Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1910-09-02

. s--Hydraullc Mining in the Yukon.
culiar difficulties The ground being
frozen solid. 1t had to be thawed ont
by huge fires before the dirt could bd
e&cavated. and this was the work that
could be done during the long and SCI
we're winter. The actual extraction
OF the gold by washing was only possil
Die during the three summer monthsl
When the gold fields of California
were discovered and the stories OF
their unlimited wealth heralded
throughout the world, there was a WILD
and woolly rush to the shores of the
Pacific. In those days 1t was almost
an impo2sibility to get the worst of d
venture to its coast, Starvation was
almost out of the question, save in thd
northern and mountainous districtsi
and a comfortable bed could always
be found on the hillside of the land
OF eternal summer There were no
huge Ice and snow fields practically
destitute of bird and beast On the
contrary, there were streams full of
fish, anxious to be caught, and for
ests Inhabited BY flocks of BIRDS that
have since acquired regulations for
high prices in city eating houses!
Again the argonauts of California and
Nevada were almost exclusively hard
headed, painstaking and sober-minded
men, who were willing to brave hard1
ships and priyations providing they uR
timately obtained independence.
Frozen Up IN Winter.
The Yukon river is absolutely closed
to travel save during the summer
months, In the winter the frost king
asserts his dominion and locks m ali
approaches with impenetrabe ice, and
the SUNNI er is of the briefest. II enI
dures only for ten or twelve weeks
from about the middle of June to thd
early part of September Then an uni
ending panorama of extraordinary
picturesqueness is unfolded to thd
voyager The banks are fringed with
flowers, carpeted with the allpert
yading moss or tundra Birds count,
less in numbers and OF infinite val
riety Of plumage sing out q weIcomd
from every tree top. Pitch your tend
where you will In midsummer, a bed
Of roses, a clump OF peoples and a
bunch Of blue bells will adorn youI
camping. But high above this paral
disc Of almost tropical exuberancd
giant glaciers sleep in the summit Of
the mountain wall, which rises uu
from a bed Of roses. BY September
everything Is changed The bed OF
roses has disappeared before the lev
breath Of the winter king. which sends
the thermometer down to 80 degrees
below freezing point The birds nv
to the southland, the white man In
his cabin. the Indian to his hut and
the bear to his sleeping cham Der In
the mountains Every stream be,
comes a sheet Of ice. mountain and
valley alike are covered with snow.
The kIondke Today.
From ] 800 the production gradually
diminished as the crude methods Of
the individual miner became Intellectual
with the exhaustion Of the richest
areas on the Bonanza and Eldorada
creeks which between them have
yielded over $50, 10000 In 1907 tho
output had dropped TO $4,000. 900 and
for the following year # was even
smaller, but this did not mean that
the gold field was worked out. Tho
act was that placer mining had given
way to hydraulic and dredging "prapi
ositions" In the hands Of wealthy corn,
panies, and the vast areas acquired by
them were unproductive pendlD1
equipment for operations On largi
scale with modern appliances Work
IS now IN full swing, and every gcran
Of earth in the auriferOus creeks
right down to bed rocks now beIna
pat through the dredging machlDaf
and washed for gold. the dredges
blowing its way steadily from one end
% the valley TO the other, while thu
hydraulic machinery deals with thd
soil on the hill sides Science. indeed
has swept away the romantic side Of
g-ldmining IN the Yukon, but through
its agency me territory is entering on
a fresh period Of prosperity, which
II. ay yet rival the heydeY Of it's glort
Gus past