Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-12-31
copyright. as1s. by Frank @. Carpenter,

Copyright, 1915 by Frank @. Carpepter.)
NOME, Alaska.
e HAVE just returned from trip
with Jafet Lindeberg through the
III greatest gold mines Of the Seward
q peninsula. These mines belong to
the Pioneer Mining Company, which
was founded by Lindeberg. Brynteson
and Lindbloom, 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 1t runs. The Pho
neer Mining Company was founded
shortly after the discovery. and 1t has
been mining gold almost continuously
since then. 1t now owns about 5000
acres of gold-bearing earth and is cap
italized at S5,000.0 900. When gold was
discovered Lindeberg and his partners
washed out the first dust by hand, melt
ing the frozen earth with hot water.
Today the washing is done with the
finest of mining machinery. Rivers of
water have been carried over the noun
tains to supply the hydraulic giants.
and the gold-bearing earth is forced up
through pipes to height of fifty feet
into sluice boxes. which take out the
gold. Some of the land is phenome-
nally rich. Three hundred acres or
about one-tenth of it will run: so Mr..
Iindeberg tells me. from $4,000 to
100000 of gold to the acre. or in all
from twenty to thirty million dollars
The remaining 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 west
ern end of Alaska. 1t is 1900 miles
from Seattle and only sixty miles from
Asia, across Boring strait. 1t consists
Of body of land 200 miles long and in
places $50 miles wide. 1t 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
produced more than s70,00O.000 worth
try has hardly been scratched DR.. AL
fred Fl. Brooks. the head of the Alaska
division Of the geological survey, has
estimated that there are more than
its gravels. and the probability is that
the total output of minerals will be
equal to fifty times the amount we paid
for Alaska.
not far from this city of Nome. and
for some years men were washing gold
from the sands of the seashore not n
stones throw from where / am writing.
that now, and the country in the rear.
running from here back to the noun
tains. is covered with mines, where
they are now taking out gold. There
Is one large company which has an out
put of million a year, and there are
others that are paying large dividends.
All along the southern coast of the
peninsula. from here to Golofnin bay.
creeks are to be found on the north
ern slopes not far from the Arctic
ocean. In addition to the gold, they
have discovered valuable deposits OF
tin, and they are mining also antimony,
galena and graphite.
The Seward peninsula is n part OF
arctic Alaska. 1t lies right under the Arc
tic circle. and on the north it is washed
underlaid with prehistoric 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
ven Der. 1t has more than six months
of winter. during 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 weekly by dog-sied
from Fairbanks. a distance greater
than from New York to Chicago
Navigation Is open only during the
summer. when two lines of steamers
haye monthly sailingg between Nome
and Seattle, and when there is regular
with interior Alaska by
way OF the Yukon.
There are but few wagon roads on
the peninsula, and the country has
only two little railroads. One of these
10 on the south coast, running from
Nome back to the mountains. The
other 10 not far from the Arctic ocean.