The Oskaloosa herald., 1913-02-27
NO PLACE FOR POOR
Mining at Dawson Available Only
to Men With Big Capital.
Pioneer Says There Are Sections Of
tbs Yukon That Have Not Vet
Been Scratched by
Prospectors.

New York.-Heury Pinkiert, who
used 10 be merchant in San Fran
cisco and went to the Klondike in
1897. and has been in business in OF
around Dawson City ever since, ar,
rived recently at the Breslin. He says
there are no mining opportunities in
the immediate neighborhood OF Daw.
son, except for men and companies
eith big capital
Dawson is not growing said Mr.
Pinkiert In the early days there
were all kinds of mining right there
on the ground for the individual, but
now, for radius OF about so miles
around the town, the territory is so
.orked out that only big corporations
can make money working It, and these
have taken up a great deal of the
land. The biggest operations in the
neighborhood are being carried on by
South African company. which owns
or practically controls all the claims
within that 50mile radius that the
Guggenheims do not control. -.
In the days OF the gold rush man
would stake his claim, which would
run 500 feet. The moment he got
that worked down to low grade he
was up against a proposition that re-
quired dredges and hydraulic ma
chinery to work on profitable basis.
The majority of small claimholders
sold out, and some gave options. A
few are still holding out for their
prices. The government gives man
the right to hold his claim so long as
5000 worth OF work is done on II in a
year. ..... ......... r....
But the situation at Dawson does
NOT end the Klondike for the prospec-
tor by any means. ! should say that
part OF Yukon territory is still in its
infancy as gold producer, in spite
OF the millions that have been taken
out. The great difficulty has been
getting into the interior. Small boats
go up the streams now for hundreds OF
miles. but still there are regions prac
tically unprospected. In. the past few
years. the Canadian government has
helped transportation by subsidizing
these craft, and this makes it possible
for miners to carry up their grub in
the fall and continue their work In
the winter In my opinion. one OF
these days We shall hear OF discoveries
up there that will make the Klondike
finds seem insignificant. From Daw-
son to White Horse IL Is 40 miles and
there are numerous regions on both
sides OF the way that never have been
prospected. -.... E..
we lost lot of prospectors eight
or nine years ago. They went over
the border into Alaska, where they
seem to have done well. These includ-
cd some OF the best OF our prospectors.
Still about $50 men are working on
Scrogg's creek this winter They
take out the frozen soil by thawing
with steam and using picksxes. pile It
up and then put it in the sluice boxes
for washing in summer.
.'Dredges are now working longer in
the neighborhood OF Dawson than
used to be possible. or course, you
cannot work dredge In winter unless
you boil the water about II to keep It
from freezing. The dredge has 10 be
turned around in order to be used.
Before they got to doing this a dredge
could not start to work until June 10,
and il had to shut down in September.
Now II can begin work May and
continue until the end Of the year.
Commercially, there is nothing do
ing In Dawson. Still, the business peo-
ple there are in fine condition.
The dance hall element and all the
undesirable part of the former populs.
ton of Dawson have been weeded
out" added Mr.. Pinkiert, and today
the town is as clean as any In the