The Daily Alaska empire., 1949-10-26
Truman Signs BM Boosting Minimum Wagt
Female Influence at Gold
 Camp: Coffee at Two Bis Is
 Worth More fhan panninuS

River, blinked today at the arrival of the women.
 One of them is Evelyn Grinnell, the wife of Fort Yukon trapper, and the second of her sex to ar rive. She immediately set up a coffee shop in her tent-equipped only with a Yukon stove, a coffee pot, box of cups, doughnuts and some sandwiches.
 Evelyn is doing a thriving busi- ness.
 Coffee-25 cents a cup. Coffee with doughnuts or sandwiches-50 cents.
 INDIAN WOMAN FIRST
 First woman to arrive was the wife of Fort Yukon native who drought her along with him to share the frigid life of this gold mining camp on the rim of the Arctic.
 They walked over the tundra for two days to get here. The woman, a rather attractive Indian with jet black hair, smiled shyly as she walked ty with a large pack on her back. Her husband, thin and impassive, twisted his wrinkled features into large grin when somebody yelled, Hi, Joe'
 He carried a rifle, an incongru- ous instrument where mans most precious tool is pick or shovel.
 The first showing of gold in this area was made 12 days ago by Clifton Carroll, who spotted pea sized nuggets in the muck on his iishwheel axle. Claims since have spread up and down from what is now known as the discovery claim.'
 Colors have been found consis- tently along a two-mile stretch of river shore adjoining Carroll's claim and there have been a few nuggets found in the frigid pans.
 have not been to the farthest claims upstream, but reports keep coming down of "colors" and a few rice-sized nuggets being banned
 Colors are minute specks of flake gold, commercially worthless but often indicative of more gold some where nearby.
 LIKE PARK AVENUE
 Some gold seekers now are liv- ing in the lap of Arctic luxury; those whose claims are adjacent to landing field have fixed their tents in the best Statler fashion, with stoves, sitting facilities and improvised tables.
 In the true tradition of the northland, anyone is welcome to come in and share the warmth and swap tales. Prospectors already are eager for news from home.
 The tent where am now sitting belongs to Charlie Biederman, F. H. Alexander, Robert Alexander, c. " Johnson and Robert Barenz. Biederman is now here alone, his partners having returned to Fair banks Sunday after stalking claims. Biederman, a trapper from Eagle, Alaska, now is finishing the job of blazing boundary lines and sink ing prospect holes.
 The tent is about by 10 feet and very warm. In the middle ot the earth floor is Yukon stove, which resembles a gasoline drum with vent cut near the bottom to supply air to the burning wood. There's plentiful supply of dry wood within Is feet of the tent
 A stovepipe extends through the tent roof. Cardboard cartons are laid flat on the ground to provide insulation for our sleeping bags.
 Our food locker contains, eggs, bacon, bread, flour, powdered milk and dehydrated vegetables. Bied- erman's partners keep him supplied with food.
 The temperature rose sharply the last two days and now touches five degrees above zero. But we know it will drop to IS or 20 below tonight.
 SUSPENDED EXCITEMENT
 Everybody here is living Tn state of suspended excitement. They shake their pans with hur- ried impatience, seeking trace oi the elusive money gold
 It takes only few rice-sized nuggets to send shimmering wave of rumor and heated speculation through the camp like an, electric current.
 It seemed today that the camp might be on the brink of discov- ering whether this latest gold strike is in truth a potential bonanza or another thin deposit of color. With prospect holes being dug over a wide area of river bank, and pan- ming continuing steadily, some definite conclusions probably can