The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-10-03

then turned around
and engaged in con-
versation with another man. Presently
his poke was handed back to him, to-
gether with number Of articles he
had purchased, and he left the store.
He had paid for his purchases in gold
dust, the amount had been weighed out
by the clerk without any attention being
paid to the operation by the purchaser,
and when he departed he had no means Of
knowing, unless he had weighed his gold
before he entered the store, whether the
right amount had been taken out
+ asked the storekeeper If all his Gus
toners had as much faith in his honesty
this one appeared to have; whether
they were all in the habit Of handing over
their dust pokes for him to take what he
wanted.
He knows well enough said the mer
chant, that could not afford to cheat
him. We trust one another in this coun-
try-more, probably, than you do in the
states In the early days we had to, and
woe to the man who betrayed a trust.
There Is nothing so utterly objectionable
in mining camp as a deal that isn't
square, and in the early days a man who
was not square did not last long"
The use Of gold dust In the ordinary
transactions Of trade has pretty nearly
gone out Of vogue now, however, not only
in Dawson, but In the surrounding min
ing camps. Gold dust Is used more on
the Alaska side than in the Yukon, be-
cause the conveniences Of converting 1t
into money are greater on the Canadian
side than on the American. The CONNER
cial companies and some local merchants
who act as brokers, but chiefly the com
mercial companies and the banks, buy
the gold dust, charging a small commits
sion in some instances, and export 1t, pay
ing the 21a per cent royalty or export
duty to the government.
NEXT to a cleanup. where the virgin
IN gold Is taken out in the sluice
boxes, the most interesting op-
Grafton in which this precious meta
figures is the smelling Of the dus
and nuggets into bars for export
Our company was invited to wit
ness this interesting operation in the
British Bank Of North America. The
gold is reduced in a furnace to llquit
form and turned out into a. mold, making
a brick about the size Of those ordinaril
used for paving. Such a brick weigh
about 1000 troy ounces, or approximately
SO pounds troy weight. The Klondik
gold runs from $3.50 to SIT an ounce
making the gold brick, weighing 100
ounces, worth from Sic, 500 to SIT 900, va
rying according to the number of ounce
1t contains and the fneness of the golc
The actual value is determined by chip
ping off a little piece and assaying i
LIE DIlCh Is then StdIHpSu, IFS weight I'LL
fineness and is sent to the mint. Nearl
all of the gold sent out Of the Klondik
region goes to the mint at Seattle. Their
is a government mint at Vancouver, br
as the ships Of the regular lines frol
Skagway run to Seattle, the gold is nearl
ell shipped there, so that eventually tt
gold output of the Klondike finds its NAL
ket in the United States.
CTAKING a claim in the Klondike Is
much more exact proposition than
the Alaskan side under the America
laws. In placer mining, which Is abo1
the only kind Of mining carried on in tt
Klondike, creek claim means an art
$50 feet up and down the creek and 20
feet in width This seems to be a. ca
where the thing described is broader thu
it Is long. The mining laws have BET
amended at various times so as to chani
the area Of a claim materially. Prior
April l. 1898, and when the first clair
were staked in that region the claim n
from the base of the hill on one side
the creek to the base Of the hill on t.
other side for distance Of 500 feet up al
down the creek. This was changed APP
/, 1895, to ESQ feet lengthwise Of the ere
and running from rimrock to r1mrock
either side. Two years later the form OF
claim was changed again, allowing t
claimant to measure ESQ feet along
creek and 1000 feet back on each sic
In 1901 the present method was inaug
rated, which provides for a claim as
ready described, 1000 feet by ESQ feet;
it was found that in laying out clail
perpendicular to the creek difficulties VIZ
encountered from overlapping by reas
of the sinuosity Of the creek. 1t was the1
fore provided that when gold had be
discovered on a creek the governme
should survey what is called a base Ill
that is to say, a straight line, chang1
Its direction at exact angles to correspC
with the general direction Of the ere
This provides for more accurate def
ton of claim boundaries by establishing
base line from which they may be me-
ured.
A hill claim, that is one lying up abb
the creek claim, is only 1000 feet