The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-12-28
TERRIFIC STORM
CHURNS Up GREAT j.,
TREASURE AT NOM
Ocean in a Rage Piles Up|
Huge Bank of Gold
Bearing Sand

In October terrific storm and tidalv
wave nearly destroyed the town oil
Nome, on the edge of Behring sea.
Fire aided the waves in the work of de-
struction. Apparently the town. which.
in the days of its glory held 10000 per-
sons, but which since the beach Dig
gings began to give out in 1910, had
dwindled to an all-year-round popu-
iation of one-tenth that number, had
received a blow. from which 1t would
never recover, says the New York
World
But Representative Albert Johnson.
whose constituents in the state of
Washington have big interests there,
declares the tidal wave and storm is
the best thing that has happened to
Nome since the date in 1898 when a.
stray prospector found gold on the
desolate beach.
"That storm" said he to World
reporter on his way through New
York to Washington from a spellbind-
ing tour in New England. "has driven
the beach inland four miles Now do
you see what it means? Nearly all
the gold that has come out of Name
was washed out of the beach. The
beaches We're panned out or nearly so
and the town began to go back.
"All the gold was not above low
water mark. 1t extended Some distance
out to sea, as far out as dredses could
work with safety, so wealthy men
have been getting gold with the aid
of such powerful machines as are used
on some of the creeks in Alaska. That
is rich mans method of mining.
but now with the beach driven In
land four miles, the gold that lay in
deep water is undoubtedly in the sands
of the new beach, and-well, Nome will
be itself again.
you just wait until spring comes,
when it Is possible to get into Nome,
and. you will see the greatest rush ever.
OF course, those that are in Nome now
will have the first chances at the best
claims, but that won't deter thousands
from making the trip the first moment
any shipmaster is willing to take his
chances of taking his vessel through the
Arctic ice.
why just now there are thousands
of old I<londike and Nome miners as
we'll as many more thousands who never
saw either camp, scrimping and saving
to get stake to go In and try their
luck. They believe there are as many
millions If not more to be had there now
than there was In the old, glad days,
and each wants to get his share.
1T WILL unless all signs fail, be one
of the greatest rushes north the gold
fields of Alaska have ever SEEM
Nome was a speck on the map until
1898. Then tramp prospector stumbled
upon its rich beach. The spring of 1899
saw considerable number of miners
In the new camp But it was not until
the next year that the great rush began.
That season there were 10000 persons
in the town, and in the 10 years that fol-
lowed the mining part of the population
added $40000,000 to the worlds share of
gold 1t became a town rather than
camp, with churches. schools, mimi
cipal government, banks. telephone sys-
tenn, electric light plant fire and water
age.
1t had but two streets, both parallel
to the beach, the first of which-Front
street-was lined with some rather pre-
tentious stores, the other being given Up
to residences. 1t had an ample supply II
saloons, and at one time II was estimated
that no fewer than 800 gamblers made
their living at their trades there.