Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1905-03-15
FLUSH TIMES IN ALASKA.
When Men in the MINING Towne
Made Money Fast and
Made It Fly,


OF the Klondike and Nome are now mat
ters OF history" said Montana man
VINO was in the country from the start
OF the boom to the present time. tits
about the same as the history of all the
western mining camps in their boom
days. The first men to go into the
Alaskan country were of the venture
some and reckless sort. Money came
TO them by the thousands with but lit
tie effort and it went about as easily
as 1t was PANIED out of the gravel. It
is different now. Things have grown to
normal condition and the mining busi-
ness is conducted along legitimate lines.
can remember when there was not a
family in Dawson or Nome Now both
OF these places have settled down.
They have schools and churches and
the harum scarum life is thing of the
past.
i conducted variety theater in Daw-
son during the early BOOM The only
female society there was the variety
performers and they made all kinds of
money. Nearly all of the good lockers
married men who made big stakes and
quite number have turned out all
right. The salary of a woman who
could do something on the stage varied
from SloO to $3.50 per week and they had
to be supplied with room beside. They
made 20 per cent. commission on all
liquors sold in their company. Cham
payne sold from $40 to $40 a pint. but
after a time the price was cut to SIS
| and $50. At this time>eggs sold for one
dollar apiece and flour $10O a sack and
hard to get at that. Musicians were paid
| 500 a week, while the leader of an or
chestra got $3.50. l have seen women in
the show cash in checks calling for
from $50 to $500 in single night. It was
common to see waiter sell a single
bottle OF wine five times in one night.
He would get bottle of settler water
and fill partly empty bottle with this.
Private boxes would sell for $50 night
and they were often engaged two weeks
ahead. While everything was high the
business was enormous The bar re-
ceipts were good for 5000 day. Even
in that cold country the ice bill would
run up to $75 week and electric lights
cost $135 week. The payroll for en-
ployes was about $1,000 a week. So
many glasses were broken that it was
impossible to keep supply of glass
ware on hand and we had to substitute
copper cups about the size of an ordi-
nary whisky glass.
81 recall one night after the regu1a,
show was over in the theater Swift.
water Bill who married all of the La
more family, bought $4,000 worth Of
tickets for the dance hall and invited
everybody to dance. I have seen him
buy whole case of eggs at once when
they were selling for one dollar each
just to keep somebody else from gettinp
them. saltwater got his name from
the fact that he crossed the Klondike
river at high water on log and heat
q all the others out to the claims and had
all he wanted before anyone else comb
reach the place. He cleaned up. all told
between s2OO, 900 and $500, 1000. 1 remem.
Der Montana man who lived at White
sulphur Springs who spent $4,000 fo.
champagne in one night weighed ont
the gold for man who paid So. gag Ia
for barrel of high wine. All this nc
now changed. Gambling has been closed
down entirely both in Dawson and
Nome and there is little or no excite.
ment- 1t is still good country fo,
legitimate business of all kinds. Jts
future possibilities cannot be conceived
In natural resources / consider IL ths
richest possession in the domain of I'm.
Gle Sam