The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-12

Anger will simply spoil your appetite and
will not help the tent space any. To do the
crowd justice 1t Is in the main good
natured and accommodating. and there
are surprisingly few quarrels over the
land. considering the abundance Of oppor
tunities for bad feeling But. alas! for
the municipality OF East Nome. It's once
orderly lots are strangely jumbled and its
street is a street no longer Instead, the
long sandy mound is one great white wave
of tents that springs like surf from the
wet sea and beats upon the high and wet
ground behind. In the middle Of this town
Of East Nome was a fine well. dug deep
in the sand and stoned up with headless
barrels one upon another. Everyone who
came in used this free. water without Ques-
ton.
Yesterday a man came in on one Of the
steamers with lumber, and built a house
over this we'll. and now retails the water
at s cents a bucket. The people who used
this water freely before now buy 1t and
wonder at two things; one is that none Of
them thought to fence it in: the other
that he charges only nickel bucket. He
even two bits"
Beyond this spot to the eastward and
across Snake River to the west. the tens
are not SO thick, as yet, but they dot tee
beach as far as eye can see and day by day
they increase. When the other ten or If
teen thousand people who are already on
steamers on the way arrive, we shall see
some interesting happenings. Surely 70
more can find breathing space ir More or
Its immediate suburbs. Besides these ex-
pected proSpectors. there are said to be
$4,000 at st. Michael. waiting to secure pas
sage hero. The Thrasher. a steam VIII iler.
n m fPnyn fhnr nd MD hvN. .svbt
this report. together with 600 men. all she
could carry. at $50 head. thus netting
SIS. 600 for two days trip.
Gold In VAST Quantities.
There is no possible doubt that there is
vast amount Of gold in the vicinity OF
Nome. People scattered up and down the
beach for q hundred miles each way are
getting 1t out in primitive style with rock
ers that handle but few cubic feet Of sand
an hour. and all Of them are getting go d.
The majority Is not getting much, however;
whether because OF the primitive methods
or because it is evenly divided over large
territory, 1t is difficult to say.
The rocker men work in pairs generally.
One man skins the uaproductive top sand
from the ruby pay streak. and shovels that
into bucket or bag. which he brings to
machine. rocking with one hand and
dipping water with long-handled diprer
with the other. In days work OF ten
hours the average rocker gives return OF
S1G-S5 apiece for the two laborers. OF
course. this is only an average. Some get
only dollar or two. while much as $50
or $50 have been made in day by the mo 9
fortunate.
A part Of the failures are no doubt due
a.
inadequacy of the rockers. for weird and
v wonderful devices have been foisted upon
the tenderfoot by the promoters OF Seattle
and San Francisco. The wrecks OF these
machines already stand abou.
On the beach and tundra to the sorrow of
their swindled owners and the derision Of
the experienced. However plentiful the
gold. some of these machines would not
save 1t. and others are failures because
they Will not handle enough dirt or be-
cause they get out of order too soon. A.
most the only successful rockers are the
standard oId-fashioned kind.
This should be warning to the in
experienced who intend trying their for.
tune on the beach in the future, but 1t
will not be. for the glamour Of the pro-
noters' presence is strong. l have seen
men rock out $50 day on the upper edge
IF the beach within half mile of the
centre Of Nome, and I have seen a half
hundred others walking the Nome streets
with their hands In their pockets. declar-
ng the camp dead failure. A dozen
lockers are washing the beach sands Just
back of my tent. and saving from 50 to
,I2 a day of the fine gold that goes
through, and a shovelful of sand taken
almost anywhere among the tents on the
,rowded camping ground will show colors.
Rich Strikes FREQUENT.
Whether the average man with q rocker
lay wages is doubtful but there are fire.
luent rich II small strikes. and these keep
Up the spirits Of the unsuccessful. Over
It Topkuk, a place on the beach fifty miles
o the east and not far from Golovin Bay.
me of these strikes was made late in the
all, and this spring fifty men have washed
,ut five to fifty thousand dollars worth OF
,old each from small a-aa- Of this sand.
rhe best OF it has been taken out now,
md the rush which had begun in that d.
ection is already falling off.
So much for the hand-rockers. With the
,old SO widely disseminated, 1t seems as IL
he people who are on their way here with
luices and power pumping plants would
10 well If the cost of fuel and labor does
.ot swamp them. Coal sells now at SIS
Oh. COdi Cli 81 6dlAoHs lauot
rings Sc to $40 day and board. None OF
hese sluicing plants are in operation as
-et. SO no estimate of their success can be
made. nor have any of the much-vaunted
.redging machines appeared upon the
Gene.
Indeed for a placer mining camp OF TO-
60 people there are surprisingly few min
RS at work. The great bulk Of the people
eem to have come here to trade and to
peculate in claims and town lots. The
allied claim is already in evidence. the
1an who has bought bogus town lot al
eady makes his meanings heard. and the
umper and jumped here and there argue
oudly. and in one or two instances have
hot each other. There is no court here
aving civil jurisdiction. If you want an
Their mans claim or lot, you only have to
oak him into an argument until he throws
tones at you. Then have him arrested for
respass and disturbing the peace, and go
4 and occupy his bit of earth while he
ustles about town in a probably vain eff
ort to find a .bondsman.
1