The Alaska daily empire., 1913-08-20
WALTER SODERBERG WARNS
PEOPLE AGAINST SHUSHANA
90
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MANY of them decided to go i'm any
how. They had their outfits, their
business arrangements were complete
so they would not be missed if they
stayed away for the time they had
planned, many of them were afraid to
return home without going in because
they feared that they would be held
I'D be cutters, and, then, the reports
all agreed that game was plentiful and
hunting excellent.
More than So or 20 came back with
us on the Northwestern, some stopping
at Juneau, some going on to Skagway
aud others proceeding to Seattle.
Il made the trip around with the
ship to Seward, and on my arrival at
Cordova again, interviewed people that
! have known i'm Alaska for years who
had been on the ground at Shushana
and who had tested it. They all agreed
that the country has been overlooked
and that there is absolutely nothing
there TO warrant the hope that there
Will ever be a big mining camp.
Eye Witness Tells All Abuot 1t.
zone of those ! talked with was G.
+. Johnson, of Valdez, man about IS
years of age and a competent miner
and prospector of Alaska and one
who had participated in the Dawson,
Nome. Fairbanks and lditarOd STAN
pedes Mr.. Johnson said: ! left for
the Shushana about July 21st in com
pany with James Mcconnell, formerly
of Nome, Dawson and Fairbanks,
Thomas Lynch, of Seattle, and John
Hartberg. All of us are prospectors
and miners. We had a good big out
ft such as four good horses could
pack heavily loaded. 1t took us a lit
tie over seven days to make the trip
i'm to the James Discovery claim and
Carl Wittmans claim adjoining it. |
am personally acquainted with Mr.. Mel
son. one of the owners of the James
claim and up TO this time, through his
friendship. was shown every courtesy,
including access to his property.
we spent ten days in Shushana and
saw all the creeks upon which any
work had been done. We prospected
on all the creeks within a radius Of
seven or eight miles of the discovery
claim, finding nothing except in the
James claim and the Whitman proper
" adjoining. These two claims are
the only ones upon which has been
found enough to warrant trying to use
a worker. and i'm talking with the
owners of these. James, Nelson and
Whitman, all said that they did not
sre anything to Justify any stampede
Only Two Claims Working.
" On the James claim the pay streak
is being worked IS feet wide at an
average depth of two feet to bed rock.
SO far it hos been worked - feet.
along the paystreak, and has produced
not over $1,000. At the upper end of
their work the ground was getting
much poorer as they worked up the
creek. There was no fine gold.
This creek is i'm a sort of canyon
which is about 100 feet wide The
ground has run about 800 pc p hours
to the shovel. From a picked pan right
on the bed rock l secured SIPS.
about 500 feet above the James
work Carl Whitman has a set up of
three boxes and his ground runs not
over SIS to the shovel There is bare
~ one sluice head of water in this
.ereek, and on both the James and
Whitman claims there are all told sew
on men working and there is not any
more work i'm sight that what they can
do with this crew. Mr.. Whitman said
II me that as far as his claim was
concerned he considered it but "a
grubstake claim"
Mr. Wylie is working on Wilson
creek with or men, but has no pay
yet.
FLETCHER T. Hamshaw is crosscut- |
ting Lower Bonanza creek with 4 or
men and paying S. a day and board
or $3.50 and board yourself He had
found nothing up to time | left-Aug.
Sth.
'Eldorado creek is seven miles
long and about 100 feet wide This
is where the James and Whitman
claims are located.
johnson creek is y miles long
and from four to five hundred feet
wide. These and all the other creeks
saw were staked and some claims
staked two or three times over.
We went in there prepared to take
lay and do some work, but did not
see anything worth while as the re-
suit of ten days prospecting, and we
did not stake anything.
4 do not consider the camp as good |
as was Slate creek and as there is no
work to be had in there and no mines |
in sight, | predict that practically ev.I
cry man going i'm will return within |
40 days. According to Mr.. Whitman, |
who had been in the country about
seven years, the frceZe-up comes /
about September 25th each year
Stampede Should Be Stopped.
Something should be done at once /
to get the news broadcast that will /
stop the rush to the Shushana. | am
thoroughly convinced that it is a fake |
boom. The government will have to |
assist many of those that are now in |
the country. There is no ground for /
the stampeders, and the opportunities /
to secure employment on the coast out |
at the Westward or in the Interior do |
not exist except to a very limited ex-
tent | believe there will be a great |
deal of hardship and suffering en-
dured before this thing is ended. The |
trip is a~hard one, and the snow and |
cold come early in the season"
Lorentzen Says Stay Away
Fl. ]. LorentZen, formerly with H. |
J. Raymond company, says that the
best information he received, and he |
went as far as Mccarthy, is that the |
stampede is absolutely unwarranted |
He saws "StaV aWay"