Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-04
STREETS OF GOLD.
Dawson Rests on One of the Richest
Placer Deposits in Alaska.

From the Salt Lake Tribune.
1.-THE streets of Dawson are paved with
gold!' Two prospectors who have just re-
turned from the frozen north confirm the
dispatches which have been sent out
from Alaskas municipal gem that the
streets Of that far northern metropolis are
carpeted with yellow dust. The men are
John Bigelow and H. Woolaver. Bigelow
Is a Denver man and has been In the north
for several years. Woolaver has been In
Alaska for eight years. hunting the pre-
cious 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
cold weather you would scarcely know 1t
from any pushing western town. People
have given up the dreams and excitement
and settled down to business. 1t 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 l first
went there you were locked up in a great
snow vault that had the sky for a ceiling
and the mountains for wall. 1t was diff
cult to get in and dangerous to get out.
Gold?' Plenty Of it. 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 1 left intense excitement was
created by the discovery that the principal
street of Dawson rests upon one of the
richest placer deposits of the country. A
hole was being dug in front of one of the
principal business houses of the city, and
the prospector was panning out large pay
dirt. 1t has also been discovered that the
streets are fairly lined with gold that will
pay to work. The streets were filed in
with the washings of some of the mines,
and then. too, the spring freshets bring
dnH a int f1,nf ~,
the streets have been found to be very rich.
and this dirt is being taken up to be re-
placed by other earth, while the street dirt
will be washed 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 coars-
est dust and let the rest go. Then other
parties came with better machinery, and
they are again attracting the attention of
companies who have still better apparatus
for getting out the gold. Some of the tail
ings 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.
There are endless opportunities there just
as there are in every new country. But
lHcIe are Ilel there, TOO, VINO are freezing,
hoping and starving because their pride
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 coming into their hair. Work and ex-
posture Is telling on them. but they sure
tomorrow will come. They know it, and
tomorrow comes to these men in some
shape or other. For most of them 1t is the
long-sought pocket But when 1t is COW
cred up again we put up a rough, wooden
maidstone at one end. This is life in the
Klondike.''