The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-03-18


last summer But that's a story by it
self
''rhe very day I reached Nome I got
a pointer from a friend | had known at
Dawson. where to locate a claim on SNOW
creek. II was six miles from Nome. I
waaed through swampy land to get there,
But three claims had been taken up on
/. the creek before mine. ! dug away the
deep tough Arctic moss from the surface
OF the creek bank. and then | PANIED for
geld / got some gold at the very first
pan.
II dug down two feet deep pannins the
gravel every little while. / got two pans
of gravel that yielded over a pennyweight
OF gold to each pan. was wild with de-
light, and | Kept at work without food
all that day, and | slept on the bank OF
the creek that night. Next morning at
the first ray OF light I was up and at
work again panning for gold.
I'm week | had made legal claim to
the Richest placer mine In the Nome dis
trict, and had dug gold dust and mug
gets that sold ESQ as to get workin Z
capltaD for ss75. Before July / / had a
cabin built, had hired to half-breed ma
tives at si2 a day TO work for me and had
entered upon mining as business.
"I found that my brains would give me
thousands Of dollars more IN q season
than my hands and arms, hired other
natives. as learned what the mining in
dustry demanded, and I bought and leas-
ed placer claims near my own. l got out
altogether some 800 pounds of gold by Au-
gust I. and sold II to the Alaska CONNER
eiai Company for sieso an ounce. The
richest thing got up there was claim No.
ts on Moose creek. A man. who had
claimed the mine lay dying With typhoid
fever
"He sent for me and asked me to agree
to send his brother in New Orleans $1,000
In each or fifty pounds of gold dust, and
ne tthc dying man would deed me the
property at once. ! not only agreed. but
/ took the gold dust over in an oil can
TO the sick miners cabin and gave IL to
me last October for SlS,oO0 cash down. 1
had taken exactly sixty-three pounds of
gold (worth IN there S256 a pound from
the claim up to the time OF the sale.
was lucky also in getting claim down on
the sandy beach at Nome. Those placers
on the shore Of the sea at Nome are, by
the way, the most remarkable gold de-
posits ever known.
What do | think of Cape Nome as
gold field? My experience, as you see ia
very limited, but hundreds OF veteran
miners and dozens of the best experts
who have been In mining localities under
every sun and among all peoples, tell me
known before John Heischel, the famous
English gold mipins authority. told me
last week that the Cape Nome gold field
will produce over si2 900 during 1900
and will be producing over 81. 600. 900 an
nually before another decade has pas
sed
Il know fourteen men at Nome who
were very poor a year and half ago, and
who each have now at Nome 100000 in
nnfH mil nd a. 70 I
sit here for hours and tell you of the
way some miners have slid from poverty
TO Independent riches In one years time
All of the six Scandinavians who dlscov-
cred the gold in Cape Nome have each
sold their harvest of gold during 1890 for
sums varying from $4,000 10 SO, ono, and
they each have claims that will yield at
least $4,000 annually for about eight
years.
Several Sltaeer mines that have been
lying for ages at Nome free TO any one
who would come and claim them. were
sold by the lucky claimants last summer
for ss5 900 and So. DO each. The Klondike
was = wonder. but Cape Nome beats the
klondike In richness OF its gold deposits
and its accessibility to miners and ship
pers.
But none but the strongest physically
and the stoutest of heart should attempt
to go and live In any Arctic mining re-
EiOn, There were many deaths at Nome
from malarial poisoa last summer, Two
years In the klondiks or Cape Nome re-
gions shortens every ones natural life.
The person who Is not physically tough
and sound Is rlsking his life by going 10
live even one winter I'm the now diggings
person OF nervous temperament would
go Wild there.
The climate Is intensely trying on any
ones nerves. The loneliness Of the plo-
neers In dugouts and sod houses away of
on the plains OF Kansas and Nebraska
II is no comparison with that OF the min
ers who live In cabins and tents six and
eight miles back from Nome on one OF the
network Of creeks OF that locality. The
scenery is the most lonely and depressing
l have ever looked upon. For nine months
In the year there is nothing but snow and
ice as far as the eye can range. The
wind blows continuous hurricane
from the northeast for weeks at a
time
Talk about winds in Kansas They
are mild zephyfs by the side Of those
on Cape Nome. Imagine a wind that
almost shakes mountains blowing when
the mercury is down 10 20 degrees below
zero. and YOU may have some idea Of
what weather one has 10 endure on Cape
Nome Tor weeks at time In winter
Even with the heaviest fur suits and a
blazing fire one cannot keep warm. The
daylight comes at ~ a, m. aud IL gets
dark at sS0 y. m. in winter"