The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-24


| come back and have you arrested for tres
pass, with a reversal Of the previous pro-
| ceedings Nearly all the shooting that
| has been done at Nome, AMI for awhile OF
| late it averaged nearly man day, has
| been caused by lot jumping. II was going
I on all winter in the heart of the town and
! one or two deaths were caused by ii, while
some lots seem to have changed hands
with amusing frequency.
The widows Claim.
! There is an amusing story of two wild
ows. both buxom. both with a large CO.
terie Of friends. and each claiming to own
the same lot in a desirable part OF the
town. The one in possession relaxed her
vigilance one day and went downtown to
make friendly call. The news was sent
| to widow number two. She marshaled
her cohorts, marched upon the undefended
/ castle, and in a short time rszei it to the
ground and built a shelter for herself IN
I its stead Widow number one returned to
! find herself dispossessed and homeless.
But she was not cast down, although cast
out She sought temporary shelter and
! bided her time. 1t came when widow NO.
| 2 grew careless and went out on an ar
gent call to the bedside of sick neigh
Dor She came back from her deed OF
mercy to find that history had repeated
I itself and her rival had played her adyeT-
I saTy's game and won.
Widow No. watched and waited, and
/ by-and- bye reversed the situation, and
was again in possession. And so the merry
war went on. and the lot changed hands
with frequency and hilarity. Which one
finally holds it l do not know. Probably
the town has forgotten, for other and not
so merry town-lot wars have followed and
the unsuccessful claimant lies in a little
full-narTow lot of his own, undisputably
the possessor of this one.
In spite of the fiippancy with which the
phrase is used here, the golden sands OF
! Nome are no phantasy. They exist in
very truth. and if not so universally rich
as painted it is a fact that you can hardly
pan a shovelful OF sand from the beach
for miles to the east or west without find
ing color In it. Not all of it will pay to
work with a rocker. however, for it is, as
the miners say. spotted. That is. the rich
parts are in streaks. and not so very fire.
quent streaks at that.
OF half hundred rocker men working
the beach within few miles of the city
and questioned, not one of them is satis-
fled with what returns he is getting, while
many loudly denounce the camp as a
, swirdle. Yet every one OF them is getting
I gold. The majority, however, are rot
, averaging s. day, which is. of course,
! insufficient wages for place like this.
The Fortunate Ones.
| But there are more fortunate ones. A
tdan few tents away washed out $50 in
one day in few hours work, and there
are districts where exceedingly rich
| strikes have been made, which serve to
! keep up the courage of the downhearted
| ard unsuccessful thousands.
One Of these rich strips is at Bluff City,
or Topkuk, the Esquimo name goes
This is about sixty miles 10 the east down
near Gclovin Bay. Here in few weeks
this spring fifty men have washed out
from $4,000 to $4,000 each with hand
rockers. One of these men said he and
his two partners took $50, 900 from the
beach sand, and quit only because they
got down so deep that the incoming sea
water made it impossible for them to
work
They left So to the pan in the hole
and were making a trade with company
that had big pump and sluicing plant.
They left with this company's outfit in a
big lighter. towed by a steam tug at S25
an hour. TO go back and emulate Mrs.
Darlington in keeping out the ocean while
they finished up the making OF their for
tune. Indeed, it would seem that the
future of Nome lies in the success OF the
big sluicing plants that are coming in.
| They may be able to handle to advantage
the sands that are undeniably rich, but
that battle the rocker men.
No Idens of Mining.
why" said Mayor Cashel. as he gazed
down the dusty street at the uneasy thou
sands that throaged it as far as the eye
could pierce the dust, these people are
crazy. The most of them have 10 idea
what they are here for, and they have 10
business in a mining camp, any way. l
don't mean to say the camp is not good.
for it is. Nome has a great future before
it. But it must be developed before it
can support all these people. There is
gold in the beach and in the hills, plenty
OF it, but it must come out much faster
than it is coming out now or a lot of
these folks will be sick as well as sorry.
Wages are high, but they are going down
fast. Longshoremen got $40 day week
ago. now they get s.. There are too many
men here. 1t is an expensive town to live
in, too Why. it cost me 81 500 to i've
here last winter and I did not live ex-
pensively either. To be sure | had what
was going, but there were no champagne
suppers Oh. it is ridiculous. all this
mob.
Here the mayor adjusted his eyeglasses
and looked down the street with some thing
very like disgust on his smooth-shaven,
acqulliue face.
He is a tall, dapper, neatly dressed young
man, the mayor and what he does rot
know about Nome is not to be told in
books
The finest business proposition in Nome
today is the bridge across the Snake
River 1t is a monopoly. II did not cost
IS. 600 the toll is 10 cents each way for
foot passengers. and there IS q pretty
steady stream during most of the twenty
four hours. Nobody kicks at the charge.
In town where a very poor shave is 81.
and a bath $50. it is worth 10 cents to
get as near clean water as you do in cross
ing the bridge.
A QUAGMIRE OF DISEASE.