The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1900-05-10
THE KLONDIKE TENT.

has reacl ed the Queen City of the North
Seattle-the acknowledged gate
Nay for the klondike and Cape Nome
aiming countries. So far away indeed,
that many residents on the coast have
ever looked upon the trip as most for
midable, under any circumstances.
though the tprIors of 1897 and '9S are
gone, and in their place the comfortable
ocean steamers the railway train over
and beyond the former horrors Of the
famous White Pass. and other rapid
steamers down tie lakes and river to
Dawson City. OF stillfurthel. even to the
mouth of the mighty Yukon. en- route
for the neW-found gold-1ielts of Cape
Nome.
What wonderful people is ours-to
develop terra incognita like the frozen
Wilds of Alaska all within the brief space
ri two or three years. Whata vast new
He!d tor American enterprise has been
opened ur-and to Witness the truth Of
flGs one only needs to y ieit seattle lust
now. "klondike outfits. amply pro
Vlded tor III the gateway city include IA
multitude of things found absolutely
nee -osary to success and comfort bv
those who have experienced one OF more
winters in the interior of that inhospit
ahle cline.
lIert- is where the inventive genius of
At a.
mot hrr of invention-Was the one
particular mother of that portion of
adventurous humanity bound by Arctic
winters. And we'll her children have
toiled and wonderful the inventions pro
duced. The first year OF two brought
fortllcrude and preposterous inventions,
some OF them OF no practical use and
costing III some cases thousands of dol
lars IN construction. Steam SNOW and
lee Sleda' We're built, intended to push
themselves and their loads over snow
bank and icefielG-on. on. to Klondikp
f7"-l evils scme of them We're called
ana devil bit would any of them 90
eNeept under most favorable conditions
-on down grade and slippery track.
They had all sorts OF pushing gear, some
with big drums in tie rear, like stern
wheel steamers.
Today the practical necessities are
found the fool things" having been
laua.ed into obsculity. Among the
most useful and practical needs of the
cape Nome country is a portable home.
cook ng utensils and d gold rocker.'
] hese ale EoW III evidence in Seattle in
fIotllSion. The portable houses are of
HIST importance and the all-wood article
~ manufactured here; other sorts are
Oh eXlihition. ali fitted up in Alaska
style. The portable house is a great
convenience III a mining country. where.
III event Of ''stampede' to scme better
location, the Louise, as we'll as the bed
can quickly be packed Oh tie sled, and
soon after arrival, the house and home
Is ready for occupancy. Among the
inSt Of the portable houses to appear
n.
introduced by Boston party. Its thin
metalic roof and sides would naturally
make merry music during rain or hail
storm. Then came houses of felt. zine
and other sheet metals, on wood or pipe
frames, some coated with ruboroid on
She outside and hair insulator on the
a "a. ~ 4 !
With a small oil or cas- stove general
Ing gas from Oil-these houses are easily
kept comfortable, night and day, in the
liercest Arctic winters. Tie stoves
used in these Alaska houses or .shacks"
are OF the highest possible construc-
tIoli-tE}n sheet iroE-and use either
wood on oil from Which is generated a
gas. giving amy degree OF heat desired.
TIE variety Of oil stoves shown is large
and iruch Ingenuity is manifest i'll their
different construction.
Tie "klcndike tent" is among the
handy and efficient portable homes offer
ed the prosrector;an and consists of tent
within tent, allowing of. a liberal air
space and SO nicely arranged that mos
qultoes and black flies cannot possibly
find entrance when properly closed for
the night. Within the outer tent, sur
rounding the inner habitation, mans
inseparable friends-the dogs-are dom
yelled when not in use.
These tents, or shacks, with folding
beds, table and chairs, and stoves which
collapse at will, are possible of narrow
contraction, and do not cost small
fortune for freight space occupied in
transportation. But no outfit for Nome
is complete without the inevitable
rocker" and the variety is fully as
great and as bewildering in construction
as the much abused and widely dissent
mated washing machine of this and past
ages. The principle of the gold rocker
is box or receptacle into which the
golden sands are shoveled, and with a
liberal supply of water added the cradle
is rocked to and fro, the gold, if any,
settling to the bottom and the sand and