Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-07-11
EX-MAYOR OWSLEY RETURNS
FROM THE FAR LAND OF
TABLED FORTUNES.
SAYS ALL MONTANANS ARE
DISGUSTED WITH THE PLACE,
Government Aid Will Be Required to
Bring People 0ut-Gold Nearly
All Taken.

AN "ACl COulIpdIcu ~ lliS
journey to the land of the midnight sun.
MI. OWsley lis an entertaining CONVEX
and being a close observer
has acquired a fund of information
about Cape Nome that will interest ev-
erbody and especially those who con-
a journey to that place.
II was in Nome only ten days. said
Mr.. OwsQey to an Inter Mountain report
er this afternoon" but I learned as much
about the countryin that time as if I had
ten years. 7 went up on the
and after looking around I con-
cluded thai Montana was good enough
for me.
rs there any gold there he was ask
Yes, there has been and is gold there.
The discoveries did not lie about the
extraordinary richness of the beach and
but as a matter of fact they
worked h ground all out and did not
know it. Now all THAT remains are a few
patches which Will probably pay good
wages but no big fortunes.
Il ppo you heard about the San
Francisco man who committed suicide
the day he LANDED ait Nome Well that
tragic event occurred while I was there.
The Californian after landing ran down
the beach and grabbed a handful of
the sand. After scrutinizing it closely
he flung it at his feet and exclaimed
just as I expected, it is more than half
sand he pulled a revolver from his
pocket and put a bullet through his
head"
How are the other Montana men feel
ing?"
IAN I talked with were Disguised and
will return as soon as they can. All the
Montana men have money or friends
and can return and the experience will
do them good. but government aid will
be required to transport to the states
fhn mo iori%xy ~ t%ho 0S nm ~1o-1o x-11
were there when I left. Dick Watson
and Sam Clerke went down to Golovin
bay just before l left Inc I don't know
how they Jared, but as the country has
been staked within a radius of 100
miles of Nome their chances of securing
anything is mighty slim. About 5000 peo-
pie came down from Dawson during the
Winter and they, with those who win
tered at Cape Nome. got the cream of
everything. s4* +tE.
Owing to the bad weather, typhoid
fever WAS raging when I left. AS far
as wages were concerned, thai was a
matter that was regulated very indif-
ferently. Some of the miners were Of
fered S. a day and board inc some less.
The ca carpenters We're the best paid class
of people there. They received SIS per
day, but as lumber was carce they
would not have more than a few weeks
work. In fact, the carpenters there
~ oluIu VIZ q wv to DI6 Uo 4)uLlO
in one season. The freight handlers
We're paid 81 per hour, but their work
was of such a nature that they earned
it. They might probably not work more
than two or three hours each day"
Reports from there say that lots are
selling very high?" said the reporter.
Yes; good prices have been obtained
in man instances, but the titles are
bad and it has been found necessary
sometimes Ito kill as many as three men
in order that you might perfect your
title. I did not purchase any lots while
I was there" replied Mr.. owsley.
"No, I did not travel away from
Nome" said Mr.. Ows1ey. 81 did not
think I would enjoy travelling through
or over that tundra, as I have been ac-
customed during recent years to stone
sidewalks and paved streets. That tun-
dra is a wonder. It looks nice on the
surface, With inviting green grass or
moss, but just step on it III down you
! 60. Fernluak. IA YOUR knees. One expe-
ri nee OF that kind va enoug or me.
A l.g-..Ns L. ut with snoWshce attachment
might make it, but heavyweights We're
not in the tundra class. No bog in Mon
tana or Ireland can compare with that
~treacherous piece of ground known as
the tundra.
Another curious feature about that
country is the drfftwood. No scientist
can explain where 1T came from. My
own belief is that Alaska was once a
tropical climate and in the ages gone by
the zones got turned to~psy-turvy. The
driftwood is found Embedded in the sand
at a depth of from two to five feet from
the surface. 1t is not cottonwood or
pine and nobody seems to know what
species of wood it is. If you ask a Nome
man he merely says it is dIiftwood and
lets it go at that. Wherever this drift
wood is found in the beach, there is sure
to be found a rich pocket of gold. 1t has
served in some way to collect the gold,
The driftwood beneath the sand is well
preserved"
When Mr.. Owsley left Butte he was
presented by Jim McGovern with a
three-gallon demijohn of aged whiskey
In his hurried departure from Seattle
Mr.. Owsley forgot the whiskey n wher
about three miles out he discovered his
loss. His fellow passengers say that Mr.
Owsley stood on the deck of the e
tor and began to divest himself of his
clothing. Asked what he intended doing
Mr.. Owsley replied that he was going tt
vim back to Seattle to secure that dem
iiohn. He was diverted from his pur.
pose, however. Mr.. Owsley denies tht
truth of this story.
In Seattle Mr.. Owsley met a man nam
ed Robert Arnold, a butcher of Butte
who went uD to Nome on the Oregon
and worked his passage back to ciyiliza
ton on the same boat. Mr.. Arnold, n
says. had some painful experiences dur
ing his voyage n was not anxious t
duplicate the trip. He Is now in Butte.