves We're the most
l q Iihi - AiS -
load would become i'll and his partners
or someone else would take him back to
the coast town. Next day he would be
dead. The heavy lifting and pulling that
had to be lone on the trail seemed to af-
feet the spinal column at a point near
the cervical vertabrae. Even after get
ting to the lakes and rivers beyond, dam
ger was to be found. Men M their boats
would shoot the White Horse rapids sue
cessfully, only to be dashed against the
rocks but a short distance below. 1t was
a peculiar sort of a danger spot. It APP
peared to be a deep eddy, but there are
places in moving streams of water that
are easier of navigation. The fact that
it looked smooth threw navigators off
their guard and the unexpected dash
frequently followed the Relation of vigil
lance. Many men lost all of their goods.
and some their lives, in that eddy I
saw some that managed to escape With
their lives sit on the bank and cry over
their misfortune.
Dawson City and other sections of the
north are we'll represented by Montana
men, nearly all of whom are at work. A
few have been fairly successful. Big
Check formerly a faro dealer, is doing
quite we'll. He was one of the early birds
on the scene. He first got hold of some
mining property and then started into the
saloon business with another man. Last
winter-a year ago his partner died and
Check shortly afterwards sold the bust
ness out and turned his attention to min
ing. ! have since heard he would prob
ably clean up a large amount of dust this
year. And while l am talking about a
matter in which moisture cuts a figure I
will say that there is whisky enough in
that country to flood Butte. 1t has been
taken there in steamboat loads. The
towns, woods and even many of the in
habitants are full of it, but its bite does
not seem to be near so annoying as that
of the Arctic mosquito. During two
months of the year these little birds are
so numerous and wicked that peace either
day or night is an impossibility. When
they disappear a black gnat about the
size of the head of a pin finishes up what
is left of humanity. 1t is even worse than
the mosquito, for no netting will keep
them from getting at the flesh.
while / am of the opinion that the
yield of gold in the Klondike will be large
this year, it will not be near so great
as the transportation companies would
nave the public believe in order to keep
UP the stampede. After coming back to
the coast, I stopped in Skagway for a
while. 1t, too. is full of Montana men, but
they are principally members of the green
cloth fraternity. They are all at work
they seem to be more fortunate in get
ting positions than the gamblers from
other sections. Big Head joe is man.
aging a house there, and is getting along
all right. While in Skagway I saw John
Doyle. the Butte mining man. He was on
his way to the Atlin mining district. 81
miles from there. Some good prospects
have been found in the Atlin country, but
every foot of ground has been taken. The
district is eight miles wide and sixty long
and there is not in the whole of it enough
INDICATED ground left to fill a ~ten-cent
flower pot"
Mr.. Carnes also says that Pat Calvin
n0ooc ~ nVcho of %ho n;%, e..a