Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1916-12-31


the three lucky Swedes, who made the first
discovery at Anvil creek, near Nome Since
then more than 100000 worth of gold has
been taken out Of that creek, and tens Of
millions have come from the coastal plain
through which it runs. The Pioneer Mining
company was founded shortly after the dis
covery, and it has been mining gold almost
continuously since then. 1t now owns about
5000 acres Of gold-bearing earth and is cap
italized at $5,OOO,OO0, When gold was dis
covered Lindeberg and his partners washed
out the first dust by hand, melting the froz-
en- earth with hot water. Today the wash
ing is done with the finest Of mining machn-
cry. Rivers of water have been carried over
the mountins to supply the hydraulic giants,
and the god-bearing earth is forced up
through pipes to height OF 50 feet into
sluce boxes, which take out the gold. Some
Of the land is phenomenally rich. Three
hundred acres or about one-tenth Of it will
run, SO Mr.. Lindeberg tells me, from $4,000
TO 100000 Of gold to the acre, or in all from
twenty to thirty million dollars. The re-
naming 200 acres carry more or less gold,
and the company has enough work in sight
to keep it busy for generations to come.
But, before describe my trip through the
mines let me tell you something about the
great gold regions of the Seward peninsula,
in which they are located. This peninsula
is the Golden Horn of the North American
continent 1t forms the extreme western end
of Alaska. 1t is 200 miles from Seattle and
only 90 miles from Asia, across Boring
strait 1t consists of body of land 200
miles long and in places $50 miles wide. It
is twice as big as Maryland and half the size
of Ohio, and great part of it is peppered
with gold The district has already pro-
duced more than $7OOOO,OOO worth of gold
dust and nuggets and the country has hardly
been scratched. DR. Alfred II. Brooks, the
head Of the Alaska division of the geological
survey, has estimated that there is more
than S30O,O00,O0O worth of gold mixed with
its gravels, and the probability is that the
total output Of minerals will be equal to so
times the amount we paid for Alaska.
Theft rich gold finds were made not
for from this city OF Nome, and for some
years men were washing gold from the
sands OF the seashore, not a stones throw
from where | am writing. You can make
good wages by doing that now, and the
country in the rear, running from here back
TO the mountains, is covered with mines,
where they are now taking out gold. There
is one large company which has an output
Of a million year, and there are others tina.
are paying large dividends. All along the
southern coast Of the peninsula, from here
TO Golofnin bay, they are mining gold, and
rich gold creeks are to be found on the
northern slopes not far from the Arctic
ocean. In addition to the gold they have
discovered valuable deposits of tin, and they
are mining also anthony, galena and gra-
phite
The Seward peninsula is a part of arctic
Alaska. 1t lies right under the Arctic circle,
and on the north it is washed by the Arctic
ocean. The country is underlaid with pre-
historic ice, and the most of the gold has to
be thawed out OF gravel that has been locked
in ice for thousands OF years. The peninsula
is ice-bound except from June to November.
1t has more than six months OF winter, dur
ing which the ocean is frozen far out from
land and the smaller streams freeze to the
bottom. The thermometer goes down at
times to fifty and even more degrees below
zero. The country is covered with snow and
the only means of travel is by foot or with
sleds drawn by dogs. The mails come week
ly by dog-sled from Fairbanks, distanc.
greater than from New York to Chicago.
Navigation is open only during the sum-
mer, when two lines of steamers have
monthly sailings between Nome and Seat
tie. and when there is regular communica-