The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-09
mining claims the owners in nine cases out Of

'AAlh"i u hFNhAV 'hANN
be made before a claim Is staked.
The Blnestone Is a short stream connecting
a small lagoon In the tundra with Grantley
Harbor, an arm Of the Boring Sea, IL has
never been regarded a. especially promising
Yet the pay dirt that has proved so rich II only
a few feet below the surface and. so FAR as pros
pacting has been carried on, the bed rock II
nowhere very doep. some other streams In
the same vicinity are being prospected and the
outlook IL promising.
Some conception Of the remarkable dlssem-
nation Of gold throughout the entire western
peninsula Of Alaska may be had when II Is
considered that strikes have been made at
Topkuk, sixty miles southeast Of Nome; at Port
Clarence and In the York region, from sixty 20
ons hundred miles northwest; in the Cassde-
pogra district, sixty miles northeast, and that
discoveries Of greater or leSs importance have
been made I'm the whole intervening region, not
10 speak OF the diRgings around Golovnln Bay,
which IL further south than any OF these. II Is
pretty generally agreed by Intelligent persons
who have visited this part Of Alaska this sum
mer that II was the partial knowledge Of this
widg dissemination Of gold that mtsled people
generally in the United States last winter when
the remarkable reports were brought down by
the pioneers OF the region. II Is now apparent
that the dinuseness Of the placer gold de-
posts does not necessarily mean that the whole
country is a gold mine and that the precious
metal can be obtained In paying quantities
wherever a man chooses to sink a prospect
hole or set up n line Of sluice boxes. Probably
there is not anywhere in the world a territory
50 large where It Is possible TO find almost any
where what the prospector calls n few colors
II gold In placer form. Yet the places where
this gold occurs In quantities which will pay
the expenses Of mining are limited In number,
how limited no man yet knows. The bright
spots In the golden area known at the present
time are counted by n few scores; the very
bright spots by the fingers on a mans two
hands.
The very extensiveness Of the gold bearing
region accounts in a large measure for tho COM
paratiyely small output Of gold this year. II
forbids quick prospecting. II 100000 instead
Of 1900 men had come to Nome this year and
II every man had been a prospector instead OF a
or a saloon keeper or a camp follower,
there would still have been less than three pros
pectors to each square mile OF territory to be
prospected. without doubt the whole country
will not be thoroughly prospected for the next
ten years and rich strikes will be heard Of from
time TO time during the next decade.
News from the Casadepogra region has not
been Of the same sensational kind as that which
came a few days ago from the Bluestone, but
IL IA good enough TO cause a steady migration Of
prospectors In that direction. There Is a small
settlement OF claim owners in the vicinity or
Willow Creek. and the Deputy Collector OF In
ternd Revenue assigned to this district went
over there last week to see II there were any
liquor sellers who should be required IN pay the
tax Of SIS per year. lie returned
yesterday with the news that some very good
claims have been opened and that at least two
or three Of them are being operated at n
good profit. No part OF Alaska within 200 miles
Of the coast Is more forbiddingly lonesome
than the Casadepogra region. At most times
Of the year II IL deserted even by the Wild fowls
which for a month or so in midsummer inhabit
tho tundra in the vicinity OF the many laGoons.
Not even a shrub breaks the monotony Of the
dark brownlandscape, and Willow Greek Is a bad
misnomer. The stiffness OF the region Ia OPP
pressive and when one prospector meets an
other wandering over the boggy plain II seems
TO him for a moment as II he had fallen In with
a being from another world.
1t has been said of the Nome region. and
In fact OF the whole western part Of Alaska
where gold is found. that IL must be an en-
couraging field for mining operations on ac-
count OF the comparative nearpess OF the pay
streak TO the surface Of the ground, Bed
rock, II Is true, Is almost always found at a
depth Of only a few feet. but It is TO be remem-
bered that the topography Of the country
IL totally different from that of the Klondike
and from that Of California. where the rich
diggings were discovered fifty years ago.
The great drawback In this country is the fat
ness OF the region. Even the mountain creeks
do not fall rapidly. for the slope OF the noun
tains toward the sea ia gradual. The noun
talns themselves are not high. and in some
parts Of Alaska would be regarded as mere
hills. The so-called creeks In the tundra,
which often have their outlet not into the sea
but into stagn ant lagoons several miles from
the ocean. flow over a bed which slopes very
little toward the receiving basin. Hydraulic
mining Is therefore out Of the question. A
placer mine which prospects In some situa-
tons q cent TO the pan Il a bonanza for the
owner, but the desired situation does not eI-
it In many parts of this western territory.
The pay streak IL generally covered with sew
erAl feet OF the heaviest sort Of earth, a y mixture
Of ola and tough. hbrous vegetable mould.
Not only is the country comparatively Nat,
but there is no large body Of water at a high
elevation In the interior. After the snow
melts from the low mountains late in June
there is nothing but pain TO feed the streams.
which are invariably small, and the rain often.
notably this year. does not set In until some
time in August II may be added that on ac-
count Of frost no mining can be done any
where except on the beach until late In June.
and then the snow which led the small noun
tain streams is gone.
The shortness Of the open season In this part
Of Alaska Is, Of course. a hopeless barrier 10
the most successful mining. -Four months
out Of the twelve are available for profitable
operations. The same region set down In
the United States would be a desert. for IL
would seem as II the SHOWS that fall in winter
are about the only source Of water. except
the rains which blow in for a month or six
weeks from the ocean late in the summer.
The country is as bare Of trees as a billiard
table, and a shrub half as tall a. a man IL a rare
curiosity. Grass springs up on the tundra in
July and Is stunted by the frosts Of mid-August
and early September. Absolutely the only
natural product OF the soil Is a queer-look-
ing fruit miscalled a salmon berry, which Is
found sprinkled over the tundra about the
beginning Of August.
Beyond a doubt there are many thousands
OF acres of land In western Alaska which bear
pretty uniformly q pay streak yielding from
one to two cents worth Of gold TO the pan.