The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-22
STREETS OF GOLD.
Dawson Rests on One of the Richest Placer Deposits in Alaska.

Dawson Rests on One of the Richest Placer Deposits in Alaska. Salt Lake Tribune.
 "The streets of Dawson are paved with
 gold." Two prospectors who have just returned from the frozen North confirm
 the dispatches which have been sent out from Alaska's municipal gem that the
 streets of that far northern metropolis are carpeted with yellow dust. The big men are John Bigelow and H. Woolaver. Big elow is a Denver man and has been Tn
 the North for several years. Woolaver has been in Alaska for eight years, hunt ing the precious metal. and he says that his coming back to civilization is like the entrance into a strange land.
 "The feverish impatience has left Daw-
 son." said Woolaver yesterday. Money | is plenty there, business is good and prices
 are reasonable Except for the extremely l cold weather you would scarcely know 1t from any pushing Western town. People | have given up the dreams and excite ment and settled down ito business It is, of course. easier to get in and out of
 the country than formerly, and we are in closer touch with the outside world. When first went there you were locked up in great snow vault that had the sky for a ceiling and the mountains for a
 wall. It was difficult to get in and dan | gerous to get out.
 Gold? Plenty of 1t. New strikes are | still being made in unexpected places, but | there has been no discovery of another | Klondike. In my opinion there never will | be- Before left intense excitement was | created by the discovery that the prin- | cipal street of Dawson rests upon one of the richest placer deposits of the coun- try. A hole was being dug in front of one
 of the principal business houses of the
 city, and the prospector was banning out | large pay dirt. It has also been discov-
 cred that the streets are fairly lined with gold that will pay to work. The streets 1 were filled in with the washings of some | of the mines. and then, too, the spring
 freshets bring down dirt that carries gold | In some places the streets have been | found to be very rich, and this dirt is | being taken up to be replaced by other
 earth. while the street dirt will be wash! | ed in the spring, when it is not so hard | to get water.
 "Of course. in the early days they were | not so particular. They took out the coarsest dust and let the rest go Then | other parties came with better machinery
 and the tailings were gone over again. | Now they are again attracting the at- tention of companies who have still bet ter apparatus for getting out the gold. | Some of the tailings were used for filling
 the streets. and this dirt is going to be
 worked over again by the new companies as fast as they can get permission
 There is scarcely a foot of ground in that part of Alaska that does not carry
 gold. Some dirt does not pay to work | but the gold is there, nevertheless. There are people there who are not finding gold
 Thec are endless opportunities there. | just as there are in every new country | But there are men there. too, who are | freezing. hoping and starving, because their pride or determination will not let them return to the States. They. have | loved ones who are waiting for them, but
 they will slave and freeze and starve. hoping against hope for tomorrow to
 bring the good fortune they have been
 digging so long and patiently for. They
 are getting old, these men. Gray is com | ing into their hair. Work and exposure
 are telling on them. but they are sure
 tomorrow will come. They know it. and
 tomorrow comes to these men in some
 shape or other. For most of them it is
 the long-sought pocket But when 1t is | covered up again we put up a rough,
 wooden headstone at one end. This is life ' in the Klondike."