Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1899-01-08
5Nout5 Of t6e Hooalqua qaber. 9ar Eoo7lan C. " r

q found nothing on Quiet lake, but found 50 to 100 celors in a dozen places on the Hootalinqua. True, the eolors were fine and faky and hard to save, but I did not expect to find better. If make discovery or find good aver age pay claim in two or three years l will consider that l have done well.
 Next year and the year after will be better The tenderfoot and the tender hearted, or the great majority of them, will have disappeared. The practical men will stay and work; new discover ies will be made, and in a short time 50,- GOO to 100 GOO people will be permanent residentso of the gold districts in Alaska, British Columbia and the Northwest territory"
 Mr. Beekman expresses my views ex- act1y. l do not want to discourage any one from coming to Alaska whois com ing with the right idea, but 1 do not again want to witness such rush into an undeyeloped and unproductive coun- try as have seen the past season.
 While the thousands of disappoint- ments that have come as result Of the rush of the past season have done much to retard the practical and permanent growth of Alaska. yet in another way the rush helped the country, as it brought competition in both transpor- tation and merchandise. At the present time there are nearly 75 steamers ply ing on the Alaskan rivers and during the season just closed there was room for more. Another 25 or so are being built and will be in commission next spring. The rush also brought with ii several large mercantile corporations who reaped a rich harvest of profits this year because of the great demand for provisions. Prices have been high; 50 pounds of four costing as much as eight dollars, and other provisions in proportion. There were two reasons for this. One was the excessive freight charges up the Yukon river made pos sible because of lack of transporta- tion in proportion 10 the sudden rise in population, and the other the inability of the corporations engaged in pro- visioning this population to accumulate 8 surplus that they would have to sell. It is natural for men to make five dol lars sack on flour if they can. but it is also natural for them to be content with less if they can't make that 1 amount.
 Thousands of people have returned to the states, and their places will not be filled by an equal number next year, for they have carried back with them enough hard-luck stories to more than counterbalance the stories of remarka- | ble gold finds that brought them here in the first place. Those who arc left will get the benefit of the conditions that now exist. The competition be- tween the different steamboat lines will bring the prices of both passenger and freight transportation down to something like reasonable figures. The facilities for getting provisions into the country will be increased while the de- mand for them will decrease, thus creating competition that is bound to reduce prices on these necessaries. Tn fact the day of high prices and big profits for the corporations doing busi- ness among the gold fields of Alaska are about over. Flour will not sell for the same price it does in Chicago. nor will we travel as cheaply as is possible in the states-these things are practi- cally impossible and not to be expected, but the days of 200 per cent. profits or better in this country are over, and Alaska will be permanently benefited by the change.
 JOHN ". CRAWFORD.
 "Capt. Jack"
 vrooman City, Northwest Territory.