Chapter M: S. Norcross 10,000

J. Ernmerger 10,000

Con Stamatin 8,250

Albert Fox 5,100

Greg Stewart 5,000

J. O. Hestwood 5,000

Thomas Flack 5,000

Louis B. Rhoads 5,000

Fred Rice 5,000

SOME GRAPES OF ESCHOL STORIES.

RICHER THAN SINBAD'S VALLEY OF DIAMONDS.

Among the Portland's passengers was William Stanley, of Seattle, formerly a blacksmith, who went into the country two years ago last spring. He returned with $115,000 in gold nuggets and dust. His claim is on the Bonanza Creek, emptying into the Klondyke five miles above Dawson City, the headquarters of the camp. Clarence Berry, formerly a farmer of Fresno, Cal., brought back seven sacks, containing $135,000. Clarence Berry, of Los Angeles, went to the Yukon in 1894.

"My luck was bad for three years. Last fall I came out and married, and when I went back I heard of the Klondyke. I was early on the ground, locating, with other parties, three claims on Eldorado Creek. We struck it rich. That's all there is to tell.

"Last winter I took out $130,000 in thirty box lengths. Another time the second largest nugget ever found in the Yukon was taken out of my claim. It weighed thirteen ounces and was worth $213. I have known men to take out $1,000 a day from a drift claim. Of course the gold was found in pockets, and those finds, you can rest assured, were very scarce. I would not advise a man to take in an outfit that would cost less than $500.

"The country is wild, rough and full of hardships for those unused to the rigors of Arctic winter. If a man makes a fortune he is liable to earn it by severe hardships and sufferings, but then grit, perseverance and luck will probably reward hard work with a comfortable income for life."

Henry Anderson, a native of Sweden and well known on the Lound, sold a one-half interest in his claim on Eldorado Creek and has come back to Seattle with $45,000 spot cash, the proceeds of the sale. T. J. Kelly and son, of Tacoma, went in last year and made $10,000. The son is in charge of the claim and the father was among the Portland's passengers.

Frank Keller, of Los Angeles was one of the Portland's passengers. He went in last year, mined during the winter, and last year sold the claim for $35,000. William Sloat, formerly a dry-goods merchant, of Lanimo, B. C., sold his claim for $52,000, and, with the gold he took from the mine, came back on the Portland. Another man named Wilkenson, of the same city, sold his claim for $40,000. Frank Phiscater, of Baroda, Mich., returned with $96,000, the result of his labors in Miles. Capt. Strickland, of the Canadian mounted police, who is en route to Ottawa on official business, is among the arrivals. He says:

"When I left Dawson City about a month ago there were about 800 claims staked out and between 2,000 and 3,000 people. We can safely say that there was $1,500,000 in gold mined last winter. Wages in mines were $15 a day, and the sawmill paid laborers $10 a day with claims now staked, but will afford employment for about 5,000, I believe. If a man is strong and healthy and wants to work he can find employment at good wages. Several men worked on an interest, or what is termed a lay, and during the winter realized from $5,000 to $10,000. The mines are from 35 to 100 miles from Alaska boundary."

J. Kellar, who pronounced it the richest gold country in the world, said:

"It was 68 degrees below zero last winter, and the ground was frozen to the depth of forty feet. The snow doesn't fall to any great depth, three feet being the greatest, and that was light and fleecy frost. All the gold is taken out of gravel by thawing in the summer. There are nine months of winter. We left Dawson City on a river steamer on June 19, and were eight days reaching St. Michael's, 1,800 miles. The weather in Klondyke was warm and sultry, much warmer than it seemed, and mosquitos were in myriads. They are in the water one drinks. They give a man no rest day or night. I am satisfied to stay away from Klondyke, although I did well.

"It is a horrible country to live in, but it is extremely healthy. Every man is on his good behavior, and, for a mining country, has as good, orderly, law-abiding citizens as I ever saw. At present there is no prospecting going on, all men in the country being employed at $12 or $15 a day, or are working on their own claims. There is a big country open to prospectors."

Tom Cochrane, a grocery clerk, staked one of the Klondyke miners with $300 worth of supplies eighteen months ago. His dividend received on the Portland was $41,000.

Victor Lord, a western Washington logger, spent four years in the Yukon. He made $10,000 last winter in six weeks on the Klondyke, working a claim on shares. He will return after spending the summer here. Alexander Menzie, of Arizona, was a miner before he went into the Klondyke this spring. He located two claims on Indian Creek, and after three weeks' work brought out $7,000. "I have mined for thirty years in California, Arizona and Nevada," he said to-night. "The Klondyke country is richer than any placer district in the world. I own two claims on Indian Creek and will return in the spring in time to sled over the mountains into Klondyke from Dyea."

Harry Olson received $60,000 for his interest in a claim on Eldorado. His wealth is in sacks, like that of the others. He is a California farmer, and left for his old home, from which he departed three years ago.

The miners left Dawson City June 19 and were seven days on the trip by steamer down the Yukon to St. Michael's. After another week's rest they sailed on July 3 on the steamship Portland.

Inspector Strickland says that complete order is maintained in the camp by the Canadian mounted police. Little disorder prevails, but this may have changed since the departure of the Portland party, as the Alaska Commercial Company sent 10,000 gallons of whiskey into the camp on June 1.

There is a great scarcity of lumber and the single sawmill is kept busy day and night supplying the camp with lumber. The camp is a typical specimen of the frontier mining village, without regular streets. It straggles up the Klondyke for three miles, and then the houses are found at intervals of a quarter of a mile.

THE STAMPEDE FOR THE GOLD.

THOUSANDS JOIN THE EXODUS.

To say that the news from the north brought by passengers of the Excelsior and confirmed by those of the Portland swept over the Pacific coast with the rapidity of a prairie fire would be to make use of an inadequate simile. In less than forty-eight hours hundreds were busy arranging their affairs so as to depart by the first steamer for the new Eldorado. On the 18th of July, only four days after the arrival of the Excelsior, the offices of the Alaska Commercial Company in San Francisco were besieged by men, and even women, all anxious to secure a passage, and on the same day it was stated by an officer of the company that their steamers would not be able to carry one-tenth of those desirous of starting from that port alone. The same official estimated that before the end of the month the number of those who would set out from San Francisco would reach fully 5,000. Hundreds with means sufficient to buy tickets and outfits fairly tumbled over each other to secure these. Others sought capital by offering one-half their winnings to those who would stake them. Syndicates were speedily formed, "grub stakes" offered and parties of tens, twenties and even hundreds organized for the venture. The reported danger of famine, even the warnings of returned miners seemed to deter no one.

While such was the craze in San Francisco, the excitement was no less in Seattle, Tacoma, Portland and all along the Pacific coast. Nor did it end here. The same excitement swept Eastward and prevailed to a greater or less extent everywhere. The press of the county gave publicity to every scrap of news, corps of correspondents were organized and "hurried to the front," and even the "special artist on the spot" was not "left out in the cold," whatever he may suffer when he reaches a latitude where the mercury coquettes with the 80s. and 90s. below zero. All sorts of advertisements from all sorts of people, offering almost any terms and conditions to a backer, appeared, and, as we write, are still appearing in the daily papers. The one subject of conversation in the swell clubs, no less than on the street corners, is the news from Alaska, and the region of the Klondyke and the Yukon River have suddenly become as familiar geographical designations as Brooklyn or the Hudson.

Perhaps no more reliable authority could be given as to the great resources of the Klondyke and the excitement prevailing in and about that region than Capt. Francis Tuttle, commander of the revenue cutter Bear. Writing to a friend in New York from St. Michael's on the Yukon River, the Captain says:

"The days of '49 in California are a mere side show compared with the excitement in the Yukon country. Imagine my astonishment on reaching here yesterday to run across a man who, last September, was discharged as a deck hand from a steamer on Puget Sound. The fellow made his way into Alaska, worked seven months on the Klondyke and has now reached St. Michael's with $150,000 in gold. I could hardly believe my senses, but there was his gold, sure enough.

"As I write St. Michael's is full of miners awaiting an opportunity to get down to Puget Sound and to California. Nearly every other man of them has $50,000 worth of dust, and there is not a man here with less than $15,000. The latter are referred to as 'poor fellows' who have been hard hit with bad luck, and it seems to be real sympathy that the more fortunate ones show for these $15,000 fellows.

"The deck hand, with his $150,000, had the largest amount of gold of any one in the crowd. The whole business is almost incredible, yet one must believe what he sees.

"It is enough to turn the mind of any person, and particularly when one learns with what comparative ease this gold is mined."

As we write several steamers having already departed from various Pacific ports, are on their way to the Yukon, all freighted to their fullest capacity with gold hunters, provisions and mining outfits. Others are following as rapidly as they can be outfitted, and scarcely a seaworthy craft available for the purpose can be found that has not already been brought into requisition.

This stream of humanity that has suddenly turned northward and is being constantly swollen as it proceeds on its way is made up of all classes of men and from every condition in life. The experienced and rugged miner is accompanied by the "tenderfoot." The soft-handed clerk falls in line with the tanned and strong-muscled out-of-door laborer. Even the professional man has abandoned his comfortable office for the miner's hut. The first steamer to leave numbered among her passengers the venerable poet of the Sierras, Joaquin Miller. Another steamer, sailing from Seattle on July 22, carried north ex-Governor McGraw, who for many years was president of the First National Bank, of Seattle; Governor of Washington for four years ending January last, and later a candidate for United States Senator to succeed W. S. Squire. Among his companions du voyage were General M. E. Carr, formerly Brigadier General of the State militia, and whose law practice is the largest in the State of Washington, and Captain A. J. Balliet, at one time Yale's greatest oarsman and football player, who also leaves a handsome law practice to seek gold on the Yukon.

WHERE THE GOLD IS FOUND.

HOW IT IS REACHED AND MINED.

Dr. William H. Dall, one of the curators of the National Museum, is familiar with the region of country in which the Klondyke gold fields are located, through having been on several geological expeditions to the region in Alaska adjoining the gold district, and says that in his opinion the reports from there probably are not exaggerated.

"When I was there," he says, "I did not find gold, but knew of it being taken out in profitable quantities for fifteen years or more. It was first discovered there in 1866. In 1880, when I was up in that country, the first party of prospectors who have made mining profitable, started out. The gold is found on the various tributaries of the Yukon, and I have been within a comparatively short distance of the Klondyke fields. I made one trip to Circle City, just over the boundary of Canada.

"The gold bearing belt of Northwestern America contains all the gold fields and extends into that part of British Columbia known as the Northwestern Territory and Alaska. The Yukon really runs along in that belt for 500 or 600 miles. The bed of the main river is in the lowlands of the valley.

"The yellow metal is not found in paying quantity in the main river, but in the small streams which cut through the mountains on either side. These practically wash out the gold. The mud and mineral matter is carried into the main river, while the gold is left on the rough bottoms of these side streams. In most cases the gold lies at the bottom of thick gravel deposits. The gold is covered by frozen gravel in the Winter. During the Summer, until the snow is all melted, the surface is covered by muddy torrents. When the snow is all melted and the springs begin to freeze the streams dry up. At the approach of Winter, in order to get at the gold the miners find it necessary to dig into the gravel formation.

"Formerly they stripped the gravel off until they came to the gold. Now they sink a shaft to the bottom of the gravel and tunnel along underneath in the gold bearing layer. The way in which this is done is interesting, as it has to be carried on in cold weather, when everything is frozen.

"The miners build fires over the area where they wish to work and keep these lighted over that territory for the space of twenty-four hours. Then, at the expiration of this period, the gravel will be melted and softened to a depth of perhaps six inches. This is then taken off and other fires built until the gold-bearing layer is reached. When the shaft is down that far other fires are built at the bottom, against the sides of the layer, and tunnels made in this manner.

"Blasting would do no good, on account of the hard nature of the material, and would blow out just as out of a gun. The matter taken out containing the gold is piled up until Spring, when the torrents come down, and is panned and cradled by these. It is certainly very hard labor.

"I see many reasons why the gold fields should be particularly rich. The streams which cut through the mountains have probably done so for centuries, wearing them down several hundred feet and washing out the gold into the beds and gravel.

"It is a country in which it is very hard to find food, as there is practically no game. Before the whites went into the region there were not more than 300 natives. They have hard work to support themselves, on account of the scarcity of game."

An interesting letter telling of the recent trip of the steamer Excelsior has been written by Captain J. F. Higgins, of the steamer, to a friend. He says:

"The word Klondyke means Deer River, and the stream is called the Reindeer River on the charts. It empties into the Yukon fifty miles above the Big River. The geographical position of the juncture is 76 degrees 10 minutes north latitude, 138 degrees 50 minutes west longitude. Bonanza Creek dumps into the Klondyke about two miles above the Yukon. Eldorado is a tributary of the Bonanza. There are numerous other creeks and tributaries, the main river being three hundred miles long.

"The gold so far has been taken from Bonanza and Eldorado, both well named, for the richness of the placers is truly marvellous. Eldorado, thirty miles long, is staked the whole length and as far as worked has paid.

"One of our passengers who is taking home $100,000 with him has worked one hundred feet of his ground and refused $200,000 for the remainder, and confidently expects to clean up $400,000 and more. He has in a bottle $212 from one pan of dirt. His pay dirt while being washed averaged $250 an hour to each man shovelling in. Two others of our miners who worked their own claim cleaned up $6,000 from one day's washing.

"There is about fifteen feet of dirt above bed rock, the pay streak averaging from four to six feet, which is tunnelled out while the ground is frozen. Of course, the ground taken out is thawed by building fires, and when the thaw comes and water rushes in they set their sluices and wash the dirt. Two of our fellows thought a small bird in the hand worth a large one in the bush, and sold their claims for $45,000, getting $4,500 down, the remainder to be paid in monthly instalments of $10,000 each. The purchasers had no more than $5,000 paid. They were twenty days thawing and getting out dirt. Then there was no water to sluice with, but one fellow made a rocker, and in ten days took out the $10,000 for the first instalment. So, tunnelling and rocking, they took out $40,000 before there was water to sluice with.

"Of course, these things read like the story of Aladdin, but fiction is not at all in it with facts at Klondyke. The ground located and prospected can be worked out in a few years, but there is an immense territory untouched, and the laboring man who can get there with one year's provisions will have a better chance to make a stake than in any other part of the world."

SOME LARGE NUGGETS.

THERE ARE MORE WHERE THEY CAME FROM.

The largest nugget yet found was picked out by Burt Hudson on claim Six of the Bonanza, and is worth a little over $250. The next largest was found by J. Clements, and was worth $231. The last four pans Clements took out ran $2,000, or an average of $500 each, and one of them went $775. Bigger pockets have been struck in the Cariboo region and in California, but nowhere on earth have men picked up so much gold in so short a time. A young man named Beecher, came down afoot and by dog sledge, starting out early in March. He brought $12,000 to $15,000 with him. He was purser on the Weare last summer, and went in after the close of navigation in October or September. About Dec. 15 he got a chance to work a shift on shares, and in sixty days made his stake, which is about $40,000. He has purchased a claim or two. You will find more gold in circulation in Dawson than you ever saw in all your life. Saloons take in $3,000 to $4,000 each per night. Men who have been in all parts of the world where gold is mined say they never saw such quantities taken in so short a time.

The diggings around Circle City and in the older places are rich enough to satisfy any ordinary demand, but they have all, or nearly all, been temporarily left for the new fields. There are probably 250 men working in the mines outside Circle City, but there would have been 1,500 had not the new strike been made. Should the new field play out, which is a thing impossible, the older diggings would be returned to and with profit. However, the new finds are not going to play out. There is enough in sight to confirm the belief that these new diggings cannot be exhausted in ten years. Of course, comparatively little gold is being taken out now, for the streams are too high, but there is much that was drifted and piled up last winter that is not yet washed.

MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS IN SIGHT.

WILLIAM STANLEY'S GRAPHIC STORY.

The New York Journal prints this story of William Stanley: Stanley is one of the fortunate ones who returned from the Klondyke on the Portland. In addition to his present fortune he is interested with his son and two New Yorkers in claims which, he says, will yield $2,000,000. Stanley is a married man; he has a wife and several children. During his absence in the far North the family struggled to eke out an existence, for everything that Stanley had went to pay his expenses to the gold fields. Stanley is well on in years. He was not accustomed to hardships; for years he conducted a little book store in an out-of-the-way business corner.

To-day people who used to help him by giving 10 to 15 cents cannot realize that he is wealthy. Here is his story:

"I went to the Yukon as a last resort. I was getting old and I had no money and I knew that I would never get any unless I took it out of the ground. It was a year ago last March that I left Seattle. I am free to confess that my family was at that time in destitute circumstances. I made for the Yukon. I had never before been there. I knew nothing of mining and nothing of the hardships of the country, and, in fact, was as great a "greeny" as ever set foot in the great gold country of the Northwest. My son, Samuel Stanley, went with me. He was as ignorant as his father.

"While we were on the steamship Alki, which took us to Dyea, we met two young men, Charles and George Worden. They were residents of Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., and had come West in search of gold. Their mother lives back in the old home, so they informed me. We became very intimate with the Wordens. They knew little, if anything, about the country, and one day in conservation one of us suggested that we form a company and do our work on the syndicate plan, each man to share and share alike. We wandered through the Yukon districts for several months and were getting discouraged, because there seemed to be nothing for us. We met other men who were getting rich, but we grew poorer as the days came and went. Once we had about concluded to go back.

"It was in the latter part of last September that we befriended a man who gave us a tip as to the riches of the Klondyke. We were willing to believe anything, and made for the Klondyke at once. At that time we were en route for Forty Mile Creek. We were then at Sixty Mile.

"The first thing we did when we reached the Klondyke was to spend a little time at the mouth of the stream. We were there just twenty-four hours when the little steamer Ellis arrived with 150 excited miners aboard. They had just heard the good news, and on their arrival they made a rush for the richest spots on Bonanza and Eldorado creeks.

"We went to Eldorado Creek and made locations on what were called Claims Twenty-five, Twenty-six, Fifty-three and Fifty-four. I think it was in October that we made our locations. We worked Claims Twenty-five and Twenty-six, and were very soon satisfied that we had a fine thing, and went to work to make preparations for a long winter of experiences and hardships. We got all we wanted before spring. Every man put in his time sinking prospect holes in the gulch.

"I tell the simple truth when I say that within three months we took from the two claims the sum of $112,000. A remarkable thing about our findings is that in taking this enormous sum we drift up and down stream, nor did we cross-cut the pay streaks.

"Of course, we may be wrong, but this is the way we are figuring, and we are so certain that what we say is true that we would not sell out for a million. In our judgment, based on close figuring, there are in the two claims we worked, and Claims No. 53 and No. 54, $1,000 to the lineal foot. I say that in four claims, we have at the very least $2,000,000, which can be taken out without any great work.

"I want to say that I believe there is gold in every creek in Alaska. Certainly on the Klondyke the claims are not spotted. One seems to be as good as another. It's gold, gold, gold all over. It's yards wide and yards deep. I say so, because I have been there and have the gold to show for it. All you have to do is to run a hole down, and there you find plenty of gold dust. I would say that our pans on the Eldorado claims will average $3, some go as high as $150, and, believe me, when I say that, in five pans, I have taken out as high as $750 and sometimes more. I did not pick the pans, but simply put them against my breast and scooped the dirt off the bed rock.

"Of course, the majority of those on the Klondyke have done much figuring as to the amount of gold the Klondyke will yield. Many times we fellows figured on the prospects of the Eldorado. I would not hesitate much about guaranteeing $21,000,000, and should not be surprised a bit if $25,000,000, or even $30,000,000, was taken out.

"Some people will tell you that the Klondyke is a marvel, and there will never be a discovery in Alaska which will compare with it. I don't believe it. I think that there will be a number of new creeks discovered that will make wonderful yields. Why, Bear Gulch is just like Eldorado. Bear Gulch has a double bed rock. Many do not know it, but it's a fact, and miners who are acquainted with it will tell you the same thing.

"The bed rocks are three feet apart. In the lower bed the gold is as black as a black cat, and in the upper bed, the gold is as bright as any you ever saw. We own No. 10 claim, below Discovery, on Bear Gulch, and also Nos. 20 and 21 on Last Chance Gulch, above Discovery. We prospected for three miles on Last Chance Gulch, and could not tell the best place to locate the Discovery claim. The man making a discovery of the creek is entitled by law to stake a claim and take an adjoining one, or, in other words, two claims; so you see he wants to get in a good location on the creek or gulch. Hunker Gulch is highly looked to. I think it will prove another great district, and some good strikes have also been made on Dominion Creek. Indian Creek is also becoming famous.

"What are we doing with all the money we take out?

"Well, we paid $45,000 spot cash for a half interest in Claim 32, Eldorado. We also loaned $5,000 each to four parties on Eldorado Creek, taking mortgages on their claims, so you see we are well secured.

"No, I do not want any better security for my money than Eldorado claims, thank you. I only wish I had a mortgage on the whole creek.

"We had a great deal of trouble in securing labor in prospecting our properties. Old miners would not work for any price. We could occasionally rope in a greenhorn and get him to work for a few days at $15 a day. Six or eight miners worked on shares for us about six weeks, and we settled. It developed that they had earned in that length of time $5,300 each. That was pretty good pay, wasn't it? We paid one old miner $12 for three hours' work and offered to continue him at that rate, but he would not have it, and he went out to hunt a claim of his own. My son, Samuel, and Charles Worden are in charge of our interests in Alaska. George Worden and I came out, and we will go back in March and relieve them. Then they will come out for a spell. George goes from here to his home in New York State to make his mother comfortable.

"I am an American by birth, but of Irish parents. I formerly lived in Western Kansas, but my claim there was not quite as good as the one I staked out on the Eldorado Creek."

HOW TO GET THERE.

CHOICE OF TWO ROUTES.

There are two routes either of which can be taken to the Klondyke. The best but the most expensive is by steamer from Seattle to St. Michael's, and then by river boat up the Yukon 1,700 miles to Dawson City. By this route it takes thirty-five to forty days, and the fare is $180. The steamers permit only 150 pounds of baggage for each passenger. Two steamers that will leave before the river is closed by ice cannot carry more than 150 passengers each. The other route is by land by way of Juneau. The passenger goes from Seattle to Juneau. There at this season all packs must be carried on the back or on mules. When snow falls sledges can be used and the trip can be made much more easily. The distance is 650 miles. This trip is thus described:

"Leaving Juneau you go to Dyea by way of Lime Canal, and from there to Lake Lindermann, thirty miles on foot, or portage, as we call it. The lake gives you a ride of five or six miles, and then follows another long journey overland to the headwaters of Lake Bennett, which is twenty-eight miles long. On foot you go again for several miles, and then the caribou crossing of the river furnishes transportation for four miles to Tagish Lake, where another twenty-one-mile boat ride may be had.

"This is followed by a weary stretch of mountainous country, and then Marsh or Mud Lake is reached. You get another boat ride of twenty-four miles, and then go down the creek for twenty-seven miles to Miles Canon and to White Horse Rapids.

"This is one of the most dangerous places on the entire route, and should be avoided by all strangers. The stream is full of sunken rocks and runs with the speed of a mile race. Passing White Horse Rapids the journey is down the river for thirty miles to Lake Labarge, where thirty-one miles of navigable water is found. Another short portage and Lous River is reached, where you have a 200-mile journey, which brings you to Fort Selkirk.

"At this point Polly and Lous rivers come together, forming the Yukon. From that point on is practically smooth sailing, though the stranger must be exceedingly careful."

For some time past a number of local and English companies have been studying the lay of the land between Chilkat and Circle City with a view to establishing a quicker, and more practicable way of transportation to the gold fields along the Yukon. Goodall, Perkins & Co., of New York have made a thorough investigation of the matter, and Capt. Chas. M. Goodall of that firm says:

"The rich find in the Klondyke district will probably result in some better means of transportation, though the roughness of the country and the limited open season will not justify anybody in building a railroad for any distance. Recently we sent several hundred sheep and cattle to Juneau, and from there to the head of navigation by the steamer Alki. Mr. Dalton, who discovered the trail across the country from the Chilkat River to Fort Selkirk, is taking live stock to the mines. His route lies from the head of navigation through Chilkoot Pass and along the trail, which is over prairie several hundred miles, to the Yukon River, near Fort Selkirk. At this time of year the prairie is clear and bunch grass grows on it in abundance.

"I believe this will ultimately be the popular route. People could go over it in wagons, as the prairie is level. Stations could be established, as was done on our plains in '49. It would be easy to go down the Yukon in boats from where Dalton's trail strikes it to Dawson City and other mining camps.

"The plan to build a traction road over Chilkoot Pass from Dyea, the head of navigation after leaving Juneau, to Lake Linderman, is not a good business proposition. It has been talked of, and the rest of the plan is to have steamers to ply from Lake Linderman through the other lakes to the Yukon. But to do this two portages would have to be made on account of the falls in the river, and these would be enormously expensive.

"A British company has had in contemplation for some time the construction of a railroad from the head of navigation on Taku Inlet, near Juneau, to Teslin, or Aklene Lake, and thence down some small rivers to the Yukon and the mines. Even by this route there would be need of portages. The natural way to take in freight, unless the hurry be great, is by St. Michael and up the Yukon. To establish even a wagon road over Dalton's Trail on the prairie, a railroad over the divide from Dyea to Lake Linderman, or a railroad as planned by the English company, concessions would have to be secured from the British Government."

FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO THE MINES.

OCEAN ROUTE.

Miles. To St. Michael's 2,850 To Circle City 4,350 To Forty Mile 4,600 To Klondyke 4,650

OVERLAND ROUTE.

Miles. To Juneau (by steamer) 1,680 Juneau to Chilkat 80 Juneau to Dyea 100 Juneau to head of navigation 106 Juneau to summit of Chilcoot Pass 114 Juneau to head of Lake Linderman 123 Juneau to foot of Lake Linderman 127 Juneau to head of Lake Bennet 128 Juneau to foot of Takish Lake 173 Juneau to head of Lake Marsh 178 Juneau to head of canyon 223 Juneau to head of White Horse Rapids 225 Juneau to Tahkeena River 240 Juneau to head of Lake Lebarge 256 Juneau to foot of Lake Lebarge 284 Juneau to Hotalinqua River 318 Juneau to Big Salmon River 349 Juneau to Little Salmon River 385 Juneau to Five Fingers Rapids 444 Juneau to Rink Rapids 450 Juneau to White River 599 Juneau to Stewart River 609 Juneau to Sixty-Mile Post 629 Juneau to Lawson City 678 Juneau to Forty-Mile Post 728 Juneau to Circle City 898 Forty-Mile to diggings at Miller Creek 70 Circle City to diggings at Birch Creek 50 Klondyke to diggings 5

PERILS OF THE TRIP.

ENCOUNTERS WITH THE ICE AND SNOW IN THE PASSES TO THE UPPER YUKON.

A letter, written to the San Francisco Examiner by Edgar A. Mizner, gives a graphic picture of life in the Klondyke region and the hardships and perils that the miner may expect to meet and undergo. He is at present the agent of the Alaska Commercial Company there. He set out from Seattle for the Yukon in March last. He had had mining experience before, having been frozen in one Winter on the Pend d'Oreille. Mizner Mountain, over against the Kootenai country, is named for him, his prospecting pick being the first to find pay ore there.

From a camp on the ice of Lake Bennett he wrote on May 6:

"It is nearly two months since I left you, and if I have not forgotten you altogether it's not the fault of the trip, for surely it's the devil's own. The man who wants the Yukon gold should know what he is going to tackle before he starts. If there is an easy part of the trip I haven't struck it yet.

"Eight of us made the trip from Juneau to Dyea, 100 miles, on the little steam launch Alert. The steamer Mexico reached Dyea the same morning with 423 men. As she drew so much water she had to stay about three miles off shore and land her passengers and freight as best she might in more or less inaccessible places on the rocky shores.

"Then up came the twenty-two-foot tide and many poor fellows saw their entire outfits swept into the sea. The tide runs there like the Fundy race. At Dyea there were but two houses, a store and, of course, a saloon. So when we landed on the beach and got out on the snow and ice we had to "rustle" for ourselves. We have kept on "rustling" for ourselves from that on.

"We camped the first night at Dyea. It is a most enjoyable thing, this making camp in the snow. First you must shovel down from three to six feet to find a solid crust. Then you must go out in the snow up to your neck to find branches with which to make a bed, and then comes the hunt for a dead tree for firewood. Dinner is cooked on a small sheetiron stove.

"Always keep an eye on the 'grub,' especially the bacon, for the dogs are like so many ravenous wolves, and it is not considered just the proper thing to be left without anything to eat in this frostbitten land. At night it is necessary to tie up the sacks of bacon in the trees or build trestles for them. But to the trip.

"The second day we went up Dyea canon. It is only three miles long, but seems fully thirty. This is true of all distances in this country. About one hundred pounds is about all a man wants to pull in this canon, as the way is steep and the ice slippery. So camps must be made short distances apart, as you have to go over the trail several times in bringing up your outfit. Remember, an ordinary outfit weighs from 500 to 800 pounds, and some of them much more.

"But the summit of Chilcoot Pass--that's the place that puts the yellow fear into many a man's heart. Some took one look at it, sold their outfits for what they would bring and turned back. This pass is over the ridge which skirts the coast. It is only about 1,200 feet from base to top, but it is almost straight up and down--a sheer steep of snow and ice. There is a blizzard blowing there most of the time, and when it is at its height, no man may cross. For days at a time the summit is impassable. An enterprising man named Burns has rigged a windlass and cable there, and with this he hoists up some freight at a cent a pound. The rest is carried over on the backs of Indians. We were detained ten days waiting our turn to have our outfits carried over and for favoring weather.

"After going about three miles up a dark canon a whirling snow storm struck us. But having risen at such an unconscionable hour we would not turn back. Our pride was near the end of us. I hope I may never experience such another day. The air was so filled with snow that at times it was impossible to see ten feet. It was all we could do to keep our feet against the wind which howled down the mountain. My beard became a mass of ice.

"The trail was soon obliterated and we were lost. But we stumbled on and by a rare chance we came upon the handle of a shovel which marked our cache. There was nothing to do but fight our way back to camp. The storm did not abate in the slightest. In fact, it raged for four long days. It was nearly dark when with knocking knees we got back to camp, more dead than alive.

"The next day ten men made up a party to go on the same trip back for their outfits. The day after that they were found huddled in a hole dug in a drift eating raw bacon. After another day of rest we put masts on our sleds, rigged sails and came across Lake Linderman and over Linderman Portage. We are now camped on the head of Lake Bennet."

Another letter written by Mr. Mizner from Forty Mile City, as late as June 12th, is quite as interesting. He says:

"The trip was an interesting one, but very dangerous. Many men lost their boats and everything they had, and there are rumors of men having been drowned. Shortly after leaving Lake Laborge we came upon a party who had just rescued two young fellows from rocks in the middle of the rapids. They could not save their outfit or their demolished boat, and all they had went down the river with the rushing flood. One of the young men had everything but his shirt stripped from him by the swirl. We took him in charge and landed him at Klondyke.

"The big canyon between Mud Lake and Lake Laborge is a grand and impressive place. The river above is a quarter of a mile wide, but in the canyon it narrows to fifty feet. The walls rise on either side, sheer and smooth, full seventy-five feet. Down rushes the water with a frightful roar, rolling the waves at least ten feet high. Like everybody else, we went down ahead to take a look before shooting these rapids. From the cliff view the task seems impossible, but there is no other way, and shoot you must. So, with Wilson at the oars to hold her straight, I took the steering paddle, and we made for the mouth of the gorge.

"It was all over in about thirty seconds. We were through in safety, but it was the most hair-raising thirty seconds I ever experienced. There was quite enough thrill in it for a lifetime. Over the terrifying roar of the water we could faintly hear the cheer put up by the undecided hundred or more men who lined the cliffs above us. Up came the ice-cold water against us in tubfuls. We were wet through. So was everything else in the boat, and the boat itself half full of water. But we were soon bailed and dried--and safe.

"Then we went on to the White House Rapids, and here we let our boat through with long ropes. Two days later we shot the Five Finger Rapids and the Rink Rapids without any trouble. The last four days of the trip we fixed up our stove in the boat, and only went ashore twice for wood. The mosquitoes on the shore are numbered by the million and are fierce as bull terriers, but in the middle of the river they troubled us but little.

"The sun sinks out of sight now about 10.30 p. m., and comes up again about 3 a. m. About midnight, however, it is almost as light as noonday. There is no night. At Dawson there is a little sawmill and rough houses going up in all directions, but for the most part it is a city of tents. On the shore of the river are hundreds of boats, and others are getting in every day.

"The Klondyke has not been one particle overrated. I have seen gold measured by the bucketful. Just think of a man taking $800 out of one pan of dirt. Mrs. Wilson panned out $154 out of one pan in one of the mines I am to take charge of. This, without doubt, is the richest gold strike the world has ever known.

"Of course all the claims in the Klondyke district are taken up now, and there are hundreds of men who own claims valued from $50,000 to $1,000,000. But with all these men in the country many miles of new ground will be prospected, and from the lay of the country I think other gold fields are certain to be located."

CANADIAN GOVERNMENT'S ATTITUDE.

AN INTERNATIONAL QUESTION AS TO MINER'S RIGHTS.

The fact that the Klondyke placer diggings, as thus far prospected and developed, are well east of the 141st meridian, which forms the boundary line between Alaska and the Dominion of Canada has attracted no little attention among our northern neighbors, and many contradictory reports as to what attitude the Ottawa Government will assume as to the rights of miners who are not British subjects, have come to us. That the Canadian Government has the right to prohibit all but British subjects from working these diggings cannot be questioned. But, as the New York Sun puts it, it would be preposterous to suppose that the Dominion would really attempt to exercise its right of exclusion. Gold fields all over the world are open to miners without regard to nationality. Canadians to-day are free to work in the Yukon diggings on our side of the boundary. The Dominion will do well enough in collecting its revenues and customs duties on the new industry, and on the collateral industries certain to spring up among the population that will flock there. Already it has a customs officer for the district.

American miners have rushed in large numbers from Forty-mile Creek and other points to the new Klondyke, Bonanza Creek, Eldorado Creek, or other regions, and they have staked out their claims. The Dominion would have its hands full in dispossessing these men, and there would be plenty of reason for retaliation on our part. We do, it is true, exclude Chinese immigration, but it would be dangerous for the Dominion to put Mongolians and Americans on the same footing in an exclusion policy.

American miners who have written to the Department of State asking protection for their Klondyke claims have no reason to worry; and, in fact, it maybe surmised that their anxieties, rather than any indications given by the Ottawa Government, are the source of the absurd rumor of exclusion.

DAWSON NOT A TOUGH TOWN.

THE CIVILIZATION OF A MINING CAMP.

Ladue, who is a veteran prospector, and has seen all the tough mining camps on the Pacific coast, gives this interesting description of the new city of Dawson, which promises to have 30,000 inhabitants before Spring:

"It may be said with absolute truth that Dawson City is one of the most moral towns of its kind in the world. There is little or no quarreling and no brawls of any kind, though there is considerable drinking and gambling. Every man carries a pistol if he wishes to, yet it is a rare occurrence when one is displayed. The principal sport with mining men is found around the gambling table. There they gather after nightfall, and play until the late hours in the morning. They have some big games, too. It sometimes costs as much as $50 to draw a card. A game with $2,000 as stakes is an ordinary event. But with all of that there has not been decided trouble. If a man is fussy and quarrelsome he is quietly told to get out of the game, and that is the end of it.

"Many people have an idea that Dawson City is completely isolated and can communicate with the outside world only once in every twelve months. That is a big mistake, however. Circle City, only a few miles away, has a mail once each month, and there we have our mail addressed. It is true the cost is pretty high, $1 a letter and two for a paper; yet by that expenditure of money we are able to keep in direct communication with our friends on the outside.

"In the way of public institutions our camp is at present without any, but by next season we will have a church, a music hall, a schoolhouse and a hospital. The last institution will be under direct control of the Sisters of Mercy, who have already been stationed for a long time at Circle City and Forty-Mile Camp.

"Nearly a score of children were in Dawson City when I left, so I donated a lot and $100 for a school. No one can buy anything on credit in Dawson. It is spot cash for every one, and payment is always gold dust. Very few have any regular money."

All experts estimate that the minimum supply of provisions which a man should take to Klondyke is 1,000 pounds, though several say they wouldn't venture in without at least one ton, as the season over the Juneau route closes up by September 15. The rush promises to be unprecedented, and a large number of prospectors, after being landed at Juneau, will find it impossible to get their supplies transported. Like all other great mining rushes, this promises to be full of disappointments.

A new route to the Klondyke will be opened next spring. It is overland from Juneau to Fort Selkirk, on the Yukon, and is entirely by land. Captain Goodall, of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, inspected it this Summer, and reported it practicable. It is about 700 miles long, and it crosses the divide over Chilkat Pass, which is lower and more easily crossed than the Chilkoot Pass. No lakes or rivers are on the route, but the trail runs over a high level prairie. Old Pioneer Dalton, after whom the trail is named, is now driving a band of sheep on the trail to Dawson City, where he expects to arrive in August, with fresh meat for the miners. This Dalton trail is well adapted for driving stock, but for men the tramp is too long.

"Dawson is not like most of the mining camps. It is not a 'tough' town. Murders are almost unknown.

"The miners are a quiet and peaceable kind of men, who have gone there to work, and are willing that everybody else shall have an equal chance with themselves. A great deal of gambling is done in the town, but serious quarrels are an exception. As a gambling town I think it is equal to any that I have ever seen; and this, by the way, is always the test of a mining camp's prosperity. Stud poker is the usual game. They play $100 and oftentimes $200 or $500 on the third card."