Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-07-28
THE NEW EL DORADO
Great Gold Field Said to Have Been
Discovered In Aiaska--The Mother
Lode Romanoe--An Unusual
Plan to Explore That
Region
BY GEORGE Nox MCCAIN

during the war he was in charge OF the
shipbuildng interests Of the Government In
the Puget Sound district.
He is now a ship owner and manager.
There is not a harbor between Port
Townsend and Point Barrow, in the Far
North, that he doesn't know or hasn't en-
tered.
Millions of gold from the Alaskan placer
diggings and the Guggenheim Syndicate's
dredges have been carried in his ships. :,
That's only a part OF the remarkable
He holds the rank of captain in the
Turkish Navy; In fact. was offered, prior to
the World War, high command by Abdul
Hamid before that sanguinary sovereign was
flung from his throne by the Young Turk
movement.
But the captain declined with thanks.
He comes East every nine months or a
year to visit old friends.
CAPTAIN BLAINE'S last visit was re-
~ called by the current news stories Of
another gold discovery in Alaska that, It is
hinted may rival the Kondike discovery of
1897.
Blaine knows the land and its men better
than he does Huntington or Tyrone or Hol-
lidaysburg.
He has been away from the latter for
almost lifetime
His later years have been spent mixing
It up with the Argonauts Of the great
Northwest. He's really a citizen of the
world.
Some day they'll strike the mother lode
which has given birth to all the placer finds
in the country. and when they do it will be
worth talking about" he said.
The ''mother Lode is the great gold vein
or source.
BY ages of erosion. the wash of waters.
the action OF frost. the rotting Of quartz or
whatever the matrixes may be, particles and
nuggets of the precious metal are released
and swept down the streams to form pockets
of gold on the bedrock.
Now it looks as though the long sought
source, the dream of the old Sourdough, had
I have Travelled down the Yukon with
miners who had spent dozen years along
that river and Its tributaries, and helped
them pan out the shining grains on the
beach at Cape Nome. but l never talked
who didn't have a sublime faith in the uti
mate quest of the "mother lode"
And when it was found, ooh, mamma! -
THERE are some pretty expansive yarns
i coming out of the Northwest about this
new field.
They're far wilder than the stories that
were brought out by the men who landed the
first $3.50, 900 In Seattle in 1897.
Reports of ore carrying a thousand ounces
of gold to the ton is one of the Munchausen
tales.
There are millions in gold yet to be taken
out of Alaska" said Captain Blaine 1.-The
country has been on the decline for years
now. but it is only temporary. When 1t
comes back 1t will be with rush."
THE latest discovery just reported Is on
i the Kuskokwim River.
It is for this reason that ! seriously doubt
that It is the mother lode.
1t Is too far from the scene of the great
discoveries on the klondike.
geographically. the lay of the land would
dispose of the suggestion that the Bonanza
Greek gold came from down the Kusk kokwim
way.
Besides. the mother lode is a theoretical
assumption. The Kuskokwim find may be
another Bonanza Creek find. but far richer.
II must be borne in mind that only little
patches of Alaska have been developed
Hundreds of thousands of square miles of
its territory have never been prospected;
much of 1t has never been seen by white men.
1t may be a second Golconda in wealth
for all the world knows.
DR. GEORGE w. ATHERTON. former
- and well beloved president of State
College. originated brilliant scheme for the
exploration of Alaska.
Ii was never, so far as | know, brought
to the attention of the Government.
Even now. were II not for the matter Of
financing it. the idea would be available.
DR.. Atherton's plan was to divide our
great Northeast Territory into sections or
divisions. so many square miles in area.
Invitations were then to be sent to every
college of any standing and every technical
school or institution to select and organize
a scientific staff, among the faculty and
senior undergraduates. to be placed ut the
disposal of the Government-rather, the
| Department of the Interior.
An inspection of each unit was then to
be made, and on the basis of fitness these
unitsS were to be assigned to the various
areas into which Alaska had been sub
divided for exploration ana investigation.
Each college staff was to be outftted with
| all necessary scientific and physical appli-
| ances. food. transportation and clothing,
by the Government.
Binding agreement would hold each COL
lege party to their work. with waiver of
indemnity for injury, loss of life or dis
| ability.
In this way, DR.. Atherton claimed within
| five years the topography and resources of
practically every square mile of Alaskan
| territory would he known and mapped from
| the British boundary to the shores of the
| Arctic.
Il II. HARTMAN had the same idea
| IL. Possibly DR.. Atheron may have com.
muncatcd his thought to the great capitalist.
| first heard the president of State College
expound his view at private dinner at
! Governors guests.
In May, 1890. announcement was made
from Portland. Ore, that a large party Of
eminent scientists mostly from leading edu-
! cational institutions of the country. would
leave that city for an exploring expedition
| through Alaska.
Convincingly put the story told how
| "nearly every institution of learning of
| prominence in America will have one or
| more representatives in the party"
| | never hcl rd the outcome of the venture
! saw evidence of it. | fancy, two years
later in the shallow water Of Hunker Creek,
| in the Klondike region.
The first big gold dredge, owned and op-
Grated by the Guggenheim Syndicate. had
| just begun operations.
1t was scooping out the sand and gravel
and washing out the gold on the most elab-
crate plan that, up to that time, had ever
| been tried in the region
The new gold field on the Kuskokwi0.
| according to the meager reports coming out
| Is further from st. Michael, the Yukon
depot for the Klondike field, and more diff