The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-05-05

' Ifl
 first news from Cape Nome this winter. It is true that have no other evidence ] than the story told me by Frye and Swanson, but I believe them implicitly. I immediately furnished them with sup plies and they started back to the dis covery. They will go first to claims ! they located within one hundred miles of Nome and not connected with the Si- berian mines.
 "It was a part of the agreement by 1 which Frye. Swanson and myself formed the Siberian company that 1 should immediately start for Seattle to secure financial aid and then proceed to l Russia to consummate our plans l am l confident of success, because there is J every reason to believe that the confir- l nation of what all Nome miners have l believed to exist is actually true. 1 What the Siberian beach will pro- i duce Is yet problematical, but it may 1 prove to be another Nome. The discov- l cries I am interested in, however, are located in the interior. How far back | from the coast I do not care to state. The gold found there is pure and allu- | vial and of an exceptionally high value. It Is to be found chiefly on old dry creek | beds. When the exact location of the mother lode of this particular discovery ] is found, which, considering the fact | that the valley is hemmed in on all sides by high and precipitous hills, is not an easy matter, the actual mining of the gold is not a difficult matter. These hills which have mentioned form sort of gorge and from what have learned l judge that nature has worked with a broad brush.
 q shall leave Seattle in a week or so and proceed east, stopping in several of the large cities It will be necessary for me to visit Washington, D. C., in order to get certain documents which will need in St. Petersburg"
 MT. Cowley feels confident that he will find favor with the Czar and succeed in obtaining the charter, which Is abso- lutely necessary to the successful explo- ration of the Siberian gold fields.
 Prior to MT. Cowley's arrival indefii- nite but sensational stories had been circulated concerning the new discover les. The result is seen in the organiza- ton of expeditions to the Siberian coast Many say that they will touch first at Nome, and if they find that the district is staked from end to end they will just cross over to Siberia and gather in a boatful of the Czar's nuggets.
 The belief that there are no obstacles In the way of mining on the Siberian coast is honestly entertained by thou sands of people, including many miners. Unfortunately, some newspapers, inad- vertently, have helped this matter along. It came about in this way A story came down from the north to the effect that interest in the alleged Sibe- rian gold mines had been increased by the action of the Czar in opening hither- to prohibited territory to American pro- spectors. It was represented that the Czar desired to have the Siberian coast .prospected, and with this object in view had decided to allow aliens the privi- lege of entering the country.
 The fact that it was a short distance from Nome to Siberia, and that many of the old miners believed that the Nome gold belt extended across to Siberia, brought forth the conclusion that when spring opened there would be a rush. On top of this came the news that Frye and Swanson had actually been in Sibe- ria and found gold in great quantities.
 
 following mining settlements, and there is large class of people who make this a part of their life jumped at the con- clusion that there was nothing to pre- vent them from enjoying the Czar's open-door policy
 The truth of the matter Is. an Ameri- can may secure lease to mineral coun- try in certain part of Siberia, but 1t is fully eight hundred miles south from the coast opposte Nome and more than twelve hundred miles by the ocean route. The Russian government has decided to given concessions or leases covering placer lands on the northwest coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, and these proposed concessions have been taken by the general public to apply to the placer lands directly east of Nome If one will take the trouble to examine map, he will see that in order to reach the Sea of Okhotsk from East Cape, which is the most easterly point In Si- l beria, or Cape Nuniano, which is di- i rectly west of Cape Prince of Wales, in l Alaska, he must travel south a very l long distance and pass entirely around I the Peninsula of Ram mcbatka in order to | enter the Sea of Okhotsk It must be l remembered that people in speaking of ! the Siberian coast west of Nome include | the country around Cape Nuniamo and | also East Cape.
 The Russian government has not giv- en American prospectors permission to ] invade the Siberian gold fields, and if there should be stampede from Nome when the Argonauts arrive from Seat tie on the early boats it might lead to | international complications. Miners are sometimes rash. The soldiers of the Czar execute his orders with prompt ness and decision.
 II costs money to even think of a min ing concession on the northwest coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. In order to have the liberty of bidding. a person of com pany must put up a guarantee of one hundred thousand rubles or $51 800, and also full informaton regarding the cap- ital to be used for the development of