The Topeka state journal., 1900-03-10

The most remarkable gold field in the
world, if not the most extensive that
has been known in the history of gold
mining, is lying beneath its covering OF
snow and ice waiting for the miners
who will surely present themselves as
soon as the spring sun shall have open
ed the country to them Already more
than three thousand men are on the
spot. Some of them were participants
in the brief harvest that made last
summer memorable, but most of them
arrived just before the winter SHOWS
made further mining impossible.
All along the northwest (acific coast
thousands of other men are waiting,
and within the next few weeks another
army of gold seekers will arrive. The
probability that steamer will sail for
Alaska before May 1st is extremely re-
mote, but the knowledge of this fact
does not discourage those who are so
eager to get to the land of promise:
Every day more of these pilgrims of
fortune descend upon the ports of the
Pacific and announce their deternina-
tion to take the first steamer for the
golden lands of the North.
Already there are enough men in
waiting to require a fleet for their
transportation. How they will all man
age to reach the gold fields when the
season opens is somewhat of myS-
terry.
ANOTHER KLONDIKE.
OF course everyone remembers the
rush that followed the announcement
dixie, but there is every indication that
the descent upon Cape Nome next sum
mer will be three times as great. The
one thing that attracts the adventurous
is, of course, the gold, and there can
be no question that the KiOndike in its
best days never offered better induce
ments.
In the Klondike the mining was car
ried on under most unfavOrable cir
cumstances, while at Cape Nome the
bulk of the gold that was harvested
last summer was simply combed out of
the sands of the beach. This of course
is the great inducement, but another
point that appeals to the minds of
those who are contemplating such a
trip is the ease with which the land of
gold can be reached. The trip to the
Gondike was one that tried the
strongest hearts, and many were the
lives that were lost along the long
trail but those who make the trip to
Cape Nome will have no such hardships
to endure.
The headquarters of the Cape Nome
territory is Anvil City-sO-named from
the shape of the mountains above it
at the mouth of the Snake River, and
it is one of the most accessible mining
towns on earth Ships from any part
OF the earth may come to its very doors
which VIII do away with all the troubles
OF transportation that have made life
IN the klondilxe region so unpleasant.
The first discovery of gold at Cape
Nome was made in September, 1898,
"it0H q Pal ~ u , WeueS IOuHu tue pre-
clOuS metal on the creeks and in the
gulches. AS soon as the discovery was
announced large party of miners who
had been stranded at ST. Michaeis,
Alaska, hurried over to the new gold
fields where they either secured work
or staked claims. Methods of proving
claims at this time We're not as perfect
as they have since become, and as the
result there was considerable unpleas-
antness among those who We're COM
pelIeQ 10 camp on the beach.
THE DISCOVERY
This was the condition of things in
the early part of July, 1899, when some
one of these stranded miners accident
ally discovered gold in the sand at his
feet He whispered the word to a friend
or two who were in the same predica-
ment, and the news spread so swiftly
that within few hours all the unem-