Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-02-09
NOME MERCHANT Tells
OF PROVISION PROBLEM
Shippers to Alaska Have Solved the
Proposition of Keeping Eggs
And Potatoes Fresh.

1--WE threw away whole carloads OF
eggs and carloads of potatoes during |
our first experimental years in Nome,
said J. F. Plein of Nome. Alaska, nov
at the Kenyon. but 1t was because We |
didn't then know how to take care OF
them.
"When we first went into the |
Alaskan region VIC had a lot to learn.
The losses we sustained through our
Ignorance were sometimes appalling
For instance, / remember whole car
loads of eggs, whole carloads OF pota-
toes and other peI1shable vegetables
and produce spoiled on our hands and
we were compelled to dump them III
tho river 1t was at times when we
needed them badly, too. Since then we
have grown wiser. Now we can Keep
potatoes n year or more; eggs an equhl
length OF time and they VIII come 10
our tables almost as fresh as when
taken from the field. or picked out OF
the nest.
"The potatoes arc kept in an abso-
lutely dry, even temperature just above
the freezing point. In this state they
never sprout, and will keep fresh and
wholesome at least a year and halr.
and | believe much longer, though L
have not carried them over that length
of time. Eggs kept In a cool, dry
year and a half. But these eggs must
come to us absolutely fresh, and they
should be laid in March or April. July
and August laid eggs won't stand tho
test The eggs that come to US frorn
reliable shippers in tho first boats In
the spring are the ones we store, and
With propet handling they may be pre-
served alresost indefinitely. We had
mnny new conditions to cope with In
our first yHars in the extreme north,
but most ct our difficulties have been
overcome. and are no longer looked
upon as obGtacles-
Eyes during our short summer we
raise somc. OF the small FRUITS ana
quick growing vegetables. Lettuce,
radishes. turnips, and In a few places
potatoes and cabbage are successfully
grown Over at Hot Springs, near
Nome. they grow many of these things.
"The thermometer often gets down to
As below in winter. but 1t Is a clear, dry
cold and we soon get used to 1t In
summer we have some warm days. The
mercury ranges about S6 to S8 on the
warmest days. a blanket of snow
covers the ground from the first Of
November until the first of June, dur
Ing which time we never see the Garth
In the valleys the snow Is from four
to six feet deep.
my wife and 1 left Nome Oct. rs.
visiting In various parts of the United
States, and / am now on my way to
San Francisco where 1 have been CALL
ed unexpectedly to look after some de-
| tails in the construction of the big 400
| ton dredge I am having built there to
| order for gold mining on our ground
| three miles from Nome. We Will re-
| turn to Nome on the first boat. some
| time in juno. The only time to get In
| there is from juno to the latter part
| of October; the balance OF the year
| the country is in the grasp of the
| frost king.
MONIES winter population is about
\ 5000; in summer the population will
reach 1000. You see what an exodus
there is every fall for the Unitetl
| States. But for 10 years Mrs Plein
and l stayed there winter and summer
and this Is our first trip out. We like
1t down here. but are anxious to get
back to enjoy the rigors of old Nome.
"Some of the Nome placer mines
have been operated for seven years
steadily. and still they continue to give
up their wonderful riches. The dirt
everywhere shows more or less gold
in minute particles. OF recent years
some of the miners have been turning
their attention to the quartz ledSes
which are no doubt tho source, oil
mother Iodes that have precipitatec
their much-sought gold into the river
beds below This quartz mining, al
though new to most parts or Alaska
is proving profitable. and from now OF
viii claim a great deal more attention
''Now I'll tell you about prices on thu
common necessaries up there, 1 bu!
everything wholesale and those are tn
prices l quote you. My eggs cost M
S14 a case, a little less than 80 cent!
a dozen. When We came down from
Nome last fall eggs. retail. were selling
at Seattle for 60 cents: Flour is $S.5
n hundred: potatoes $3.50 a hundre'
pounds; sugar $3.50 n hundred: nea
81 cents a pound: hay and grain Ii
the last three years has ranged aroun
sl7 a ton: coal s17.25 a ton. and every
thing else in proportion. So you sc
prices arc not so bad UP there as the
used TO be, but OF course the retai
prices are much higher than the fore
| going"