The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-10-15

come so unpopular that reports We're
circulating to the effect that the whole
thing was a fake" foisted on the pub
lie by the transportation companies to
improve their business.
Whatever of truths may have been in
these stories is now of small import.
for in June or early July, some one of
the stranded miners tenting on the
beach as the only unclaimed space.
accidentally discovered gold in the sand
at his feet. He told the story quickly
among his stranded friends. and soon
all the unemployed We're at work on the
beach with any and all kinds of tools
that would dig. Their success was
such that within a few days men who
had work on claims along the creek
at $40 day and board threw up their
jobs and took TO the beach. expecting
TO earn. and actually earning in many
Instances. as much in an hour as they
had earned in day.
The Easiest Mining On Record.
Never had such easy mining been
heard of, never had it been found 50
unexpectedly and so opportunely, and
il was not long before everything else
was deserted for the seashore, and even
women and boys OF 10 or L years were
10 be found as busy in the sand as the
men were.
Since the discovery, the number OF
beach combers," as they are called,
has steadily increased. and today Is
presented the strange sight OF hun
dreds of miners of both sexes and all
ages and conditions strung out along
the beach for a dozen miles or more.
For miles TO the west of Cape Nome
The beach runs straight away in
strip of tide land, varying from forty
TO sixty feet in width between high and
low water mark, extending UP to the
tundra" or black alluvial soil, which
is from three TO five fee: higher than
the beach proper. All Of this tundra,
and all the territory along the creeks
and rivers east and west for thirty or
forty miles and back into the noun
tains for ten or twelve miles had been
staked. but on the long strip of tide
lands TO man had a better claim than
another. or could have, under the tide
land laws. and here the grand army OF
aold-seekers camped and in very short
order had converted the barren strand
iuto a site of tremendous and enthusi-
astic industry. At the same time, bust
ness of all kinds began to respond to
the boom from the beach, and the us
ual collertion Of gambling hells sa-
looms and dance halls went into opera
ton. At present il is estimated that
1000 TO l.200 miners are at work on
the beach. extending west for twenty
miles All these work with rockers.
and they occupy just as much terri
tory To the man or group as can work
it. II is not unusual for one small
square bit of beach to pan out SO 10
SIS an hour but. of course, the space
is soon exhausted and the lucky digger
must move TO another SPOT.
Where Does It Come From?
This beach deposit of gold is as yet
an unsolved problem. BY some 1t is
claimed that the gold in the sand.
which is entirely dust" has been
washed out from the tundra by the
waves at high tide and deposited
through hundreds Of years in the sand.
1t is found here now from two to FIVE
feet below the surface in the drift, and
so plentiful that the miner who does
not find il in paying quantities is the
exception. On the other hand, there
are some who claim that the gold is
washed IN from the sea, and that the
real field or mother lode so to speak,
is to be reached and developed by
dredging. There may be something in
this theory. but the other seems to be
the more tenable.
The beach to the east Of Cape Nome
makes no such gold showing as does
the beach TO the west. owing 10 the
existence Of a long reach of water or
lagoon" which lies a short distance
back from The sea and parallel with it.
Cold deposits along the creeks in the
interior are quite as rich in enc direc-
ton as IN the other.
Life at Anvil City.
The headquarters of the Cape Nome
territory is Anvil City-so named from
the shape OF the mountain above Tat