Evening star., 1909-07-18
Pure Gold Rivals
Tale of Aladdin

MILLION and a quarter in pure,
~ shining, yellow gold,
= = Exposed to the eyes of the visit
ors at the Alaska building of the Alaska
Yukon-Pacific exposition. securely en-
trenched behind double steel cage. is
fortune in nuggets and bricks.
To the ordinary mind gold is thing
to be measured in ounces and not in
pounds. And yet in this display is to be
seen over two tons of gold pile of
yellow wealth that would do justice to
the days of Aladdin.
Taken from the frozen earth of Alaska
by men who have risked their lives to
obtain this most precious of metals, it
lies peacefully inviting the wonder of the
visitor.
Dozens of gold bricks. larger than paw
ing blocks. lie in the center of the ex-
hibit of wealth. Each one of the bricks
would mean a fortune. Just figure 1t out:
with gold bringing S24 ounce and
brick weighing around $50 pounds. each
one means over $4,000.
Surmounting the whole on a special
rack are five OF the largest nuggets ever
found. The one which occupies the mid
die holds the record for a single piece
of native gold II Is worth nearly $1,000.
The visitor at the exposition instructive
" wonders what would be the sensation
of a man who accidentally ran on to one
of these nuggets. To pick up piece of
pure gold six inches across would cause
the ordinary man to pinch himself to find
If he were awake.
Around the outside of the display is
frame OF gold nuggets in bottles. There
are so many of these bottles full of gold
that no one ever takes the trouble to
count them. The mind is merely stunned
by the wealth
Nicely polished nuggets are also ar
%l,z1 1~..{t ~f< l.
cage Shining brightly in the well light
cd building they make a beautiful dis
play.
It is a matter of interest to watch the
crowds that flock around the cage to
catch glimpse of the metal they all are
striving for. They seen1 to love to get
as close possible to the pile of wealth.
Many man is unconsciously wondering
how he can get that gold out of the pile
into his pocket
The average visitor wonders how
thieves are kept out of this tempting pfie
of wealth. The secret is that no man
could ever get at it, 1t is inclosed by
double cage of strong iron bars in the
day time. At night it is lowered into
vault beneath the floor of the building.
This vault is fitted up with electric wires
charged with 2.00O volts of electricity.
Any hapless man who placed hand on
one of these wires would be eectrocuted
Ill q hundredth Of second
In addition TO this burglar alarms are
in operation in all parts of the safe. The
entrance of any man into that pile OF
wealth wculd mean his instant death and
also would notify the guards OF the build
ing that il was time to come and remove
the body.
This huge exhibit of gold was loaned
for exhibition purposes to the Alaska ex-
libit by the Scandinavian American Bank
of Seattle At first II was the plan to
merely put the gold into an iron cage in
the building, but the bank complained
that this wouli not insure sufficient safe
ty. The electric protection was then In
stalled
The nuggets and gold bricks came from
various camps uf Alaska, chiefly from
Nome. kiondike and Fairbanks. Most of
the metal is placer gold but a considera-
BILE portion is from the quartz mines
which are now turning ont a large share
OF Alaska's gold production.
With many OF the nuggets there are
connected wonderful romances, telling of
poverty. privation, hard work and finally
the strike. The large nuggets on display