Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1900-01-18
GOLDEN SANDANDMUD
CAPE NOME MAY YET RIVAL
JOHANNESBURG
Millions Will Be Made Out of Tundra
Sand-Large Investments that Will
Boom the Sett1ement-Bi Exodus
Expected in the Spring.

Information received in Washington
from Alaska through trustworthy chan
nels is to the effect that Cape Nome
alone will next year astonish the world
with it's gold output. If half the reports
that have reached the Treasury Depart-
ment in official form be true Cape Nome
is to be the richest mining camp the
world ever saw.
All along a beach thirty miles in extent
gold can be washed out of the sands of
the sea at the rate of from So to SS a
pan. Not only are the sands of the sea
bright with gold, but the alluvial depos-
it's of the great plateau, running back
several miles to the foot hills, are rich
in gold wherever they have been touched
rich from the roots of the grass down
to the bed rock eight to fifteen feet be-
low. Every gulch back in the foot hills
is as yellow as a New York newspaper.
Next year the Cape Nome fields will
probably contain a population of 10000
or 10000 gold seekers, and the precious
metal which they crave is not only there,
but easy to get. 1t is quick gold sure
enough.
There will evidently be big rush for
the gold fields next spring. From la
coma comes the report that every days
mail is bringing orders for reservations
Of berths from all points in the East to
che larger transportation companies that
will have steamers on the Cape Nome
route. Some Of the transcontlnental
railroads have likewise reserved blocks
of tickets that they may be enabled to
sell through tickets from the East to
Nome. The first steamer will leave Ia
coma May 10. A large amount of cap
;tal is being invested this winter in pro-
jects which are destined to provide bust
ness facilities for Capes Nome and York
in the spring. San Francisco and Puget
Sound men have organized the Bank of
Cape Nome, which will open for bust
ness at Nome City in June with $2OO,OOO
capital. G. N. Wright, postmaster at
Nome City, has raised capital to the
amount of $15O,O00 for the purpose of
providing a wharf for Nome in the
spring. Ordinary docks cannot be built,
because they would be destroyed when
Behring Sea freezes solid in the fall.
Late last season the steamer Alpha,
of San Francisco, shipped $50 tons of
Cape Nome sand in ballast for the pur-
pose of determining by special tests
whether it could be made to pay. 1t was
not selected material. The sand was
loaded as it was scooped from the surf.
Although the entire mass was treated in
California, and that some time ago, the
secret of the mill returns has been jeal-
ously guarded. The fact has reached Ia
coma in a roundabout way that from 800
tons of sand the sum Of nearly $4,000
was realized, or approximately $50 ton.
1t is not known whether the treatment
was fire or amalgamation, though pre-
sumed to have been the former Still
more conclusive proof of the value of the
tundra top sand or mud, as it is de-
scribed by Alaskans, has been obtained.
Two men recently returned from Alaska
brought with them a bottle of the top
layer of muddy material found immedi-
ately beneath the mass Of their tundra
claims. Upon drying it showed a sandy
consistency. Although it was known to
carry colors, no one suspected that it
was pay dirt. Within the few days past
a series Of laboratory experiments have
demonstrated that this so-called tundra
mud is very rich, but will require special
treatment. The two latest crucible tests
yielded $37 and $50 in gold to the ton.
In eight assays the range of gold value
returned has been from $50 to $13O per