The Republican journal., 1900-09-06
LETTER FROM SEATTLE.

ready S5OO,OO0 has been pledged by the
business men of the city, and hearty
support has been given to the movement
in manner that guarantees success
The time set for the Inauguration of the
! event is 1904, in commemoration of the
date when the great Pacific Northwest
became known to the world through the
first visit to this section of the country
of the noted explorers, Lewis and Clark
Seattle's plan is original and quite A
departure from the usual method OF
conducting eXpositions. Instead of
devoting great space to arts and kindred
exhibits, the purpose is to present col
lection of foreign products from all
countries in the world, and particularly
from those adjacent to the commercial
doors of the Pacific coast, thus afford
ing these countries an opportunity to
assemble their products at a common
| center and give manufacturers an idea
of what they are capable of and in this
! manner promote the establishment of
more profitable trade relations. 1t is a
recognized fact that the field for Ameri-
can commercial expansion is on the
Pacific coast, and Seattle has under
taken the task of supplying the demand
for information regarding the possibili-
ties of trade expansion in Northern and
Southern Asia. That she will carry it
through to successful elimination is
not to be doubted.
News has come from Alaska of an
alleged fabulously rich placer gold dis
covery i'll the Copper river district long
ago voted barren of the yellow metal.
The new discoveries are 240 miles in
land from Port Naldes, and are very
inaccessible as regards transportation
of supplies and machinery However.
the completion of the government mill
tary road will make the district com
paratively easy Of access. One man is
reported to have taken thirty-two ounces
of coarse gold at a depth of seven feet,
off of bedrock, from a claim on Slate
creek, a tributary of the Chistachina,
which flows into the Copper river.
The Skagway-W Horse railroad is
at last completed and all the early hard
ships of the trail have been eliminated.
Dawson is now an easy journey from
| Seattle. it requiring but six days to make
the trip. The wonderful gold product
of the ukon can he rushed to the great
gold market at Seattle in week OF little
more after it has been taken from the
creeks.
1t is understood Oh good authority
that the department of the interior at
ottawa intends to arrange for the abol-
ishing of the royalty of 10 per cent,
hitherto charged on gold mined in the
Klondike. and substitute therefor a
government assay office. 1t is intended
that this office shall be established at
Dawson, and here every miner will be
obliged to take his gold. According to
the preliminary statement of the ar
rangement, he will be required to pay 3
per cent. on the amount of his cleanup
This includes all charges for assaying.
The new arrangement is expected to
revolutioniZe present methods of ship
ment. miners bringing out drafts fora
their money and the government later
shipping the gold in bulk to an Eastern
Canadian mint
Reports from Nome continue con-
ficting and misleading. The strongest
maledictions are hurled against it by
some, while others maintain a profound
and mystic faith i'll its rich development.
lively little is known by the masses at
Nome concerning the mining districts,
and arguments pro and con are based,
not Oh knowledge, but almost entirely
on opinion. 1t is certainly true that by
far too many people went to Nome this
summer, particularly of the class who
did not intend to engage in mining.
The result is that they are now stranded
and are seeking relief from the govern
ment. 1000 of them have signed petit
ton for aid. 1t is probable that the
government will send a fleet to bring
the men back to the Pacific States. 1t
is out of the question to think of feed
ing and providing for them on the Are
tic shores. Every returning steamer
from Nome brings back its quota of
disappointed ones, but there is still a
large element there whose faith remains
unbroken. These are settling down to
business in way that bids fair for
Nome's future. Smallpox has practi-
cally died out and there is very little
sickness, most of that which does exist
being pneumonia and kindred ills Rich
strikes in bench claims have encouraged
prospectors to great activity, and own
ers of claims on creeks that were at
first pronounced failures are finding on
development results that justify more
extensive work than was at first con-
templated. The country is proving to
be one particularly adapted to the
operations of big machinery and the
poor man with few weeks grub and a
cheap rocker is not destined to an i'm
r. ut TO go