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THE KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS IN ALASKA. The United States Government in 1807 paid Russia $7,2000,00 for tho Territory of Alaska. Alaska has paid back lier purchase money in gold four times, having pro¬ duced during the time it has been a part of the United States about $30,000,- 000 of the precious yellow metal. To-day the eyes of the world are turned toward our frozen acquisition in the north, for within its borders has been discovered an Eldorado, seem¬ ingly “richer than Pluto’s mine.” A few weeks ago the word Klondike, literally translated meaning Deer River, was known to geographers and a few miners on the Yukon; to-day it is on every tongue and is known as the designation, if the reports be but half true, foT a gold-bearing district greater in area and richer in character than any the world has known, with the possible exception of California. The reported gold discoveries of the present day in Alaska and the report¬ ed gold discoveries of ’49 in California afford many parallels. To the average man the treasures of the coast State were seemingly as inaccessible as are the riches of the Yukon and its tribu¬ taries. One was more than 2000 miles across a trackless desert and over snow-bound mountain passes, beset by savages, whose deadly attacks marked the trail with bleaching bones the Western States; the other is nearly 7000 miles by water, through a rigorous climate, or almost 4000 miles by laud and water, with moun¬ tain passes to scale as dangerous as those of the Swiss Alps. The fabulous tales of wealth sent by the California pioneers were no less wonderful than those brought back the men who braved the last season in the Klondike mineral belt, 5 N ■V St v*~ i < 1 • I / £* ~ V I i * '■ft. m -v 'gji il u ■’S . m •! ! u §7 "7 IS WS|| feBfj |Xk- : > $ m K 7 AS THE MINERS JOURNEY DOWN LAKE LABARGE DURING THE WINTER. and in both cases those who returned brought back with them great nuggets of the precious stuff that left little or no doubt in the mind of the hearer. The California miner in the song who had so many nuggets that he*was ac¬ customed to “go a hatful blind” finds his parallel in the Yukon miner who claims to have “washed out” $212 in one panful of dirt—a process that re¬ quires ten or twelve minutes. Poor Man’s Mines. The Alaska aud California gold fields are alike also in being placer mines. Placer mining is commonly called “poor man’s mining,” for the reason that it is done without machinery, while the implements required in the A work are few and of small cost. placer miner can get along very well with a pick, shovel and gold accomplish pan. If the dirt is not rich ho can better results by running it through a sluice box, but where the yield is in nuggets instead of fine gold he prefers to “pan” it. made The great Klondike strike was nine mouths ago, but nothing was known of it in the United States until June 15, when a vessel called the Ex¬ celsior arrived in San Francisco laden with miners from the Klondike, who in turn were laden with gold. They told almost incredible tales of the richness of the newly discovered district, where fortunes had been ac¬ cumulated in a few months. Experi¬ enced miners and “tenderfeet” seemed to have shared good fortune alike, and with some justice, too, for the credit of the discovery of the new gold fields is due to the inexperienced men. Another vessel brought to Seattle a second party of successful prospectors and a ton and a half of gold. These men had endured peril and undergone r - / £ '7 \ m . j 3E> MINERS CROSSING THE CIIIUKOOT PASS. great hardships in accumulating the fortunes they brought, and they told a story that had a dark as well as a bright side. To follow their example means a risk of wealth, health and even life, but for those who are willing to take the chances the prospect they hold out is alluring. location of the Klondike District. The richest of the mines in the Alaska region seem to be in the Klon¬ dike, a few miles over the British border. They were discovered, a3 has been said, by a party of “tenderfeet,” who, against the advice of tho old- timers in the district, wandered “over yonder in the Klondike” and struck it rich. From Klondike comes much of the gold and from Klondike seems to come all the excitement, A few “tenderfeet,” going it blind, have stirred up the Nation. Out of the regions of their discovery has come, it is estimated, $2,000,000 worth of gold during the present summer. Nearly all of that gold has found its way into the United States. It is hard to teli where the Alaska gold fields are located except that in a general way the best of them are along the Yukon. There are a few “lode” miners near Juneau and along (the the southeast coast of the Territory most accessible part of it), but the ore is of low grade and mining is made profitable only by the most careful management, which The placer mines, from pros¬ pectors are said now to be lining their pockets with gold, are in the region remote from civilization, little known, and, on account of its uncertainties, dangerously alluring to the average man. This gold-producing country of the interior is in the vicinity of the Yukon near where that great river turns to the west in its course to the sea. Before the discoveries in the Klondike the most productive districts had been along Forty Mile Creek, partly in British and partly in Ameri¬ can territory, and the Birch Creek district, all iu American territory. Along all of the river in this section, tributaries to the Yukon, gold dig¬ gings exist, and in many places pay the prospector well for his trouble. In all the immense country over which the placer mining extends it is estimated that up to last year there were 2000 miners. The districts in which most of them worked were in a a broad belt of gold-producing rock, through which qnartz veins carrying gold occur frequently. Through the gold-bearing rocks the streams have cut deep gullies and canons, and in their beds the gold which concentrated. was con¬ tained . in the rock is The mining of this country consists, therefore in washing out the gravel of these bo:ls. So the miners worked, being fairly well paid for their labor, until the “tenderfeet” made the Klon¬ dike discovery. That was nine months or so ago, and the news of it is just reaching the outside world. It was not long in reaching the miners along Forty Mile and Birch Creeks, though, and they shouldered their picks and moved forward in a wild rush at the first word of the new lucky strike. As a result gold dust and nuggets by the ton are turned into the mints out on the coast, aud men who never before rose above the level of the commonest of miners have come back to civiliza¬ tion and comfort loaded with gold to last them a lifetime. Take as an il¬ lustration this list of returned miners who came on the Excelsior: Brought Value from of Alaska claims. T. S. Lippy...... 8 65,000 81,000,000 F. G. H. Bowker 90,000 500,000 Joo La Due..... . 10,000 500,000 J. B. Hollinseed . 25,500 ....... William Kulju.. . 17,000 ....... James MuMaun......... 15,000 Albert Galbraith.......- 15,000 Noll Maearthur......... 15,000 Douglas Macarthur.... 15,000 Bernard Anderson ., 14,000 35,000 Robert Krook..... . 14,000 20,000 Fred Leudesser... . 13,000 Alexander Orr.... . 11,500 John Marks....... .. 11,500 Tbom'as Cook.... . 10,000 25,000 M. S. Norcross.... ,.. 10.000 J. Ernmerger..... ... 10,000 Con Stamatin..... .. 8,250 Albert Fox....... . 5,100 35,000 Greg Stewart..... .. 5,000 20,000 J. 0. Hestwood. . . 6,000 250,000 Thomas Flack.. . . 5,000 50,000 Louis B. Rhoads.. .. 5,000 35,000 Fred Price........ 5,000 20,000 Alaska Commercial Co. 250,000 Total. . $899,850 ....... A Perilous Journey. Every one of these men has a story to tell of the vast riches of the new gold fields, but they tell another story, too—a story of hardship, trial and suffering through long winter days, when the sun was smiling on this earth's other poje and leaving them in miserable cold and darkness. They tell at story of prodigious travels, of stagger¬ ing journeys and the dangers that be¬ set the traveler. They gold tell fields, what and a trip it is to reach the when they get through the faint¬ hearted prospector, who isn’t thor¬ oughly convinced that he wants to un¬ dergo the trial, decides to forego the trip to Alaska and dig up his wealth at home or go without. Some of the gold-mad adventurers, though, rush on unheeding, crowding into the Alaska- bound steamers without anything like enough supplies or enough money to see them through ten days of travel on land. Miners who have been there say that such as those will perish. IIow to Reach the New Gold Fields. There are two general routes to the Klondike distriot. From Chicago both lead to Seattle, aud there diverge. One lit¬ goes by ocean steamer west and a tle north, and passes through Dutch Harbor, at the extreme end of the southwest Alaskan peninsula. From there the steamer turns north and con¬ tinues on to St Michael’s Island, a little above the mouth of the Yukon, in Ber¬ ing Sea. At that point passengers are transferred to the river steamers to be¬ gin the long journey up the Yukon, whtoh winds northward and eastward, and finally brings the traveler to Daw¬ son City, now the principal town in the mining district, although sixty-five miles from the Klondike fields. The cost of the trip from Chicago this way, as prospecting miners usu¬ ally travel, is $251.50. It is divided as follows: From Chicago to Seattle (second class), $51.50; from Seattle to Dawson City, $200. days— In time the trip costs thirty four from Chicago to Seattle, sixteen ■* ... . . ; THE RIVER ROUTE TO DAWSON. from Seattle to St. Michael’s Island, and ten up the Yukon to Dawson City by the fast boat. The distance in gen¬ eral figures is 2250 miles from Chicago to Seattle, 2500 miles to St, Michael’s Island aud 1890 miles up the Yukon to Dawson, other a totq] of the about Klondike, 6600 miles. the The way to mjfes, hut “mountain equally route,-” long in is the sjmrtjf time it in required and a great deal more difficult. By this route the traveler sails more di¬ rectly north to, Juneau, which is 899 miles from Seattle, and then goes by lake and river and over the mountains 1000 miles to the new mining terri¬ tory. On arrival at Juneau the trav¬ eler changes to a smaller boat and sails 100 miles north to Dyea. From there he has a portage of twenty-seven miles through the Chilkoot Pass. The last half-mile of this pass is over a glacier and the severest of climbing. Chilkoot Indians are employed to pack supplies to the top of the pass, but from there on the traveler has to pack his own load. After getting through the Chilkoot Pass the traveler reaches Lake Linde- man. At that point is a sawmill, where boats are sold for $75 each. Travelers who do not care to pay that price can purchase lumber and build their own boats. The lumber can be bought for $100 a thousand feet, and about 500 feet are required to build a boat that will answer the purpose. Still other travelers carry whipesaws and get but their own lumber, and a man handy with a saw and hammer can build a boat in three or four days. To continue the trip, though, a boat is necessary and by some means or other one must be had. After securing his boat the travel¬ er floats down Lake Lindemau and Lake Bennett and then has half a mile of portage where his boat has to be moved on rollers, There is any amount of rollers to be had, though, for earlier beaters of the path have left them. This half mile overland brings the traveler to Lake Tagish, through which he goes six miles and over a quarter of a mile of portage to Mud Lake, and on to the White Horse Rapids. Here there is another port¬ age of three-quarters of a mile, and the traveler brings his boat to Lake Labarge. From there on the journey is through Thirty Mile River, the Lewis River, 150 miles to Five Fin¬ ger Rapids, to the Yukon at Fort Sel¬ kirk, and then down stream 250 miles to Dawson. r/t^ ....... x " z vm ), ptf Ki' rail Sniffy. J V WOm DAWSON CITY, IN THE KLONDIKE GOLD REGION. The cost of the trip this way can¬ not be definitely stated beyond Ju¬ neau, because after that point it de¬ pends somewhat on the bargain made with the Chilkoot Indians, who pack supplies [through the pass, and the length of time the overland part of the journey requires. The cost from Chi¬ cago to Seattle ia the same as by the other route, of course, $51.50 second class and $10 more for first class. The steamer fare np to Juneau and on to Dyea is $42. What it costs on the overland trip each traveler determines partially for himself, but the Indians who act as guides and pack supplies do not work without l>ig pay* The Centro of the Gold Region, Dawson City, the centre of the new mining region, although sixty-five miles distant from the Klondike, is said to be a typical mining camp— minus the guns. The British Govern¬ ment enforces its laws in Dawson, and those laws prohibit the use of firearms, so few men carry guns. Tho laws of the camp are enforced by mounted po- > V ;> fill 1 / RW 4 IV*. d >>Y.* v A PLACER MINE IN THE KLONDIKE GOLD’FIELDS, lice, whose captain is a civil officer. Though there are said to be 3000 peo¬ ple iu Dawson, few houses have been built, for the principal reason that lumber is $100 per 1000 feet, The general fear is, of course, that there will be great suffering there this win¬ ter, and it will be increased, it is ex¬ pected, by the rush of unprepared prospectors who sailed for the new fields immediately on learning what luck had befallen Those who have but recently returned. To give an accurate idea of the cost of living in Dawson City, the price list of a general store there is herewith given: Flour, per 100 pounds.... 512.00 Moose ham, per pound............... 1.00 S Rice, per pound........................25 pound......................25 Sugar, .per pound..................... .40 Bacon, per Eggs^per Batter dozenI.L50 dozen............... 2.00 Salmon, eggs, each....................$lto per 1.50 Turntes^penloimd 1 ...................15 Tea fief pound.....’.'..... ".!.......! LOO Coffee, per pound......v:..............50 canned n ...s.................... iu Canned meats....... .75 Lemons, each....... .20 Oranges, each...... .50 Tobacco, per pound 1.50 Liquors, pet drink.. 2.50 Shovels............. Picks................ 5.00 Coal oil, per gallon. 1.00 Overalls............. 1.50 Underwear, per suit. 55 to 7.50 Shoes............... 5.00 Rubber boots........ 810 to 15.00 Alaska and Its Resources. In the purchase of Alaska, theUnited States acquired a Territory more than half a million square miles in extent, a part of it within the arctic circle and in the region of everlasting ice and snow, where, during part of the sum¬ mer, there is continuous day and dur¬ ing the winter continuous, dreary night. The Alaskan coast line is greater than onr Atlantic seaboard, but the entire population of whites, Eski¬ mos and fierce Indians,'who are the Apaches of the north, is not much more than that of a ward division in Chicago. Alaskan Territory, In acquiring the though the United States moved its center, figured in geographical miles, not in area or population, as fax west as San Francisco. The country now extends from about the sixty-fifth de¬ gree of longitude up at the far east corner of Maine to the 122<1 degree up at the far northwest tip of the Alaskan mainland. This is taking no account of the little island of Attu, 1000 miles out in the Pacific, beyond the Hawaiian group, which, since tho purchase of Alaska, has really been our western land limit. The United States, therefore, may almost say with England that the never sets on its possessions. Alaska, the The principal river in Yukon, up which prospectors have to work their weary way to reach the gold fields was called by Schwatka, the Alaskan Nile. It rises a little more than 200 miles above Sitka, in the southern part of Alaska, and then strikes northward, following a broad circle to the west before it empties into Bering Sea through an extensive delta. Six hundred miles in from the coast it is more thjm a mile wide and the volume of its water is so great as to freshen the ocean ten miles out from land. The principal cities of Alaska are Juneau and Sitka. They are both thriving towns, and probably they will thrive from now on, for a time at least, as they have never thriven before. Alaska is ruled by a Territorial Gov¬ ernor, who just now is J. G. Brady, recently appointed by President Mc¬ Kinley to succeed James A. Sheakley. The Governor’s residence is in Sitka. The citizens up in that frozen coun¬ try do not vote for President of course, being under Territorial government. but they do send delegates to the Na¬ tional political conventions. The judi¬ cial function there is exercised by a distriot court, established in 1884. The court sits alternately at Sitka and Wrangle. [How odd for a court to sit at Sitka and Wrangle.] the And speaking of Wrangle, among things Alaska has done for this coun¬ try aside from stirring up the present gold excitement one of the most for¬ ward was to involve it in disputes with England on the boundary question and the seal fisheries business. Both of these disputes threatened war, but white-winged peace settled over the situation in each case and brought the suggestion of that newly invented English-American institution —arbitration. However, the boundary question is not settled yet, and the Brit¬ ish lion is even now roaring a little and angrily swishing its tail because of a diplomatic (the British call it undiplo¬ matic) note from Secretary of State Sherman demanding that British ves¬ sels “keep off the grass” as it were in the seal fishing grounds. The Boundary Question. that »«.■*<*»***. the discovery of gold in the Klon- dike region would revive in a measure 0 ;q question of a boundary line he- tween Alaska and the British North- west Territory, The Klondike fieMs are considerably east of Fort Cudahy and Dawson City, and both of these are on British soil, Into the new regions, thqjigh, \M Ameji- male j^ e £^. hundreds’ s j. JJ S gp Ve jjg^ $ gold. trooped Sincg then of them have over the border, staked out their claims in the rich hills and begun to dig. Should the Canadian Government pass an exclusion act all of these miners, of course, wo^ild be dispossessed. The difficulty of enforcing such an act, especially on miners who have staked out their claims, is at once ap- j Vs ALASKA USA. m A 'A, Miners crossing! the border. parent. The result in retaliation by the Government of the United States is also easily imagined. The Domin¬ ion Government has already established a custom house on the border, and is doing a fair business collecting duty on the goods that go into the new will country, and miners think they be satisfied with that. The exclusion of Americans would practically close the country for a time, for the best of the means of transportation to that frozen region are owned by American companies. In the past miners of any national¬ ity have been free to enter any new diggings and stake out their claims without restriction. Canadian miners are now free to work across the border in the Alaskan fields. What the result of an exclusion act would mean to Canada in a retaliatory measure by the United States, Canadians know better than they can be told. It is not believed, however, that Canada will attempt to exclude Amer¬ ican miners. It is true that the United States excludes Chinese, but Canada probably recognizes that keeping out Chinamen and barring the way for Americans are two different tilings. Queer Place of Refuge. The passengers on a Tenth street trolley car were treated to an unusual sight early yesterday morning. As the car was bowling along in the vicinity of Parish street a couple of sparrows, one in chase of the other, swooped down in front of the car. The pursued, by a quick flank move¬ ment, eluded its tormentor by darting under the roof of the front platform, and before the motorman knew what was up the bird had perched on his hand which gripped the lever. There it sat contentedly, while the passengers craned their necks to get a view of the odd spectacle. The sparrow didn’t seem to mind the fact that the motor- man’B hand was constantly turning around as he manipulated his lever, and, after riding on its queer perch for fully a block, chirped its thanks and flew away.—Philadelphia Record. “Brcttki'imt I’icnics.” People get up early in the morning out in Nebraska, and from this habit some enterprising social leader has evolved an idea which has become a fad in the neighborhood of Grand Island, where “breakfast picnics” are in vogue. The guests start out at 4 o’clock, ■ breakfast in the woods, and come home before the sun makes things too hot for comfort.—New York Sun. I HER ADDRESS A FEATURE OF THE AGRICULTURAL MEETING. •‘LYNCH AS OFTEN ftS NECESSARY." A State Fair For 1898—President I5ro\vij Is Ke-Kleoted—-Other Officers of the Society Selected. One of the features of the session of the Agricultural Society at Tybee was tbs address by Mrs. W. H. Felton, of Bartow county, in which she discussed at length the public questions of in¬ terest in Georgiu at this time, and dwelt with particular emphasis on the lynching problem. She reiterated her plea for co-education at the state uni¬ versity. of necessity Mrs. Felton spoke the for the better education of farmers’ daughters as a protection from the assaulter, aud declared that instead of so much money being expended for foreign missions it might he used to even better advantage in educating the heathens at home, even in Geor¬ gia. the millions “I hear much of sent abroad to Japan, China, India, Brazil and Mexico, but I feel that the heathen at home are so close at hand and need so much that I must make a strong effort to stop lynching, by keeping closer watch over the poor white girls on the secluded farms. “I do not discount foreign missions. I simply say the heathens are at your door, when our young maidens are de¬ stroyed in sight of your opulence and magnificence, and when your temples of justice are put to shame by the lyncher’s rope. If your court houses are shams and frauds and the law’s delay is the villain’s bulwark, then I say let judgment begin at the house of God and redeem this country from the cloud of shame that rests upon it! *• “When there is not enough religion in the pulpit to organize a crusade against sin, nor justice in the court- house to promptly punish crime, nor manhood enough in the nation to put a sheltering arm about innocence and virtue—if it needs lynching to protect woman’s dearest possession from the ravening human beasts—then I say lyn«h, a thousand times a week if necessary.” On the subject of co-education in the state university, Mrs. Felton said: “The women on the farms of Geor- gia demand greater advantages for in¬ tellectual improvement. Let the leg¬ islature at its approaching session open the university of this state to the young women of Georgia. If there are any young men who cannot then afford to risk their presence in such classic halls let such leave and perhaps seek more attractive influences with inter-collegiate baseball exercises— and I’ll wager that for every one that leaves for this cause, fifty more de¬ serving and chivalric young men will be glad to enter. “Let the legislature make the uni¬ versity such a school as the state will be proud of and, undeterred by de¬ nominational bigotry or ignorant dem- agogy, appropriate money enough to make it such a commendable school. Then let the stats rule it, control and manage it inside and out without fear or favor. State Fair for 1898. Georgia will have a great state agri¬ cultural exposition iu Atlanta in No¬ vember, 1898. That was decided up¬ on by the executive committee of the State Agricultural society at Tybee Thursday morning, Mr. Joseph Thompson, of Atlanta, pledging every requirement asked by the committee. These are that the city donate $3,000 in cash to the society, the full use of the Piedmont park exposition grounds aud buildings, free lights, free water aud free police protection. On the guarantee made by Mr, Thompson, a committee was appointed to begin at once to make preparation for the largest and most attractive state fair ever held in the south. Officers Fleeted. The election of officers resulted in the unanimous re-election of Hon. J. Pope Brown, of Pulaski, as president; James Barrett, of Richmond, general vice president; Dr. Hape, of Atlanta, secretary, and W. C. Clemens, treas¬ urer. The other vice presidents are: First district, Dr. R. G. Norton, of Savan¬ nah; second district, R. E. Critten¬ den, of Shelbyville; third district, Colonel J. H. Black, of Sumter; fourth district, R. Leonard, of Tal- botton; fifth district, A. J. Smith, of Conyers; sixth district, W. O. Wad- ley, of Bollingbroke; seventh district, J. Lindsey Johnson, of Rome; eighth district, G. W. Holmes, of Madison; ninth district, G. H. Jones, of Nor- cross; tenth district, B. H. Baker, of Warrenton; eleventh district, Dr. W. B. Burroughs, of Brunswick. The following executive committee was elected: First district, G. S. Rountree, of Swainsboro; H. C. Evans, of Halcyon- dale; second district, C. L. Tuinlin, of Cuthbert; third district, J. J. Easter - lin, of Montezuma; fourth district, M. R. Russell, of Carrollton; fifth district, W. B. Henderson, of Decatur; J. N. B. Goode, of Conyers; sixth district, R. W. Je.mison, of Mason; seventh district, Sterling N. Roberts, of Car- tersville; J. O.Waddell, of Cedartown; eighth district, G.W. Holmes, of Mad¬ ison; T. W. McAllister, of Lavonia; ninth district, T. E. MeElroy, of Nor- cross; H. H. Summerouv; tenth dis¬ trict, P. B. Walker, of Warrenton; eleventh district,W. A.Clark, of Jack- sonville.