Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-12-06
THE GREAT RICHES OF ALASKA
THE REMARKABLE INCREASE IN
HER OUTPUT OF GOLD.

HER OUTPUT OF GOLD.
Production VIII Reach s25,O0o,o Os
Against $15,OOO,OOO In 19O5-Hes
Treasures Only Skinned, Believes
Judge j. C. Ixellum.
Alaska will produce $25,000,Oo1
worth Of gold this year as compared
with $15,0o0,oO0 worth last year." says
a Chicago special dispatch to the New
York Herald "Three banks In the
Fairbanks district have accumulated
more than $3,000,000 in deposits in two
years. Alaska will be represented at
statue worth $1,000,000. One of the
banks of Fairbanks exhibited in its
show window last summer, Just as q
curiosity and object lesson, $1,5O0,OOO
worth of gold bricks-the real thing,
composed of the pure yellow metal'
This is the message brought from
Alaska by Judge j. c.. Kellum, who
was assistant district attorney OF Arr.
iona IN the last Cleveland administra-
ton. Judge Kellum has been in Alas.
ka ten years. 1t is his opinion that
Alaska has hardly been skinned OF
its treasures. He believes the present
rather crude way of extracting the pre-.
cious metal from the earth could be
profitably followed with ever increas.
ing results for dozen years. With
the use of huge dredges, which are now
being introduced, he expects the out.
put of gold will be greatly augmented
and at a reduced cost.
''There are only few dredges In op.
GRAFTON in Alaska" Judge Kellum said
"but these have been used with such
success that the demand now Is great
er than the supply. They are practica.
BILE for work only on a large scale, as
they cost something like $150,0OO each.
One of these machines will handle
5000 cubic yards of dirt in twenty.
four hours. An expert man has all he
can do to get away with ten cubic
yaMs, and the average for man is
about eight yards, there being varia.
lions according to the geological for.
nations encountered.
"ln the Fairbanks district it is poor
dirt that does not yield from ST. to 81
a cubic yards, hence the dredges turn
sout FROM $4,000 to $4,000 worth OF
metal every day, With them it will be
possible to work dirt which is not COM
sidered profitable when cared for by
hand. The average pay of miner is
nys IN
the dredges can be operated at daily
expense of $3.50.
'There is no money problem In Alas
la. Coin or its equivalent is more
plentiful than anything else as a mat.
ter of fact. !,
Although we pay housemaids 500
month, no one is lying awake nights
worrying over the servant problem like
you in the States. good stenogra-
pher draws the nice monthly allowance
of $3.50. Common labor is worth 81
an hour, and skilled labor commands
50 to $3.50 an hour.
ut is pretty poor steak that does
not make five dollar bill vanish. For
porterhouse steak the average price is
81 to $1.5O pound, while ordinary
steaks are quoted at IS cents pound.
Turkey and chicken-well what do you
think of paying $15 to $40 for Christ
mas fowl? If you want oysters to go
with the turkey one little can will
cost you SIS. Flour costs $3.50 sack;
sugar, 10 cents pound; coffee, IS
cents; green tomatoes, IS cents a
pound. and cucumbers, IS cents each.
oddly enough, many articles Of ia
Bile food cost more in the summer than
in the winter. This is explained by the
fact that freightlng in the summer
costs IL cents a pound, and In the
winter, when the ice is on the ground
and streams, it costs only 5 cents a
pound. We raise in the Fairbanks dis
trict nearly all kinds of garden truck
that are raised in state like Illinois
tomatoes, potatoes, onions and the like.
The production of course is limited, the
main dependence necessarily being up
on shipments from outside.
"The statue Of pure gold which Alas
ka will send to the exposition at Seat
tie will be the most interesting and
expressive exhibit there of the wealth
and characteristics of the territory. A
ton of gold, | am told, is worth $780,
600. The statue, therefore will weigh
more than two tons. 1t will be four
feet high. and the other dimensions
will be in that proportion. The model
has not been selected. Some Alaskans
desired statue full size with the hui
man form and not pure gold. Leading
bankers and business men, however,
insisted there should be no alloy in
Alaska's exhibit, and this notion finally
prevailed.
ut will be interesting to know what
will be the largest nugget OF gold on
display at the exposition. AT the Port
land exposition was displayed an Alas
kan nugget worth nearly $4,000
Skirts For Men.
Bell skirted overcoats are the latest
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