The Alaska sourdough., 1911-09-15
THE HOUSE OF BEER BOTTLES

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 It was cold January morning in Nome during the winter of 190O-1901 that the Ornery and Worthless Men of the World were conceived by bunch of as fine lot of prospectors as ever was in any vanguard of mining camp boom. Shortly after the hegira that swept down on the tun- dra bordering on Boring sea, in the spring of 1900, Billy Mizener conce- ived the forming of this immortal club and he nominated Pete Chambers, deputy United States marshal, for president; Jeff Mutt for secretary, and Mizener was elected walking delegate of the order, with jurisdiction from the Kuskoquim to Valdez, Alaska. A constitution was promulgated and ev- cry Sourdough prospector should go in to the uniformed ranks of the order, while the Chechako prospector was simply elected as plain charter mem Der. A Sourdough is one who has spent one or more winters on the Yu- kon, while the Chechako is the prospec. tor who is new conner to the terri tory, but with noodle full of string CTS, infiltration and contacts.
 In July 1900, stampede was on to Candle creek, and. every tenderfoot in Nome was bent on stalking prospec- tor. The grubstake lawyer was busy night and day on these grubstake con- tracts. It was a custom for prospec- tors of the uniformed rank of our or der to show placer gold and splendid quartz specimens to the get-rich-quick population that was strung along the beach at Nome. Thousands of dollars were dealt out by this population with lavish hand to the prospectors who knew where there was a mountain of gold covered with quartz, while ano- ther, just returned from creek that went three shovels to the pan, got even bigger returns.
 As secretary of the order I was sought for advice by those who had staked prospectors and the really fun niest case was that of the colored DOT ter in Joe Jordan $ saloon. This DOT ter had one of those angel prospectors out who had told him of the wonder f,,1 hot the eruptive rocks had fused the coun- try rock and that secondary enrich ment had set in as a result of the cro- sion, etc., until the porter could act ually see pure gold falling out of the rock-ribbed vein.
 There is no use taking up the time of the reader to explain that this DOT ter promptly drew his salary two weeks ahead and sent this prospector out to the new Eldorado. There is a road house on the Nome river about five miles up the Boring sea from Nome on the main sled rode to Candle creek Now, a road house is a caravansary where booze, the Alacka brew of whiskey, is sold to thirsty and tired prospectors.
 It is no use in this little story to detail to the reader that the prospector the porter sent out never got farther than this caravansary on his road to Candle Creek In about the time it would have taken dog team to make Candle creek and a letter could be re- turned from the new diggings, the prospector wrote an Aladdin story of the richness of the claims he had just discovered and that he had struck it rich. Every pan of dirt went $2o in gold. He had located six claims in the richest places on the creek, he wrote The letter ended requesting the porter to send $40 more. This letter was given to an incoming dog team at the road house above mentioned. The | 1,s.