The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1913-07-24

period In the lifetime Of the city Of Sc
attic. There were indications that tn
long continued period Of depression
was to be broken. but all that was seel
locally In that direction was the rathe
more cheerful tone or business men
following upon the election Of McKin
ley and the certainty that tariff re
vision would be undertaken as soon Al
congress could be called In special SEES
sion. The lot OF the local newspaprl
men at the time was not happy one
Those who could secure and retalr
regular employment were under sal.
aries about on The level with those en-
Joyed now by the street cleaning gangf
Of the city. This was not the fault, but
The misfortune of the newspaper own
ers, for It Is doubtful whether there
was a newspaper In the city which
was making even the slenderest margin
over operating expenses. low as the
level Of those expenses was kept.
Humors Of Strike Drift In.
During the winter there came rumore
out OF the north that there had been !,
strike OF extraordinary richness made
somewhere on the Yukon. where sew
eral hundred miners had been working
for many years, making good wages.
hut uncovering no great riches. These
stories came by way Of juneau ans
Dyea, which were IN irregular COM
munication with the Yukon country,
even during the winter, by the occa-
sional coming out over the winter trail
by the river the lakes and Chilkoot
pass. Of some miner for supplies.
Before the Ice went out In the spring
SO that steamers from the outside could
reach ST. Michael, the entreport Of the
Yukon, whence river boats took pas
sengers into the older mining camps,
these rumors became certainties Cir
cumstantial stories came out to the ef-
feet that on August IL George Carmark
and his Indian associates had made a
rich discovery on the moose pastures
Of the Klondike. The stories had
reached the established camps IL
For'y-Mile and Circle, but were passed
up as fakes until they were fully con-
flrmed In December when an exodus
took place which practically depopu-
lated the older camps.
Stories Tax CrcduIity..
Before the spring fairly opened one
or two men. who had worked in the
new camp, came out over the trails
and reached Seattle. carrying with
them considerable amounts of gold
from the new discoveries The stories
which they told taxed the credullty Of
the listening hewspapermen. but tho
pokes Of gold which they had bore wit
ness that they were true, at least In
part The arrival Of the first steam-
ships from the north was eagerly
awaited.
While most Of the newspaper men
were In receipt Of but slender salaries.
Zach one of them had sought to sup
plement this by furnishing news stor- !
es for newspapers elsewhere 1t was |
slender picking. and the man was in
uck who succeeded in planting" d
story with some newspaper on his I
string" once or twice week. But
whatever he got this way was like /
money from home, so none of them
reelected the interests Of the outside
,apers.
Couldn't Sell the Stories,
Naturally, as these stories came out
rom the Klondlke, each newspap per
nan who was acting as correspondent.
or newspapers in other cities. sought
interest those newspapers In the
reat discoveries In the northwestcrn i
arritofy but without success. They
'ould query, offering stories about mi $
ers thawing fortunes out of the t
round, and washing out hundreds of 9
ollars worth Of gold with melted snow t
at no news editor OF any paper, save
lose of the Pacific coast, could sec n
nything in them which he considered I
sufficient interest to pay telegraph q
Ills on. s.
On July IA the steamer Excelsior ar Il
we'd In San Francisco, bringing out n
imber of miners who had been first e
on the great discovery, who had n
ade small fortunes in few weeks. c.
ID who had come out in order to get Il
pplies and machinery for commence n
z work on a large scale No atten- "
m was paid elsewhere than in San "
and Seattle to the stories
ey told, and the news sent East was
eager and perfpnctory. 1t seemed
possible to interest Eastern people "
the greatest gold discovery REGARDED ~
ice the time of the opening Of the OF
'stralian placers.
Portland Brings $4,000. u
On July 16, two days after the ar
al of the Excelsior In San Fran &c
co. the steamer Portland arrived in ia
attic, having as passengers ss miners 9" o..
m the Klondike. all on their way "a
to secure supplies. They had gone ~
wn the Yukon on the steamers p. ~
Weare and Alice, and had taken "s
sage on the Portland at St Michael ~
9 stories that these men told con- ne
ned everything that had been said
nut the wonderful richness Of the
Y discovery. Moreover. they had mi
of In the most tangible form for wa
steamer Portland had on board co,