Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1901-03-01
WINTER TALK IN DAWSON.
1t Ran on what They Would Do When
They Returned, and One
Guessed II.

A man who spent the winter OF 1898
In Dawson City was relating some of
his experiences to a party of friends,
says the New Orleans Times-Democrat.
From November clear on to March,
said he. "it was far too cold for any
kind of work, and all we could do was
to huddle around the fires and talk. 1t
was the most talkative winter of my
hfe, yet there was one topic we never
exhausted; in fact, we invariably
drifted around to it, no matter what we
started. That was what we would do
when we got back to Gods country
with a big stake. A good many of the
boys had the gold already stored away
in tin cans under their hunks, but not
one of us doubted that he would strike
it rich before he left, so we were all on
an equality when it came to discussing
future plans.
II remember big, jovial Irishman
by the name of 0'Halloran, who had ac-
cumulated 1900 ounces, worth about
$4,000, and who used to declare that
the first thing he would do when he
got home would be to buy hack. He
was always a day laborer before he
came to the Kiondike, and his life had
been made up of long stretches OF hard
work and misery saving, followed by
brief and glorious drunks, in which he
rode in hacks with his legs through
the windows, chanting Bacchanalian
hymns. To him hack riding repre-
,ented the climax of human luxury,
and to have a hack of his own, in which
he could ride continually without being
'braced' for fare, was the pinnacle of
his dreams. Imagination could go no
further.
"Another lucky gold hunter was a
young man named Andrews, who has
been a waiter in Frisco restaurant
and whose familiarity with numerous
'high-toned' delicacies, acquired by
studying the bill of fare, gave him con-
siderable social prestige. He used to
tell what he would eat when he got
back, and the recital never failed to in
terest a large audience. Now tell us
wot yer goin' to order for de ong tray,
omebody would suggest, and he would
proceed to reel off a section of menu
card in French while his listeners
licked their chops and rolled their eyes
in esctasy. After a long diet of bacon
and beans Andrews monologues were
positively maddening. One Of the
simplest minded of the crowd was a
chap from Iowa who could never be in
1uced to express wish for anything
except suit of pink silk underclothes.
He knew faro dealer at Seattle who
possessed such garments and their
weird beauty, together with the fact
that they cost $3j set, had appealed
powerfully to his imagination. He had
fully $4,000 planted in an old oil can,
but he never allowed his fancy to roam
beyond the pink silk underclothes. I
trust he is wearing them now, but I
doubt it.
"The only man whom | knew who
made really accurate forecast Of his
proceedings when he struck civiliza-
ton was a big professional prospector
named Joe Burns who had cleaned up
about $4,000 on Bonanza creek. AS
soon as hit Frisco, he said, L will get
good and drunk; then TN GO to some
gambling joint and blow in my money;
then I'll land in the cooler We came
down on the same boat, and his predic-
ton was fulfilled TO the letter. got
him out of the station myself"