The evening times., 1900-07-13
SOCIETY AT CAPE NOME.
\ Sort of Badge of Honor for Women
to Work.


COLUMBIA. S. C. July 1S.-Miss Ellen
Courtney. the adventurous Edgefeid coun-
ty girl. who has been spending the last
ten months In Nome. Alaska has written
a letter to her South Carolina relatives
that throws new light on the social life
Of that country. besides containing much
interesting information OF other subjects.
Tae letter. written on June u. chroni-
cles the end OF the alternating season, the
arrival OF several steam whaleTs. with
freight and passengers. and the advent Of
fresh meat. The oranges in the FIRST case
brought ashore sold for 81 each. The
steamers brought lumber. which caused the
price at Nome 10 fall from $500 a thousand
feet TO $3.50 a thousand. Miss Courtney
writes:
Lot jumping has been the bane Of our
lives since the new people began to ar
rive Many people who have spent the
long winter In this prison OF ice and &C
Quired their town property by purchase
have been forced TO hold It with shot
guns. Several shooting scrapes have Oc-
CURED since the influx OF people from
Dawson over the ice. Real estate values
are away up. some property selling for
from $3.50 to $500 a front foot. Twelve
Deputy United States Marshals have been
appointed TO prevent forcible seizures by
newcomers and when this force becomes
insufficient United States soldiers Will go
to their assistance.
Some twelve OF fifteen hundred people
made the trip from Dawson over the ice.
The distance is about 1900 miles as the
crows flies. Fully forty women 'mauched'
this entire trip. One man came through
with his bride on a wedding trip. The
nights were usually spent in iglows
(Eskimos housesl. The condition Of these
places is usually Of unspeakable squalor
and filth 'Maunching' however. is not
so difficult an undertaking. as the outside
world imagincs. jaunt Of a hundred
miles is nothing at all for even woman.
in this climate. You DO not feel exhaus-
tion-only stiffness the first few days Sew
eral dog teams went through holes in the
ice while making the trip from Dawson.
and the unfortunate owners lost all they
possessed.
There are some half dozen rich mining
districts along this coast. and there is no
doubt that the next year will see five or
six thriving towns spring up within "a
dius of 300 miles. Indications are that
Nome will be the metropolis Of Behring
Sea Other towns viii be built as soon as
cargoes Of lumber arrive. There is plenty
Of room for spreading. fortunately, for late
arrivals al Nome. In this there is great
advantage over the Klondike, where every
thing is concentrated at Dawson.
'.Ophir Greek. l00 miles up Fish River, is
declared to be the most marvellous creek
ever heard of. the extent and richness Of
the pay streak being greater than anything
previously known in the history Of mining.
Much excitement also exists over new
strikes on the beach at Top Kok. about
sixty miles down the coast. Owing TO the
frozen ground. but little work has been
done in the sand. The Koog Rok district,
adjacent to Port Clarence. is another mar
velously rich district.
1--WE are pleased that the beach still re-
mains open to the miners, and that the
'grafters' failed to gobble this part of the
public domain. No one need come here and
suffer starvation. or fail to realize enough
to take him back home while the beach
remains open to the public. II has been
godsend to many unfortunates. There
have been some rich strikes on the tundra
Also This is the ground between the
sandy beach and the mountains. covered
with short vegetation. locally known as
'nigger heads One poor misguided proof
reader converted tundra into the timber
adjacent to Nome You~cannot fully ap-
preciate this mistake. perhaps. but we can.
since timber in this locality is an unknown
quantity.
Existing conditions here the last winter
made it impossible for women to stake
claims in person. SO those owned by wom-
en-, as we'll as many owned by men. have
been staked by agents. There were no real
houses and no real wood. so u was diff
cult enough for even the strongest men to
brave the awful tempests that were Of fire.
quent occurrence.
There has been absolutely no sort OF
social life or recreation Of refined nature
here all winter. We attempsed whist par
ties in small way brt were so often
prevented from gning o-t BY The snow
storms that we aSand9neS this.
I'VE do anE kir1 ., honest work here