The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-02-04
CAPE MONIES VAST RICHES.
7HE GRIdTESI GOLD FIELD EVE"
pOTNL. SaiS ~
Mile. ~ Golden sand On III. brn'h' ',"'",
Lined Creeks beyond Ii->a'd 10 hS'e'
m. Kiondik some Fortunes Already
Mnd, 4 Mi..ionnry Enriy IN the riei"'

W. A-..
Made , Ni..ionnry Early IN the fieih'
p,u,xA chi Ian. 80 Capt Lewis Il But
f., f,rm.rly connected with IN" | nI,"d States
C.aJo1c,l Sursey. for y-ars an -Xp.t, for The
sl,e Mining Bureau Of { nhiornia and a "Ihe''
Luoun Authority on the Pacific Coast conce'iIHi'
,l.c., ,ptn.s has reached his home IN Santa
p.,h,,. ,;u,r several months In the new INNING
e.d n, Cane Nome, Alaska. lie spent August
.,,.ube, and much Of October ~ the Cape Nnmr
.cop having been employed ,hrf" ~ IN exam
hJng eSper, by the Pacific Coast Min'ng League
scd The nlofmAuo he bnngs from the ne" 9o'n
h.,d is interesting. lie will 60 To- Washington
-, week 10 seek to have the mining Jaws hlVri'h
a, an, The conditions ~ the = 5000 placer CLAIMS
,b,, have already been Staked out at cape Nome
md m aid the thousands Of new claims that viii
probably Ia located next summer
There are no uchrr placer mines ON EARN
than those At cape Nomc, said CAPT hu'ir'
-rh. distinct VII astonish the world IN w" years
more. and will keep astonishing II yearly Tor /"
long time Why, its output Of gold Tor 1880 l'7
arst season Of washing, WAS ssoo'ooV efrd"'
than that from the klondike IN It's nfSt SEASON
And next summer, the second season o' ""'"'
the quantity of gold washed from the Cape Nome
sands and gravel will be almost treble thn' " 'he
klondike at the same stage OF its history III
some respects the Cape Nome gold Held Is Tie
mos, wonderful yet found. Think Of men ge'nhs
nay dirt a foot below the surface OF tho >ahh' II
seems like Wild eSaggeranon 10 say that TWO men
with an old fashioned rocker, a shovel each anu II
little quick liver have cleared so a day Tor nine
months ut a lick; but | knew that 10 be done 81
Cane Nome IN several cases last summer lhlhA
Of going down ON a sandy seashofe' reaching
miles and miles away, and for a quarter "i " m'le
from water back. and there panhlhg ou' g"o
worth from 20 cents tn 81 20 a pan win hs lil'le
labor az shaking common sand thtough a nan"
may. n s,.ms like a lovely dream in mining,
do.spt ~ But that's what | have seen several
hundreds Of men do At Cape Nome why me
ubols beach for seventy miles up the shore ~
staked oil In mining claims, ana there are even
greater riches dug by more effort and more enter
mn Using mining methods IN the gulchrs and along
IN. brooks that seam the hills back from the shore
line at Cape Nome. You may well imagine what
wealth there is in the placers of Cape Nome when
California men, who have been mlnetS for a gen
erston and know from long experience whnt nch
md poor dgglngs are, have paid s5O,OOO, ana
even $50. 900, fot single claims, upon which less
than a months work had been done.
The output, OF gold from this brand new mining
region for four months last summer was between
A. 900, 900 and g.. 500, 900 That too. was all
take, out by crude gold miners rockers and
,rnt rpans by about 500 men IdoubtiiA similar
record. all things considered, has been made in
snv virgin mining field. Fully SO, 100000 will
be washed ON by the Cape Nome miners next
summer, and by the summer of 1901, when ma
chlnrry and modern appliances for gold washing
have been Introduce into the Cape Nome reglon
the annual cleanup Will be at least double that
sum Oh, there's nothing like the richness OF
the gold deposits in that bleak and dreary ALASKAN
country. George Bennett, the London mining
Authority, who has been employed by the British
Government to survey The north Vest field and 30
inform the world as to the possibilities Of getting
gold from there, told me al St Michael that ,hs
gold in the frozen north is beyond human calCula
ton. and that in ten years more Alaska and the
klondike regions together would be annually
selling gold to the amount Of 5000 900 ]
think Mr. Bennett il even Understanding the
yearly output c u Lane Of San Francisco.
who knows Alaska mining from Juneau to the
Arctic Sea and has made millions ~ a miner,
believes thu, Alaska will yield more than 500 600,
ooo in gold annually Ivy another dscad"
The Cape Nome district is situated on The north.
west coast OF Alaska, on the south west side Of the
yreat Arm or peninsula which reaches into the
Rehring Sea. Kotzebue Sound is on the north
of the arm, and Norton Sound on the south The
western end Of this arm or peninsula is At the
lash meridian, and has long been known in
Biographies az Cape Prince Of Wales This
peninsula is the westerrmost Of the [ nltpd States
It is sepa rated from Asia by the Behrlng Strait,
less tina n seventy miles vide Cape Nome has had
it's nan on maps for twenty years Tn" gold
diggings ara about $50 miles northwest, across
the sound. from St Michael Steamers land the
gold see. r, 81 Inn rife shot Of theshp- dlggings,
and within a few hours walk OF the gulch and
creek diggings From Seattle 10 Cape Nome
the route by steamer is . 400 miles, and from
Ounalaska it is 10 miles to Cope Nome. The
gold Washing district extends along the base and
sides II a range Of hill or promnn,ories that skirts
the southern side Of Cape Nome From the
water edge To the base Of the hills there is a great.
dreary plain, as unlikely n spot in which To find
Ruld Is one would imagine. Dozens of tiny streams
foam and fuss on their way through the hills and
empty IN the sea. Gold Is found along the banks
Of these streams and in the gulches hat abound
in the district, and the sand on the seashorc is
surprisingly rich in the yellow metal, 'no. \
bush or A tree as high as q mans head is not found
within hundreds Of miles. But a green and grnv
rnlored moss, peculiar To Arctic regions, grows
every where, almost from the waters edge back
through the hills and ravines. II is called tundra
and is three feet thick in some places, and very
tough The miners clear this heavy coating oI
moss away, and frequently they get Iay gold
right away. The moss is good fodder for tn
reindeer that he United States took 10 hlasks
pone years ago, but is Of no use to the miners 81
far as they know now.
The whole Cape Nome country is n gold fell