The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-11-22
LeAVenwOrth Man Wins Wealth
In the Gold Country.
Four Men Are Daily Taking Out
from $1,000 to $4,000.
HIS CLAIM AT RAMPANT
Had Many ,DiscOuragements Be-
fore Final Strike.
Was Carried to Alaska by the
Excitement in '97.

L-eavenworth, Nov. 22.-The Times
says:
Alaska has many disadvantages and
h~ardships to encounter, but gold will
cover a multitude of shortcomings"
said A. F.. Schmitz, newly come from
the Yukon regions. TO a reporter for the
Times last night. The former Leaven-
worth man ook exceedingly prosper
Gus and frankly admits that the frozen
north, despite its frown, contained for
tune for him..
A. +. Schmitz resided in L-eavenworth
for a number of years until about ten
summers ago when he left this city and
went to Montana leaving his son, Tony
Schmitz, here. From Montana he was
irresistibly drawn to Dawson in '91 by
the gold magnet and there it was that
he settled upon his first claims. The
beginning was dark He worked Tor
nearly a year on a claim, found evil
dences of gold, but finally was Drawn
further north by the fever and excite
ment of the rich discoveries at Nome
and deserted his old claim from which
$500, 900 worth of the dull yellow metal
has since been aken-
Nome was some better. Plenty Of
determination and staying powers,
coupled with 4. constitution TO with
stand the rigCTs of the far north and
to labor ceaselessly in the face of de-
feat, in The nlcst unfavuzaDl9 ot en-
vironment, digging to the frozen Gra-
vel and picking and washing out tiny
bits of g1sd. IIalIy brought success,
hope and the ell desired wealth.
Just between WI and Nome,
about half way, lay a small camp nam
ed Rampant. Past this the gold hunt
ers had streamed in countless numbers
to the Nome fields and but few had
stopped on the banks of the Yukon TO
pay attention to the claims of. Ram
part. 1t is true that a number of pros
pectors settled there to trade and later
found gold in paying quantities, but Mr..
Schmitz was one of the first to prospect
the region thoroughly. The great al
lurement was there in the gravel very
near the surface and easy TO mine, but
TO go at it with pick and shovel was
impracticable. A company was form
ed, the whole creek running through the
settlement to the Yukon vas ~prospected
and the claims along it's banks, As in
number, were finally purchased by Mr..
Schmitz and his associates at a total
cost of 1927 500, and Incorporated under
the name of A. T. Schmitz Gold Dredg-
ing and Mining p Incorporated
of Seattle, Wash. This company has
since put the 900 acres of claims into
shape and by spring will be digging the
gold out of the earth by means of ma
chinery.
Mr.. Schmitz stated last night that the
gravel would yield from $1.50 to $3.50
to the cubic yard of gravel and that
on bed rock, found at a depth of from
three to twenty feet the gold was found
at the rate of $50 and over to the square
yard. The machinery handles 1000
yards of the gravel daily, making the
output of gold between 1900 and $4,000
daily without counting the metal found
on bed rock which on many days will
double the profits. Four men do all the
work. -
The manner of mining is not unin-
teresting. All of the gold is washed
from gravel and no stamping machine
ry is required. Over the gravel of the
creek bed the earth or muck is about
a foot thick under the matted moss and
is as hare as granite when frozen. TIE
moss is first cut away and the granite
muck softens and d~fsintegrates in the
sun and air. Under it the gravel is
then loose and easy to handle. The dull
yellow particles of gold can often be
seen in it, but seldom on the surface.
When mining by hand the gravel is
'panned" or washed in a sieve bot
toned pan, but by machinery is simply
run through sluices and the gold par
ticles caught in receptacles.
The fact that so much of the gold
is found on bed rock reveals volcanic
disturbances some time in the past. In
these the gravel with it's golden con-
tents was shaken bou and the heavier
gold particles settled to the bed rock
just as bullets will sink to the bottom
IL placed in a basket of beans or corn
and shaker about violently.
Speaking of Alaska weather the fort