The Saint Paul globe., 1899-02-12

ter), bacon, ~ cents g. pound, as
against 81; shoes and boots, SO a pair,
as against S25; mukluks, so pair, as
| against $50; underclothing, $5 a suit,
| as against $25; coffee, Is cents a pound,
| as against $3.50, and wages from SIS to
| 50. as against $40 to SIS a day. In fact.
| matches are about the only thing that
| Is as high as last winter during the
famine. Every man always brings
| enough matches. The terrible strait of
| having nothing with which to light
IRE In frfgid country appeals to the
simplest mind in selecting supplies.
GOLD OUTPUT FOR 1898.
Though half the pilgrimage of last
summer will go out with less money
| than they started with, their coming
! to the Klondike means that 10000, 900
| more of gold will be put in circulation
IN the United States next year than if
they had stayed at home. The output
OF this year will be at least $25 900, 900,
| every ounce of it being taken out by
hand. There are thousands of quartz
claims staked, but no development
work has been done as yet All the
ingenious machines for thawing dirt
brought in last summer have been fail
| ures. Most Of the schemes for hydraul-
les have also fallen through. People
on the outside who have put money
into absurd enterprises for dredging
the dust of the submerged bars of the
river during the summer months must
be sad if they have heard of the re-
suits. In the neighborhood of Dawson
at least not $1,000 has been taken out
in this way.
But for the royalty probably the out
put Of gold this year would be s35, ,O00.-
900. Last year it was certainly S12,-
100000, though the government was
able to collect royalty on less than 49,,
100000 In stead Of blowing about how
big the returns are from their claims,
as is the rule in most placer mining
camps, the miners are blowing about
how small they are. When the police
discovered $4,000 which one miner had
buried so that no royalty could be col
lected on it, he said he was saving 1t
up to pay his royalty next year.
Aside from the card sharpers, the
INDECENT and the lazy, who swarm in
the saloons, and the sick, there are
probably L, 900 men in the country who
are hard at work day after day. You
meet as many people passing back and
forth on the trail in the valley of Bo-
nanza as in the main street of good
sized town. This is the route to the
creeks in the Indian river district,
which have their origin in the Dome
and are supposed to be rich.
AS soon is the Shedding was good the
men who are going to work claims on
creeks that were staked a year ago
without being prospected, began the
transportation of their supplies to the
cabins which they had built during the
fall. Some have dog teams but most
Of them draw their sleds by hand
Those going over to Gold Bottom Do
minion, Sulphur and other creeks In
that region. have to travel about thirty
miles and ascend an elevation of some
5000 feet. They are able to take about
200 pounds at time if they have no
dogs. Many of them, as they cannot
afford to stay over night at the half
way house, make the journey without
sleeping. which takes about sixteen
hours. AS q rule they spend about
two weeks in getting their supplies to
their cabins. Most of them have taken
lay on some claims. They are to
| get 40, so or 60 per cent of what they
| take out, according to the prospects of
| the claim.
STAMPEDES TO NEW FIELDS.
These creeks were staked in the
stampedes of last winter. and once
a man had his stakes in the ground
he returned to his cabin in Dawson
or on the working creeks and paid
no more attention to them. Generally
the only ground for believing that the
creeks had paying dirt was their loca-
! ton. The newcomers last summer
had either to take a lay on one Of
| these claims, with all the chances it
| implied, or go to work for $5 a day.
| Or they might hang around Daw-
son and join in a stampede to the
region of any new strike. Even those
| who get a good claim in this way have
| no prospect of realizing on it in two
years. They are almost certain to
be broke when spring comes. A claim
must be worked within a year after
it is staked. or else 1t is forfeited to
the government. Consequently, next
fall they have to put up cabins. sink
holes, and thaw dirt, or else get a lay
man to do it for them, and, at any
rate, they cannot wash any dust out Of
their dumps until a year from this
spring.
This is precisely the position of the
stampeders of last winter at the be-
ginning of this winter. Some of them
had to sell their claims at the specu-
lative value of 5000 or $500 in order to
get enough money to last them until
spring. There are a few newcomers
who, taking the money they had earn
ed by days work during the summer,
bought such claims and found them
worth fifty times their cost. Most Of
the laymen will do well If they make
good days wages on the new creeks;
few will do much better. At any rate,
the total output Of the creeks means
millions for the United States mints.
The creek that in any way ap-
proaches Eldorado has yet to be dis
covered. The country is a network Of
creeks that will pay we'll to be worked
by cheap labor, but the creeks whose
claims will yield fortunes as yet are
comparatively few.