The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1917-09-27

what i, once was is a new strike some
where where she will be the Quitting
point This Is forlorn hope that
many cling 10.
! Two and half years ago we'll
equipped outfit went into the unmap-
ped wilds northwest Of Dawson. They
went with supplies for three years.
Nothing has been heard Of them since.
Some figure they must have made a
strike or they would have returned.
but old prospectors, the old "sour
dough" boys shake their heads and
say the expedition is either failure
or the men have persisted.
| talked with an old-timer about it
one night and he said in his 90 years
in British Canada and Alaska he had
never known strike to be hushed.
when they make a strike they
stake, work it for while, then some
Of them come in" said he. 81 never
knew it to fail. They want to start
stampede. They want company,
want the rush TO come and a camp to
follow. OF all the God-forsaken lives
white men ever lived that Of the pros
pector is the worst"
There is hardly building in all
Dawson that sets level. When they
were built they were plumb and
square enough, but they are built on
ice, and the succeeding summers have
heaved them and twisted them until
one would think an earthquake must
have Jared the whole city.
Under a midsummer sun that
works shift Of about 20 hours a day,
vegetation springs up everywhere and
grows wonderfully fast and luxuriant,
and one almost doubts the ice box
stories told of the Klondike. But dig
down three feet and the ground is
frozen solid. 1t has been frozen so for
centuries and it never will thaw out
until the climate of Alaska changes.
And this frozen ground goes down
hundred feet or more--how much
more none know, for none have ever
gone beyond it. For centuries the
terrible cold of winter has frozen it
deeper and deeper until practically
the whole of Alaska is an iceberg-a
great frozen country. Nature evil
IDENTIFY wanted to protect her gold, and
she did very good job.
Almost anywhere along the Yukon
from White Horse to Nome, gold can
be panned from the river bank. 1t
can be PANIED from nearly every can
yon and the banks of nearly every
creek. 1t can be found in sufficient
quantities to make day wages. Gold
seems to be almost everywhere in
Alaska. But places that could and
would be worked to advantage in Cali
fornia or anywhere else are worthless
in Alaska, for the reason that the ex-
pense and hardships are too great.
One might make wages for three
months sluicing on the river, but what
is he going to do the other nine
months? The ground is not rich
enough to pay for the expensive win
ter thawing process, one cannot take
out enough during the three months
to live on the other nine, so while
there is gold almost everywhere and
claims open for anyone, no one wants
them-they are not rich enough for
Alaska.
The day of the gold pan, the sluice
box, the rocker and the windlass and
bucket has said good night. The
future mining in Alaska will be by
hydraulic, quartz mills and dredging,
and the outlook is none too bright for
even these big business propositions
With the exception of Juneau, every
mining proposition have so far seen
or heard about is running out, and the
companies operating them are quitting
them. And no new ones are being de-
veloped
1t is said prospectors have found
what appear to be wonderfully rich
quartz in the mountains north of
Dawson, but no matter how rich the
samples may assay, the claims are
practically worthless.
An old-time miner told me that in
Ogilvie mountains, northeast Of Daw
son, he had some of the richest quartz
claims that ever laid out Of doors. 81
have had many assays made; have
plenty more samples or will take any
man TO the mine and let him pick his
samples" said he. ut is richer than
the Treadwell ever was, he continued,
"Yet it isn't worth a dollar. / could
Mt give anyone my claims if they
had to do the assessment work on
them. When / made the strike
thought at last | had found my luck.
And can't give it away"
The reason Of this is the great ex-