People's voice., 1900-11-08
Ben Hitchcock Interviewed.

I "ouiu not nave ml'Se1 my trip
to Cape NUme for twlc. tue mount
VI mUney It cost me-" salu Mr.. Ben
Hitchcock Uf Zyba, yesterday 10 a re.
porter for The Eagle.
Mr. Hitchcock has recently returned
from Cape Nome and wears a large
gold nugget on his ntckrie and il YOU
ask him aoOut IL he rebcnes down in, 0
Ills pocket aud brings out unItuer
wUItn prO6a5ly hfty dollars. Aud
tnat Is not all, for after you are
through admirlng the large nugget be
brings out bucGSkiu bag which cut
talhs smaller nu-getS 10 tie value of
500.
MI HiJc cock came to this clun'r,
IN 1859 aDd for a number OF years ha>
llyrd ia Sumner unity on tne Mime
scan. He owns property there and
last >pflGg hr together with his 500.
h. n. Hilchc ck, aud a number of
0eller lcqddiuta ceS left fur Cap
Nume.
Mr.. Hitchc OK in speaking about
this trip, sac: We left here 10 the
spring aud arrived IN Cape Meme in
June and SJhid There for some time
The TRIP was most enjoyable one for
me, and tJok greater portion Uf
the time IN lOOg'ns around. There
were ABOUT 25,O00 VI 30,G0J people IT,
Nome when we were there and many
| Uf them Staid wheu our ship came
away. Staying there through The
winter means sOmeth ny Ike being In
Che penltentiary | should judge, for
II Is impossible to get out on account
OF the cold.
"Ihe IN n were prospecting all the
time. l lOuEed arOuLd FOR s I'D and
found considerable Oh the Opocl. 1t
is Ia flakes II 1t can be Called that.
Ile gold seekers use rocker and IL
tnat manner they secure the gold. Ii
Is b cx Idrther that the nuggets die
secured, but there is gold ali over that
cJuutry.
"Tnere are stme large mines and IL
is my impression since there is so
mIcn gold in that Country that Ulhrr
mines, just as large, Will be found,
probably n manner surpris n tU
The world and surprising as we'll 10
the man himself, but | am saii>fe1
tnat the gold Is there all right
Were you successful IN securing a
fortune?"
"Well, would rather not say AM.
thing about that part OF II. A
though am well satisfied with what
| | brought back"
Are you thinking OF going back Il
Cape n mv?"
81 have not y,t made up my mind a,
10 when l will 90 back, but | think
| will leave here In he spring. Nv
son went h.cG this fail TO t ke care
Il our interests there and that does
not ueccssitate my geJiing there un.
I'll later n.
81 slw numb,- O' KlusaS nponln
while away and they were getting
along quite well. Some Of them were
maElus myuey, while O.lcr. wer' ju,'
merely holding thelI owa. OF course,
you must realize that all Of the Leuple
whu 90 there do not find gUld. but
there is opportunity ftr a person tc
secure work at reasonable amount
per day II it is wnrk that he wants "
SIS there as much la yle%nsss 10
Cape Nome as IT, is repOrted?"
The people there are 70,
any more lawltSs than in any uining
camp saw the men working on the
Union Pacific in the early days and
the men at Cape Nome are not any
worse than the men who put that
road through the mountains.
'Oi curse there are depradatiOuS
committed, but the offenders are
taken care Of. The reports in
many cases are exaggerated, hut Of
course there are depredatlous con-
mitted.
"Eatables are not as costly as one
would think. or course | suppose TO
a person here that the pr css seem
Iarge, but YOU can get three lUaves "
bread for a quarter and many things
ahont as reasonable as you can get
them here.
sour water, we always boiled before
drinking. Itis fairly good, but we
consider it necessary TO boil it. There
Is not much sickness there, not as
much as you would think for. | hard
ly think that the death rate was any
larger than IL has been III Wichita
and perhaps not so large.
"The beach slopes back for quite a
distance. Then there is a terrace or
something similar formed by r,indeer
moss and other vegetation. 10 step
ping into 1t you sink down just as
though il was like a swamp. In these
places the water is not COED for drink
ing purposes and the people would not
think, Of drinking IL unless il was
boiled long time and then MT 10
large quantities.
''Back Of the reindeer moss Is the
lan0 again ana gOld. Is 10 Oe i0uD0
here. The large mines are not on
the beach by any means, for the
teach il where the grains Of gold are
found"
"What machinery Is used on the
besch?"
"The cradle is about the only thing
used. Many people took out machin-
cry with them when we went expect
ing 10 use it on the beach. Some. OF
them did use the machinery, but In
the majority Of cases 1t is on the
beach rotting, with no value attach
ed to 1t because IL can not be used.
gCape Nome is all right and | think
there will be much more gold taken
from that country than has ever be-
fore been taken out.
"And as a matter Of fact, il should
90 back, / think that | will STAY for