Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-21
GOLD OF RICHEST KIND
MINER IN WASHINGTON WITH
NUMBER OF BIG NUGGETS.

Ihefc was a man wandering around town
the past week with six or seven pounds of
raw gold in his pockets; and he ESCAPED
without casualties. OF course six or seven
pounds of gold do not constitute an I'M
heard of amount. There is more than that
now over in the treasury. But one of the
interesting features of these nuggets was
that they come from the northernmost
mining camp in the United States, If not
In the world-a place hundred miles north
OF the Arctic circle-where the daily cleanup
on one claim is considered a poor one If it
does not go over 81, COO
me possessor of the nuggets was A. b.
brewster, once of Chicago and now of
Alaska He let one Of the 81 500 nuggets
OUT or his keeping long enough for the
onnclals at the National Museum to made
cast of it. In fact, he did not take yery
much more precaution about handling If
than II 1t had been that much chalk The
sold is of the purest that has even come
to the United States assay office running
Sf9.S5 an ounce
On the claim next to Mr. Brewster's gold
mas been dug that holds the record of the
assay office at $2o.12 The Commercial
Company that does the bulk of the trading
IN that part of the world allows a price Ok
S1i an ounce for it. as here is no currency
IN that country. so they do not lose much
on the transaction. II
Coldfoot Camp.
In speaking to a Star reporter about ;,Ss
experiences Mr.. Brewster said: p
THE camp where we are working now Is
caied Coldfoot' in the Koyukuk district. IT
Is 100 miles north of the circle and about 2Gs1
miles from Fort Yukon. Coldfoot is a pret.
" good name for it, too, for a good many
OF the fellows played out and quit when We
got that far. But l have been in there now
Tor over three years and L have no fault
70 md with 1t. The country has treated
me right, and I manage. TO get ont everx,
a frir h1r 70
But would not live anywhere else for a
permanency: When a man has once hee,,
N a gold country and has seen the stuff
taken out of the ground il gets into nc
blood even if he has not made a strike bir,,
afterward. ''''e
1t is one of the healthiest countries in
Inc world, and here Mr. Brewster launched
OH into the sort of local panegyric that
nearly every American INDUCES in over hi,,
particular township. The only thing vol,
nave to look out for is pneumonia and
scurvy. There have been two cases of
scurvy and two cases of pneumonia since
nave been in the country and for a camn
OF 400 men that is doing mighty well. The
Two fellows who got pneumonia got it by
breathing through their mouths and with
the thermometer at 90 or 40 below in the
winter, you have to be careful about that
sort of thing. OF course there have been
accidents, surgical cases. and few guns
nave gone off at the wrong time But that
is not sickness.
we get fnaii twice a month during the
summer; hrst-class matter only. There are
thousands Of mifes of creek beds that have
never been prospected, and | believe that
Alaska In the next twenty-five years Is go-
ing TO beat her own record in gold produc-
ton many times over. l know that the
chances are better now by 100 per cent
than they We're when first went in therep
Eight Years in the Rush.
Mr.. Brewster has been in the country al
together eight years. He says that which
he Joined the first gold rush they made up
a mutual stock company. Most of the men
in the expedition had all their money in it.
and nearly all the men who subscribed ac- 4,
companied the party. %, On the way up the
Alaska coast they ran into bad storm
and the whole outfit was lost. They saved
a little money and most of the men went
home on the remnants of their joint capt.
tai. But wages were high and Mr., Brew
ster decided he would rather stick II out
than to go home and have the people he
knew remark on the things they had pre-
viously told him. So he stayed on and
came down for three successive winters to
chop wood for grub stake at st. Michaels,
and would go back and prospect in the
summer. In the fourth year he struck it
right" and since then things have been
coming his way,
81. haven't got anything to SELL" said he,
ton or not. / have been offered about what
my claim is worth by some Pittsburg peo-
pie with lot of money But where is
the use of selling? 1 like the country and
the game is winning, so you might well
let it alone. This is the first time l have
been to Washington, but 1 am coming
again.