The daily Alaska citizen., 1920-01-16
SPANN GIVES THE H0MEFOLKS A
 THRILL IN DESCRIBING EVENTS
 OF HIS ALASKAN h1ININC CAREER
tSt. Louis Globe-DespatchD

tSt Louis Globe Despatch)
 Charles Spann, a real "sourdough" from the Klondike, with his face scanned and reddened by 22 years of continuous Arctic weather. but hale and vigorous at 54 years, stopped in at the Post-Dispatch yesterday to see how il had changed since he last visited it 25 years ago, and incl dentally told tale of adventure in the gold fields that makes some of the frontier fiction look pallid and stale.
 He has been snowbound, eaten raw dog meat, worked for a grub stake struck 1t rich, been cheated ouc of everything struck it rich again fought a rife battle with claim jump CTS, smashed a bank that tried to law" him out of his claim and all the rest of 1t. At present he Is visit ing his brother-in-law, Porter Jones of Kirkwood, but he is going back to Alaska in March
 Spann was born over in Venice, III. and lived there until he ran away from home at the age of IS. He knocked around the country until In 1896 he found himself In Walla Walla Wash, working as a railroad me- Chanic
 Had Dead Mans Map.
 "One of my best pals" he said, was Burt Coile. a train dispatcher. His dad was an old timers from the Klondike One day an old prospec- tor was hauled into hospital in Walla Walla ready to cash in Be fore he died he sent for Burt's dad and gave him map of a claim in the Omenika country, up in British i Columbia He said he hit 1t rich | down there, but got sick on canned meat and had to come out. He told l Burt's dad he could have the claim.
 Well. none of us knew anything about prospecting. but 1t looked good to us, so Burt and myself and an, other fellow got 2 ponies and a stake and lit out on the 1500-mile ! overland trail in June of 'es
 we couldn't make 1t thru Forest fires turned us off from the Omenika country. and we decided to push on for the Klondike A blizzard caught us and all but one of the ponies died We had to leave most of the grub behind. We shot porcupines and ate the meat raw, and both my partners got meat fever We made 1t to a sediment, and left them there and pushed on got there"
 Made Strike in 1908.
 Spann sketched rapidly over the viclssitudes which marked his search for gold up to 1905. when he made strike on Dome creek He sank shaft more than 100 feet deep tc bed rock
 There's where I began taking out money" he said My partner and me took out S4 1000 In two weeks. and we were just getting started when the bank tied us up with an injunction It seems the bank claimed some sor, of title on our claim. We busted the injunction and in three weeks we took out s38,o more and they tied us up again.
 Then the lawyers and the judges began squabbling over 1t and took to the hills and left 1t with my law yer I made a little strike now and then and came back to pay 1t to my lawyer
 Well sonny. 1t took just IF years for the judges to figure out that we was entitled to our claim. Then we went back to work the hole. and what do you reckon we Younde The damn thieves had sunk a hole on the next claim, tunneled under up and took about s35o.ooo out of there.
 Fought Claim Jumpers.
 My pal. Caribou Bir Dietering, and me still had a little fraction of claim right near there, and we started sinking a hole on It. The second day We seen Is gunmen mo- seyin' around and Bill and me got our rifles and went down to where our men was diggin'. Jack Ridenor was the chief gunman
 Where you and Bill a-goine to-" he says to me and Bill; and I says: Why, jest down the creek ways. l to see If we could scare up a rab- bit says slippin' a soft-nose shell into my gun.
 Well. I wish you luck he says, and turned to go
 "1 drawed a bead on another one of them and told them to put up their hands. When I done that, Ridenour reached for his gun. and Caribou let him have it, right under the arm. He dropped him, and the rest of them run.
 "Tha IT c Maroha, oor,o ,,1 tha~