The Oskaloosa herald., 1900-07-05

will cause It to sink into the SAND.
and at each trip 1t will bring to shore
ton and half of sand, which will be
sluiced out in an apparatus erected on
the beach. 1t is intended to work this
machinery day and night, and, as it
will be capable Of moving some FIVE
thousand tons OF earth every twenty
four hours, the profits from the enter
prise should be thousands of dollars
day. The individual operators will
not be able to work on so large scale,
but will be satisfied to operate smaller
dredges, from their boats, or in the
shallow water near the shore with
mules or horses.
Whether the amount of wealth will
be as great as is anticipated or not,
the work that will go on along the
shore of the Alaskan promontory this
summer will constitute the most exclt-
ing fishing enterprise ever attempted
Think of the exhilaration in watching
the dredge sink beneath the waves, Of
waiting for it's temperance, of bal
ancing the chances that a fortune may
be within it's cup, or eagerly examin-
ing the sand in search of the golden
particles! With such a quest before
them it is not strange that men should
acquire the gold fever, should leave
comfortable homes and incomes for
the uncertain chances of the frozen
north. Whether they win or lose in
their struggle for wealth, at least they
will have the experience of assisting
in the most novel enterprise the world
has ever seen.
Discovered by Accident.
The first discovery of gold in the
gulches back of Cape Nome was made
in the summer of 1898. 1t was a year
later, in July, 1899, that the first gold
was washed from the beach sands, and
! the discovery at that time was almost
an accident, according to the account
of it generally accepted in the mining
| country.
One of the miners, an old Klondik-
er. was i'll with the scurvy, and so was
unable to go out to the gulches to
work. One day, following the natural
impulses of his craft, he took his pan,
and wandering from his ragged tent
down to the shore, he began to wash
out the sand. His surprise was great
at finding traces of gold. He washed
another pan and yet another, each
time with better results as he dug more
| deeply into the sand. Some prospec-
tors passing by laughingly asked the
old man what he was looking for.
Pm looking for gold, and I've found
it, tool" he excitedly replied.
Within a week work lad been aban-
doned on half the gulch claims, and
on the other men could not be had to
work for 81 an hour. Everybody was
out along the beach washing gold on
his own account. The old man : ID
owed his discovery to an attack of
scurvy was one of the first to have his
fortune made by the ruby sand" OF
Nome. He recovered from the scurvy.
While the most spectacular Of the
remarkable mining operations which
will be carried on at Cape Nome dur
ing the approaching season will be
those employed in obtaining ore from
beneath the waves. the inland depos-
its will not be neglected. The beach
claims will be developed more extern
| sively than last season, and the rock
ers and sideways will be worked to
their full capacity throughout the
long days of the Arctic summer.
Back in the hills the gulch claims
will have the attention Of thousands Of
miners, while others, pushing further
| inland than the earlier gold seekers
have done, will locate other thousands
| of claims in the unknown interior
| One company is shipping to Nome the
materials for a railway, which will
be built across the tundra to the foo
hills. The object of the railway is tt
carry in mining machinery and tt
bring ore that is taken out to tbs
short, where it can bel loaded on steam
ers returning to the States. Still an
other company is taking out equip
ment for hydraulic mining, which Is u
be put into operation in the gulches.
Thus within the radius of a few
miles on the Alaskan coast there vii
be seen in active operation every sys
tenn of gold extraction that ever ha!
been tried before, and some that are
entirely new. In the mountains thu
quartz breakers and the hydraulic
method will be employed. Along tn
creeks that run down between the hill
men armed with pans and picks viii
he banning" ont the gravel of tn
streams. On the beach the rocker ant
sluiceway win sift the golden grain
from the sand. .44sazsss Is
Care Nome's Remarkable Climate.
Even those who are most enthusias
tic over the prospects of Cape Nom
as a gold producer admit that it is on
of the most desolate spots on the con
tinent. For seven months OF the yea
it is surrounded by ice and snow, an,
during this time there is no communi
cation with the outside world excep
by means of travellers up and dow,
the Yukon, who require between tw
and three months to get to the out
side.
The summer climate at the Nom
beach is agreeable, the air being war;
AID clear and the ocean breezes NAL
ing it very comfortable. Before tn
Behring Sea freezes the climate is n
huenced by break in the Japan cuI
rent, which skirts the southern end {
Kotzebue peninsula on a norther
course, tempsring the otherwise dil
agreeable and shifting cold an
warmth. AS summer resort, Car
Nome may possibly establish it's popl
larity, the long days and mild weatl
, er making It attractive during Jul
and August, although at that time
! | Is afflicted with the pest OF mosquito'
! (which make the inhabitants lives
| h,.xaox. a., al M ria NJ Alaska