Iditarod pioneer., 1915-12-11
KOYUKUKER EMULATES
 DEATH VALLEY SCOTT
(F airbanks Times

That Death Valley, in producing the famous "Scotty," never had anything on the Koyukuk district of Alaska Is evident from an article appearing in Portland, Ore, paper, under date of September ?, in which it tells of the troub4e Jim Kelly has in dis posing of the enormous wealth which he amassed on Hammond river. To all Fair banksans who know Mir Kelly, and to lis CIu friends in the koyukLk and there are many of them the article appearing Tn the Outside paper will be of interest. The head ! ing of the story Is spending Money Is Hard Task for Miner Making s5,00O Day, and the item reads:
 Tt always makes Jim Kelly blush with embarrassment to pay less than $l for any thing he buys.
 "Jim digs gold farther north than any other miner in the world, and he picks up enough metal every morning before break fast to keep an average family in clover for a year
 He is getting steadily richer at the rate of S3,OOO a day, through his Three Above claim on Hammond river, 200 miles lnslde the Alaskan Arctic circle.
 "'1his chicken feed said Kelly, lingllng handful of quarters, dimes and half dollars, makes lie nervous. l hate to look 9 man in the eye while I'm giving 1t to him. Get ting rid of 1t is the hardest thing we done for many moon.'
 "By way of contrast he drew a moosehide poke from his hip pocket. It was stuffed with nuggets that would make even sour dough's' eyes water Jumps of raw yellow stuff as big as spaTrOwS eggs.
 "'During the last twenty days be- fore I left home he said, took 5000 out of Three Above, and not one nugget was small enough to buy good drag oi hootch at Coldfoot the nearest camp
 That was Jim kellys notion of some thing to mourn about.
 He had just breezed in from the far North, the first time Out in twenty years. He had made VOW when he went to Alaska in the first big stampede that he would not return until he had made stake With $500 GOO salted away, he thinks he has a fair start
 First thing I did, conhded Jim, was to eat my fill of corn on the cob. And sure made that walters eyes bulge at the amount I ordered That's something all my gold could not buy on Hammond river and was almost desperate for a taste ot It.
 "A year ago Jim Kelly was poor. His worldly goods consisted of pinch Of flour and hunk of bacon, strapped on husky's back. He was one of the 1900 stampeders who raced up the Koyukuk at a magic word, Over HOO turned back at Coldfoot, but Kelly kept going
 To-day Jim Kelly has 'wad' because he has never had case of cold feet
 'Coldfoot, where the big bunch turned back he explained is rather strenuous sort of place Within my recollection twenty three men have died in that camp, and only one died in bed, of natural causes.
 I've have no written law there. If a man gets in bad-robs cache or rifles q sluicebox-the boys get together and talk it over quiet like. Usually they decide to send him down the river.
 "It's 900 miles from Coldfoot to Nome, through a bad country. It's not easy tray cling on a raft. But the boys believe Tn giving even a thief chance. They chip m and buy him months grub, put him on a raft, see him on his way, and express the hope that he may never care to come to Coldfoot again. It's all done very quiet like
 "'Sometimes these offenders turn up at Nome-sometimes they don't. Anyway, it's better than jailng or killing them "Jim Kelly tapped his walking stick with his gloves. Come on,' he invited; I want to get rid of some more of this chicken feed ,"