Douglas Island news., 1905-03-08
QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS


 QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS
 dn letter to his wife in this city, MT. w. R. Goldensmith gives the fol lowing facts about the new town on the Tanana, the creeks, and other ln- teresting matter. The letter IS dated at Fairbanks, February 1st, l9O5.)
 AS you will see by the heading of this am in Fairbanks. I just came in from the creeks after taking trip out there. It is very quiet here in town and also on the creeks at this time of the year, and it will be month yet be- fore there is anything doing out there.
 Cleary creek would put you in mind of Bonanza creek at Dawson there are so many steam plants at work there. Most all of that big machinery of Bo- nanza creek has been brought down here. 1 saw Ed Sidemann out there; he owns No. 3 above on Cleary. You remember a Mir. Nicols, who used to drive stage from Dawson to the Forks: he is Eds partner and Mrs. Nicols is cooking for the outfit. Ed is pretty confident that be will make a home stake out of his ground, says Herman is coming in next summer. Knox and Hamilton own No. 8 and an interest on 9 below on Cleary. They also have lay, or au interest in a lay, on Ed Side mann's claim. do not think they have much pay on their claim S. Some pre- dict that it will "bust" them, as they mortgaged their Dawson property to buy in on Cleary. Jim Foley is out there working for them. Sam Hutch has lay on fraction, No. ? below, but has no pay, yet. There are few good claims on Cleary, but l think there will be some long lips among the mine owners there when wash up time comes. Some few will come out all right, but the majority will fall flat.
 am going to work for either Ed SSdemann or Knox in about three weeks both said they could put me on in that time. 1 am stopping with Johnny Du- uuette in cabin in Fairbanks.
 The transportation companies are booming the place out of all reason. They sent man by the name of Down ing out from Fairbanks for the outside with what they called a quarter of a million of dust, but in reality Downing had s1O,OOO or s15,OOO worth of dust from Fairbanks-which some say had been brought here from Dawson--then he was to get dust from the N. c. com pany's stores along the line to Dawson, where he would make up his quarter of q million. If it was not an advertising scheme they would not ship dust out of here in the middle of the winter, for the boats will all be running again next spring; but the Seattle papers will do the rest when this quarter of million reaches there from Fairbanks-more disappointments for the poor sucker.
 1 saw several pans of dirt banned from above and 5 and below on Cleary, the banner creek of the district, and the banning was all very light, from 1]& cents to 21&, the ground is 60 feet deep, and you and l know Maude that that kind of ground will not pay the labor against it. They may have better ground than that, but that is what saw for myself.
 You would think Dawson had been pulled up by the roots and transported here. The same old boys and the same old girls, doing the same old things, the horses, the dogs, the boats are the same, and the mugs you meet, only all looking little older and more weather beaten than before.