Evening star., 1902-01-15
WOMAN DIGS GOLD
A GERMAN BARONESS ONE of THE
KLoNDIkE PIONEERS.
Braves the Dangers OF Arctic Winter
and Stakes Out Valuable
Claims.

Baroness Lillian Won Tilse, German
woman of noble birth. who is known as the
only practical woman miner In all of Alas
ka, is in Chicago after an absence of four
years at Cape Nome. Dawson City and
other points of the great Eldorado within
the arctic circle. She came here to buy
machinery for hydraulic mining and a ten-
room portable house, which she will have
shipped In sections to Cape Nome.
When she has completed her purchases
she will visit with her friends here and at
st. Louis until the ice breaks up in the
spring, when she will return to the Klon-
dixie. The baroness is only thirty years
old and is unmarried, having taken her
title from her father. Baron Karl Won Tilse
Of Leipsig, Germany, who came to the
United States about twenty-eight years
ago and resided both in Cincinnati and st.
Louis.
Is Fond of Adventure.
She went to the Kondike not because it
was necessary for her to make her own
living, but because a love for adventure
led her to seek the gold fields. A fortune
was left her by her father and the first
business in which she engaged was wheat
speculation in Los Angeles She made
money for a time, but finally lost a great
deal, and then 1t was that she determined
to go to the Klondike.
She left Seattle early in the spring Of
1898 alone, and she has been alone In her
adventures ever since. She travelled with
out aid, did her own shedding with her own
reindeer, shot the swiftest rapids OF the
Yukon and other rivers in Indian canoes,
did her own prospecting, staked out her
own claims and then guarded them against
depredations with a rifle. which she knows
how to use as well as the best marksman
OF the frontier.
1t being necessary to do certain amount
Of work on each claim In order to hold it.
she called to her aid two men, one of them
an Eskimo. and the three sunk shafts and
prepared for placer mining. From the first
her fortune has been of the best. When she
began to pan and to dig she struck gold in
enormous quantities, and when she left
Cape Nome she brought with her nearly
100000 in gold, which she either panned or
secured from digging. She left behind her
four claims, and has been offered while
here 100000 for half interest in one of
them.
Tells of Her Travels.
The baroness is a charming woman, upon
whom four years Of life in the Klondike
have had little effect She talked in an en-
tertaining manner Of her adventures and
declared that although life in a metropolis
Is pleasant she prefers the ruggedness Of
the ice-bound country of the northwest
II left for the Klondike only year after
the sreat rush started" she said Il start
ed from Seattle and went to Skagway by
boat. I walked half way through the Chill
coot pass, and after two days of awful
trudging I reached the Summit Hotel, which
is nothing more than a tent which keeps
out little more than the wind. This point
marks the dividing line between the United
States and British Columbia. 1 left the
Summit Hotel on June 6 and went from
there to Log Cabin, a distance of eight
mics, in a driving snow storm. We started
at 3 o'clock in the norninG but we did not
reach Log Cabin until o'clock in the
evening
Everybody in the party was tied to a
long rope so that none would be lost. The
ice gave way on the small lakes and several
broke through. 1t was necessary after that
to sit down, pull off the rubber boots and
change stockings. Log Cabin is where the
British custom house is situated. From
there the party went to Bennett and
then I crossed Lake Bennett in a sixteen
foot boat. My companions were three men
who were as eager as l to make rapid
progress. The wind began to blow fully
thirty knots an hour shortly after we
started and it suddenly became extremely
cold, the thermometer falling far below
zero. The rudder was broken and we were
compelled to steer with an oar.
How She Shot the Rapids.
I'VE finally reached the Yukon and drift
ed until we came to the White Horse rap
ids. There all boats are stopped and the
women are compelled to walk around be-
cause of the danger. I managed to hide in
the boat. though. and shot the rapids. a
very foolish thing, because we came near
being capsized. Only one woman ever shot
the rapids before me, and none have done it
since. l went through hidden under a tar
paulin. After we were fairly started the
mounted police saw me and 1 was arrested
after we got through.
Il would not shoot the rapids again,
though, for all the money in Klondike.
walked around Five Fingers another rap
ids. because Of lack of courage. After
reaching Dawson 1 remained two months,
and then when the stampede for Nome be-
gan 1 Joined in. There 1 staked out eight
claims, all placer mines. Two Of them are
in the Nome mining district, four in the
Blue Stone district, one on Volcano creek,
one on Baroness creek, one on Bench No. 8,
just off Gold run, which is the wealthiest
location in that part of the country, and
one on the Chijkuk in the Northern bay
district. The Chijikuk and Gold run
claims are the best. and have had many
offers to sell them"
ON EXHIBITION.