The National tribune., 1899-06-15
ALASKA'S RICH G0LDFlELDS.
ReBort Of cousul Hocook, of Dawson City.

United States Consul ]. C. McCook, at
Dawson City, in a report given ont by the
State Department last week, makes some
interesting notes and comments on gold
mining in Alaska. He takes an optimistic
view Of tie future of the goldtields in that
territory. and says:
The goldfields in the Territory of Alaska
at FGrty-Nile. Eagle City and Seventy
Mile Districts are becoming moro promising
and bid fair to rival any territory yet dis
covered for placer gold mining. The
geological formation in the above-named
districts is practically the same as that
adjacent to Dawson.
at is surmised that Alaska will exceed
the Canadian Yukon in gold output in a
few years, il properly developed. 1t covers
more. gold-bearing territory and the gold
so far discovered is evenly distributed, not
being III pockets, as is the case on many
creeks in the KloRdiks District. where one
claim may be rich and the adjoining one
worthless.
-.rhe miners in United States territory
have different regulations for each dis
trict-for ifistipce, OH American Creek
tha Hainer>is allowed: q 1 ,32o-foot claim as
PEI United States statutes; while on Wolf
Creek, adjacent, the miner is allowed only
a 500-foot claim, on Jack Wade Creek ], 600
feet is the length allowed.
aItrwoud be- well if all the districts in
Alaska could he governed by a uniform
lazy,sas local regulations often change the
Stnk>.ih clalHsS, etc. 0CSt cOilGillOtiS per
mit>a miner to locate and record q claim
OF all the creeks, which would appear 10
operate against the welfare of the country.
A.4Iis now, if the owner Of q claim is called
away TO visit his home in the United States,
his claim may be divided during his alb
serce by miners meeting.
3Mtth United States land office at
Cfrtie City and one at Eagle City to cover
the territory from Fort Yukon to the Cana
dian frontier, and another in the Koyuk
DEtEict, conditions would he improved.
flAaims are cheap on the market to-day
JNffYg to the scarcity OF money. A good
many prefer loaning their menoy at 10
per cent. month interest on good claims
70 Buying the claims.
fT9ne is struck on visiting the miners
cabans for the first time by the apparent
laek of consideration for comfort One
finds a 12X14 or 14x16 cabin with two
bnnks at the end facing the door, built to
accommodate two or three persons for
Sleeping, though four, five and six are
often taken care of over night. The cook
iagstoye is in corner near the door. There
Is no YentllatOr except small hole cut in
the roof, as the door is usually closed. /
have seen outside of cabin similar to the
one just described hundreds of empty
champagne bottles costing $50 a pint.
The money might have been spent in pro-
yiding more habitable quarters"
Under date of April z Consul McCook
adds: THE outlook of the placer gold fields
of the Klondike has not been better since
gold was first discovered in the Yukon
territory. Already this Winter, several
new strikes have been made on creeks that
We're supposed to be barren. Last Winter
the only creeks worked We're Eldorado
Bonanza, and Hunker, and such a thing
as docking for gold on the hillsides OF
benches was never attempted until last
SHmmer, after the snow had left the hill,
SIDES and mountain tops. The creek
claims being all located, miners began to
locate and prospect the hilsides and benches
with phenomenal success, many proving
even richer than the creek claims.
1.-The most noted of these benches are
those OF Skookum Hill, adjoining Skoo
kan Gulch; Gold Hill, opposite the mouth
Of Eldorado Creek; and French Hill, on the
left bank of French Gulf: while, Judging
from the latest developments, the benches
on Dominion, Hunker, and Quartz viii
prove equally as rich Recently, strikes
have been made on the benches of Las
Chance, tributary of Hunker Creek.
THE principal drawback is the crude
way Of mining the frozen ground, as it is
Necessary TO build fires TO thaw it out and
then wait til Summer before it can b.
shfced. This requires time. The prics
OF labor in this country is on an average 81
per hour, and the cost of living is exorbi
tant, every necessity of life costing at leas
FIVE times as much as in the outside world
In addition to all this is the 10 per cent
Ioyaity, WHICH must De pstid 10 tfle GOSerfl
raent on the gross output. A claim in tn,
Hlondike must, therefore, be very rich [,
yield a profit However, with proper ma
cRinery, this country will probably prov,
TO have the richest placer fields ever known
Nor will the placer mines be the only sourc,
OF revenue. There are indications of fin,
leads oil quartz, as well as extensive vein!
OF coal, which only need capital to develop
'0n the Alaskan Coast, between Can,
Nome and Golofin Sound strikes hav,
recently been made which prove that tn,
gold belt is not confined to the Klondik,
district or to the neighboring section @
Alaska. A conservative estimate of tn
gold output from the Yukon territory thi
year is S20,000,000. Next year would no
be surprised to find the output double tina
amount"