The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-02-27

~ frigl AIaska-where the Bering Sea
...zr4.es North America from Asia,
srars the temperature these winter days
varies from zero 20 - below. and on a
.r..rsss sar.b,ess, wind-riven coast
V.,-s one must endure grimmest priya-
,.rr. 10 sa.st-a remarkable community
rs sgrsug up under unusual circum-
.s4rr.s ID is the new city OF Nome,
.f.gf So miles south Of the Archie Circle,
r.-4 r.ilrs west from the klundyke re-
,..- and s4s miles north from Oundlasla.
and % the southern edge OF the promon-
tory long known IL Biographies a. Cape
None 4 year ago FIVE Scsrdin3vians
,.r-rrls,d the population a. Nome. Last
summer 800 miners. gamblers. saloon
R.rrrr4. and traders settled there Be-
Gore neat July some 1000 or 1000, posi-
t.v even more Americans will surely be
~ Nome Conservative men believe that
Nome 81! have 10000 population in Jew
years more.
The digging Of gold IS the sole reason
fr Nome. But for the finding OF gold
Gaze Nome coast would have forever re-
NAMED a bleak. biting. desolatc melan-
saaly waste u sand and frozen gravel
under boreal sky. Gold has been found
al Nome more aUuudantly than anywhere
els. In rL. world. The wonders Of the
k.grdyAr region have already been out
done. and ,h5 richness OF the Rand In
South Africa does not compare with these
..4aers ~ our ueWly-found Alaskan gold
Held About $4,000 was dug by about
1000 men al Nome during fifteen weeks
last summer Even the beach sands there,
contrary 20 an laws and history OF min
.rg have been found so rich IN golden
ss-cks that they yielded half Of The wealth
q the region last year.
4 Cold, Bleak Coast.
Back from the shore where tiny water
courses have gnawed gulches in the bald
hills. nuggets, flakes. and kernels Of pure
gold have been deposited among the gray
o.. and rocks so plentifully that the state
uents Of the wealth the miners have dug
there seem wild exaggerations. 1t is the
irony Of geography that such aboundng
riches should have been planted in so 2p-,
palliug q region. The back country OF
Nome has been but scratched over. No
one can speak authoritatively about the
quantity Of gold stored in the gravelly
beds and creek banks, nor OF the area of
gpld-bearing dirt.
Cape Nome is the most wonderful
44 Arltld ally AlSlllDuAtu IiNAlAtes anu 'AAN
ease with which gold is mined the world
has ever known" said Maj. L. b. Butler,
one Of the best-known placer authorities
on the Pacific coast and a resident or
Alaska for five years. Think of men
who have only TO dig up loose sand on
sea beach. and 10 run 1t through primi-
tive rocker. making $500 and even $500
month, and on no capital but strong arms
l. 4ffaly Of, hNrT hot
own labor getting fortunes of $ll,GO0, 3d.,
coo. and as high as $4,000 in four months
from holes in gravel about twenty feet
deep and ten feet in diameter. These
are sample facts have known personally
al Nome. l am well acquainted with
seven men who each made over $1,000 In
Eining there last summer, and when the
season closed they had just begun TO
know how to get their gold from the sand
and gravel advantageously. The season
Of 1909 at Nome will undoubtedly add So
cNGC or more to the worlds wealth.
This is 4 conservative estimate. Many
posted miners say it will be nearer sl4,-
CpgO. And all this from Alaska, which
was considered a vast iceberg, absolutely
worthless to the United States when it
was bought for s.. 10000 in 1867. Oh, 1t is
l-NN 81 shA- "A4A ~ FANNANN N'.SNt NA4N -A'N~
kan output OF gold for another decade
viii be upward of $50 cOO, go. That is So,
OUo0O more than the total gold product
O. the United States during 1899"
First Discovery of Gold.
The first gold at Nome was found in
October. 1898. and il came about in this
way. Among the hundreds of miners VINO
have been patiently tramping ana pros
pecting over the mountains and through
the canyons Of Alaska in search of gold
We're several who. in the fall Of 1898, went
10 winter in an Eskimo settlement on
GoIOinin Bay, at the mouth of Norton
Sound. A Lutheran missionary there
'Rev. Joseph ANDERSON told them that
he had accidentally heard from several
t~klmos that gold had in former years
brrn found in several creeks near Cape
Nome, some 10 miles away and across
norton sound. Ii was early in October,
4>'o Winter, with its mountains of snow
ana Nistas Of icebergs, was approaching.
u was hazardous 10 venture at sea II
any craft The vessel might be caught
4A lee lW or more miles from even an
i-hlmo habljatiOn, and every year north
western Alaska is cut of by snow and ice
rom all the rest of the outside world
from October TO April or May
iAe miners who heard Rev. Anderson's
stoIy, however had the eager hunger of
True gold-seeker. TO get with all dis
Ialrh 10 the scene of a possible gold find.
iA'Ie was not a thought OF the hazard
q journey across the water to Cape
nome Five Scandinavians were in the
party. Despite the bitterly cold weather,
,", deep snow and the forming ice. the
".'r PARTY went up ana Down several
creeks at Cape Nome. The ground vas
'-a'el as best il could be by ponfires and
SAoEe.s. and in a freezing temperature
several hundred trial paintings were made
~ t.Htrent spots along the creek benches.
-'''iaEkably rich gravel was found even
-AarF these circumstances. In one Place
OIL Anvil Creek m0w The property of Rev.
'0-'ph Anderson, four pans uf gravel
yielded an oUnse o. gnld-wor5h So In
alaska such iints were too good 10 be
'i- with the possible risk that other
miners might come and c.alm them. So
'Ae AAders decided to camp risht here all
winter. They nigh: thea guard TIER
claims from invaders. ana be surely FIST
o. The scene. so a. - maxi claims 10
ven richer territory when the snOS nad
melted.
Rush To Cape Nome.
In some way the news OF the finding of
lots OF gold N Cape Nome by the scan
c.EaVians got abroad along The western
coast Of Alaska, The terrors OF the WIN
Ter season IN the Arctics were not con-
s1yred by excited gold-seekers. who start
Ell Oh foot 30 and 80 miles across the ice
bound country FOR he new dlgg.ngs. A
'ar.uiHg chapter might he written CON
corning the frightr4i hazards that sri.l.,d
and white haired miners tYcTiiable sol
e.'rs o. fortune. took 10 get TO Cape
nome sOoncst-hcw men tramped for
"reAs over sH0W-coyersd hills. climbed
iA''lEh icy canyons. aud slept with only
i-' SKY and q b!aHka; over ;hen. while
Zee mercury ranged - aud 30 .egrccs le-
.-" zero. when sD-i6s came jyl men
We're camDed along tho banks Of The many
t.irams mat how into ID, yea I9und
tla-' Cape Nome.
WIN The reopenins OF navigation I'D tho I
,'.a'. ana Vac renewal 81 travel on The
."9H River. ihe story OF the discovery
=. F'.1 a. Cape Nom vent farther and T.
4Hr.Fr a grWtFsF .H-wr-..T. 49,.