St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-12-15
MILLIONAIRE IN A HUT.
He Live. Co,teateaIy TAers WITH
Only His SQuaw Wife-Otteer
Rich Alaskans.

There are SIX men l.. Nome eSn0 tne
Klondike whose total wealthy two
years ago was less than $500, tsit who
to-day are worth from 81 GOO .Oc1 to 3d.
OOO,UuO, says the New York World.
George Commack is the richest and
the least pretentious man in thf klon-
dixie. He admits that he is wofth ST.
100000, most of whicn is on deSosit in
the states; but those who haze fol-
lowed Commack's Klondike career
think he is worth $2,500,O0O. Ne was
in the gold fields early and !gained
large holdings. The rentals :of his
properties at Taiya, Dawson aEsi Skag-
way alone bring him $4,000. p year;
he owns three rich placer mi1es, and
has interests in valua Jle claims.
Until he was Al he had probably
never seen 5000 that he could scall bis
own. He married. Stuck Indaan girl
and lived in log cabins. Ths. desire
for wealth seized him, SO hi moved
into the Yukon region. diviSing his
time between fishing and huraing for
gold.
Commack is still a plain msn. He.
his squaw wife and large fimily of
children still live in a little E'g cabin
at Dawson, a three-roomed. mud
chinked cabin, with earth piled near
ly to the caves. Its two sT4aI VIM
dows are tire only means Sf light.
The plank door creaks on IFS hinges
as it is swung open.
The floor is of earth. pacEed hard.
On the walls are bunk beosl made OF
boards and arranged one Jbove the
other. A blinking candle Sat night
throws q few faint rays on lhe three
or four shelves of the family plate and
''china."
Commack can read and Write, but
his wife is ignorant of these arts. Sew
eral of their children were: well adj
vanced in years before :Commack
could think of giving them an educa-
tion. but now he has employed
teacher for them.
Rev. Matthew Anderson is the rich
est man at Cape Nome, and slough he
has nearly $2,c00.OOO in San Francisco
banks and owns some off the best
claims on the beach. he IL still the
plain, deyout Matthew Anderson that
he was few years ago swhen he
lived in Minnesota, too po,,r to pay
for an education to enter I be Luther
an ministry.
For IL years Anderson Was mis-
sionary among the Innuits, and for
tramping through snow and ice to
minister to them he receised $500 a
year.
1t was in the fall of 1S9t he heard
a native telling that the Eskimo had
found gold at Cape Nome. He organ
lied party and sailed for Cape Nome;
they were the first white sminers at
the cape. Before the season closed
the party had prospected ;the beach
and had located some Of the best
creek and tundra.
One of the first men hne hears
about in Dawson is the 1nillionaire
railroad laborer. hostler, tramp, bank
president, capitalist. cook and gold
seeker. Jake Halsey.
A few years ago Halsey twas work.
ing in livery in Pittsburgh. In 1894
ne was n tramp HI tHe fssahC SN0A
he beat his way across tho continent
to Los Angeles. Four yetrs ago he
was a track laborer on thy Southern
Pacific.
He wsSt-to Alaska in 1925 to cook
in a camp at Circle asd reached
the city just in time to gS-snto VIM
ter quarters with 400 or 100 >7et6er
miners after a season oflno gold
strikes. Halsey was in cifcle City
when the news of the Klo;adike dis
coveries was brought there. He
joined the first rush, stumbled upon
the richest claim on Eldora freek, and
got $4,000 in gold before June, 1897.
Halsey has an accountant and
lawyer by the year to attetd to his
interests. He says that he $vill make
100000 this year. i
Jim Grady, the gambling house and
saloon keeper at Skagway, fome and
Dawson, is another of Alaeka's rich
men. Grady was born in New York.
When 10 he went around che world.
and for the next 20 years was on the
sea.
81 used to think that when got
$1,000 1 would be rich." sasd Grady.
"but with $4,000 a year I still feel
poor"