East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-11-10

Like a modern Croesus, Louis Her
man, miner and hunter who has
traversed the icy domain of the land
the water front last night and as
founded many an eager listener with
his story Of fabulous wealth that lies
hidden on the beach of Popoff island
western Alaska, says q San Francisco
correspondent.
Herman, according to his state
ments, has mined and hunted all over
the vast Alaskan territory. He has
visited many mining camp in his
day and seen the wealth being ex-
tracted from the bowels of the earth.
But not until the spring of 1904 has
he ever encountered such great wealth
as was his fortune to locate in dis
trict where no living soul ever dream
ed there were the richest of diggings.
Herman Is man of intelligence
and not given to wasting words in the
tale he unfolds of his great discovery.
He was very reticent regarding his
experience on the Popoff beach and
1t took great urging before he would
consent to narrate his story. In or
der to make 1t convincing, Herman
produced a small bottle filled with
pure gold dust which he said he Sc
cured on the Popoff beach with very
small eXertion.
Herman said he had been prospect
ing all along the coast for years and
casually strolled along the beach of
Popoff island one day when he notic-
ed signs of gold on the beach. This
at once started him looking further
and In short time he managed to
pick up gold enough to make a ten
derfoot miner think he was a real
millionaire.
Herman kept his discovery to him
self and continued prospecting. He
panned and washed away and met
with good success. He says his
days work averaged from $15 to $25
and that the gold was to be had in
good quantities all along the beach.
He finally got tired of the diggings
there and wandered farther inland,
where he says he made discoveries
that will prove to be wealthy far be-
yond the placers of the Klondike.
The miner says he could not stake
the beach claims, but he quickly took
up all the available land along the
shore, and this he expects will put
him on an equal with j. Pierpont
Morgan. Nobody helped him in his
work, and he Aas no profits to share
with any one, and all the claims are
in his own name.
made his discovery he went to a
storekeeper in the vicinity named
Scott and asked for a magnet. The
shopman handed 1t out and did not
even ask what Herman wanted 1t for.
When it was returned the storekeep-
er simply took 1t and never went to
the trouble of asking Herman what
he had been doing on the beach. The
people seem indifferent to the yellow
metal.
According to Herman the gold on
the surface of the beach Is of high
grade. He believes there is a greater
wealth still in the quartz claims back
of the beach. Herman thinks this
will run enormously high, though he
cannot determine its true value.
Judging from his manner and
speech, Herman Is n practical miner
and a man who has had much exper-
iencc in seeking the precious metal
in the region of ice and snow. He
says he roamed around Alaska for 20
years and during that time was out
of the country only once, when he
came here about five years ago.
He claims to have been one of the
first men on the famous Nome beach
when gold WAS discovered there In
1901. He mined there for a while
and then drifted away again, hunting
and prospecting in various parts of
the country. He says he will return
to Popoff island in about a month
to work on his claims.