The Alaska citizen. (Fairbanks, Alaska) 1910-1917, 1914-01-19

tlhSN'4 AH4f I4N'i4 anu 'hAtR tA'tii'
notching the logs, and putting moss
between them. Then we started after
moose
In the meantime the river had
been closed by ice for the winter. The
cabin was comfortable. but l wanted
La be on about my business. We
cached our supplies. and. with a sled
load of provisions. set out for Daw-
SON. which was 100 miles distant
The journey was made in two days
over the frozen river. l had 10 cents.
but couldn't spend it Candles were
81 apiece, flour was 500 a sack.
GETS $50 CORD FOR WOOD.
Two men in Dawson owned claims
near the mouth of the Stewart river.
They gave us pound for pound and
item for item according to the in
ventory of our supplies at the cabin.
Freightage was thus saved to them
and to us. Jim and l had plenty to
eat and enough to wear, but no cur
rency. thought l would look around
and find mine. Jim said he would
turn butcher and shoot moose for 81
a pound. So we parted.
Il next formed a conjunction with
| Charley Green of PittsburE. He was
a fine young fellow, but didn't have
any ready money. either. Frenchy the
Devil said he would give us $50 a
cord for wood. Miners used a great
| deal of wood for thaWing the ground
! Charley and l rented an old cabin. a
| bench near the top of the mountain
was covered with trees killed by a
| fire. The trail to the bench was
crooked in one spot but otherwise
good.
we had a strong sled and two
sharp axes. After chopping down a
dozen long poles we tied the butts
to the sled, which we hauled to the
edge of the trail. Charley took hold
of the tongue of the sled. You had
better stay behind. he said and help
hold back the load
THAT won't be necessary I re-
| piled. I'll stay on the bench and cut
another cord of wood
| Il helped drag the sled to the trail
and teeter it over. And away it went.
Charley dug his heels into the ice
leaned backward as far as he could,
| turned his legs in and turned them
out, but the sled kept going faster
| and faster. The trail was narrow and
he couldn't jump aside, but had to
stay where he was or be run over.
| Half way down the mountain the
| trail turned sharply to the left Charley
and the sled hit the curve at forty
miles an hour. The whole outfit went
into a huge snowbank
CHARLEY NEVER SAID A WORD
Then l stopped laughing. I feared
Charley had been killed. Anyway he
was out of sight and I was sure
something terrible had happened. Pres
emily, however, l saw a slight move
ment in the snow The sled I
thought was backing up But it was
Charley He CrawIed out on his hands
and knees, blowing like a whale Aft
er he got on his feet he looked up
the mountain and saw me l had re-
sumed laughing. He shook the snow
out of his sleeves and silently walked
down the trail l waited awhile and
then followed him.
"When l arrived at the cabin he
was frying beans and looking mad as
thunder. He didn't speak to me, and
so ! sat on my bunk, filled my pipe
and began to smoke, After the beans
were fried, Charley slammed them on
the table and sat down to eat. l sat
down, too, but didn't say word
Dinner over, Charley went to his bunk
and lighted his pipe. l went to my
bunk and lighted my pipe. He didn't
want to talk and | felt reluctant about
starting a conversation. Thus we sat
in silence Finishing his smoke in
l.,l ,.I,
stood up, stretched himself and said
Well, it's time to go back to the
bench. It's your turn to bring down
the next load
I'VE soon learned how to get the
wood down without accident, and each
of us made $50 day at the business.
found some mines and sold one
of them for $4,000. At the end of
two years I started for Nome, 2200
miles distant, for a dredge with which
to do mining at Dawson on a large
scale once in Nome, l opened law
office and stayed there. Congress had
passed a law respecting Alaska and
swarm of professional receivers, bonds
men and plunderers came to Nome. ac-
companied by lawyers.
A CELEBRATED MINING CASE.
"A beach at Nome for twenty miles
up and down was being worked by
individual miners. They could dig the
gold out of their little claims and
then go down the line and take up
others. The gang that came in tried
to run them out of the country.
Three companies of United States SOL
diers We're compelled, under the law,
to assist the plunderers Property
rights. you understand, had to be
protected. and the plunderers said they
owned everything.
1.-THE miners consulted me. / told
them to keep at work and to obey
without objection the orders of the
soldiers. They followed my instruc-
lions, and 500 of them were arrested
and confined at the barracks. Then
combed the saloons and asked $50
more of them to surrender. The i'm
prisoned miners had to be fed, you
see, and the soldiers We're compelled
to share their blankets with them at
night
my purpose was to have the army
post eaten out of it's limited supply
of rations. An opportunity was given
the miners to escape, but they stuck
to1,y