Part 2

One of the peculiar features of the new camp is the lack of shooting, due to the fact that the Canadian Government does not permit men to carry firearms. Police disarm miners when they enter the district, so that there is not any of the lawlessness and crime which marked early placer mining in California. There is much gambling, and play is high. An old miner, Alexander Orr, who spent eight Winters in Alaska, but will not return, said:

"Dawson is not like most of the large mining camps. It is not a tough town; murders are almost unknown. The miners are a quiet, 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 town, but serious quarrels are the exception. As a gambling town I think it is equal to any 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 $1 ante, and often bet $300 or $500 on the third card."

Orr sold out his claim for $20,000, and the men who bought it made the purchase money in four months. Perhaps the best idea of what has been done in the new camp can be gained from the following short interviews with returned miners:

William Kulju said: "I brought down just 1,000 ounces of dust and sold it to smelting works. I worked at Eldorado Creek, near Dawson, and was in that country about a year, and had a couple of dollars and a pack last Summer when I went in. I sold my claim for $25,000, part cash and the balance to be paid as it is taken out. Now, I am taking a trip to the old country--Finland--and am coming back next year."

Fred Lendeseen: "I went to Alaska two years ago, and when I left there six weeks ago I brought $13,000 in gold dust with me. I have had considerable experience in mining, and say without hesitation that Alaska is the richest country I have ever seen. I have interest in a claim near Dawson and am going back in the Spring."

Greg Stewart: "I had a partner and I sold out my interest for $45,000 and put my money back again at interest in mines. My partner had 1,500 ounces of dust, but it fell short four ounces on the way down. The dust will go over $17 an ounce, but we are all waiting for returns from the smelting works. I brought a few hundred ounces with me, but I get interest of 2 per cent. on short loans. I expect to return next Spring."

John Marks: "I brought $11,500 in gold dust with me, but I had to work for every bit of it. There is plenty of gold in Alaska--more, I believe, than the most sanguine imagine--but it cannot be obtained without great effort and endurance. The first thing for a poor man to do when he reaches the country is to begin prospecting. As snow is from two to five feet deep prospecting is not easy. Snow must first be shoveled away, and then a fire built on the ground to melt the ice. As the ground thaws the shaft must be sunk until bed rock is reached. The average prospector has to sink a great many shafts before he reaches anything worth his while. If gold is found in sufficient quantities to pay for working, he may begin drifting from the shaft, and continue to do so as long as he finds enough gold to pay."

Albert Fox: "I and partner went into the district in 1895 and secured two claims. We sold one for $45,000. I brought 300 ounces, which netted $5,000. Everybody is at Dawson for the present. The district is apt to be overrun. I wouldn't advise anyone to go there this Fall, for people are liable to go hungry before spring. About 800 went over the summit from Juneau, 600 miles, so there may not be food enough for all."

Robert Kooks: "I've been four years in Alaska. I had a half interest in a claim on Eldorado Creek, and sold out to my partner for $12,000. I bought a half interest in a claim on the Bonanza, below the Discovery claim, and my share is worth easily $15,000. I brought $14,000 in gold dust, and shall return in the Spring, after rest and recreation."

J. B. Hollinshead: "I was in the diggings about two years, and brought out about 1,500 ounces, which I suppose will bring $17 an ounce. I'm not sure about going back, though I have a claim on Gold Bottom Creek, fifteen miles from Bonanza. It is less than a year since I located my claim. My dust will bring over $25,000."

M. S. Norcross: "I was sick and couldn't work, so I cooked for Mr. McNamee. Still I had a claim on the Bonanza, but didn't know what was in it, because I couldn't work it. I sold out last spring for $10,000 and was satisfied to get a chance to return to my home in Los Angeles."

Thomas Flack: "My dust will bring more than $6,000. I have an interest in two claims on the Eldorado. One partner sold out for $50,000 and another for $55,000. I had an offer of $50,000, but refused it just before I came out."

Thomas Cook: "It is a good country, but if there is a rush there's going to be a great deal of suffering. Over 2,000 men are there at present, and 2,000 more will be in before snow falls. I've been at placer mining for years in California and British Columbia, and the mines at Dawson are more extensive and beyond anything I ever saw. Last year I did very well at Dawson. I have a claim worth about the average, they say from $25,000 to $50,000, on Bear Creek, across the divide from the Bonanza."

Con Stamatin: "I was mining on shares with a partner. He's still there. We worked on Alexander McDonald's ground in Eldorado for forty-five days and took out $33,000. We got 50 per cent. and the other half went to McDonald. Then we divided our share, and I came away."

All miners unite in saying that the only fear for the coming winter is the lack of supplies. The Alaska Commercial Company promises, however, to send in all that is needed. Living is high now, as may be seen from these quotations of prices when the miners started for home: Flour, $12 per hundredweight; (following are the prices per pound) moose ham, $1; caribou meat, 65 cents; beans, 10; rice, 25; sugar, 25; bacon, 40; potatoes, 25; turnips, 15; coffee, 50; dried fruits, 35; tea, $1; tobacco, $1.50; butter, a roll, $1.50; eggs, a dozen, $1.50; salmon, each, $1 to $1.50; canned fruits, 50 cents; canned meats, 75; liquors, per drink, 50; shovels, $2.50; picks, $5; coal oil, per gallon, $1; overalls, $1.50; underwear, per suit, $5 to $7.50; shoes, $5; rubber boots, $10 to $15.

Miners who have reached San Francisco do not act like people who have suddenly jumped from poverty to comparative wealth. They are level headed. They went to the best hotels, and they are living on the fat of the land, but they do not throw money away, and not one started in to paint the town red. They have worked so hard that they appreciate the value of money. What they delight in most are theatres and other amusements. They say no one knows how to enjoy these if he has not spent a year in Alaska. Three-quarters of the miners will return in the Spring when they are well rested."

ARRIVAL OF THE SECOND TREASURE SHIP FROM THE FROZEN KLONDYKE.

When the first stories of the fruitfulness of the "Far Off Land" came to the ears of the children of Israel there were many doubters, but when those who had been sent to spy out the land came back later bearing great bunches of grapes there were none that doubted. So when the Excelsior arrived in San Francisco, on the 14th of July, many may have doubted the truth of the stories told of the richness of the new gold fields, but when, three days later, the Portland steamed into Seattle with gold to the value of over $1,000,000, brought from the region of the Upper Yukon, no one who saw with their own eyes the gold, and who heard with their own ears the tales of mineral riches unsurpassed, could doubt that on the banks of the Klondyke had been discovered the world's greatest gold fields. An eye witness of the scenes of the Portland's arrival thus tells the story in the New York Journal:

Gold in boxes, gold in bags, gold in blankets, fine gold and coarse gold, gold nuggets and gold dust, the yellow treasure of the Klondyke diggings, came from the far North.

A ton and a half of gold was a part of the load of the steamer Portland from St. Michael's, Alaska, and with the 3,000 pounds of gold were the several owners, sixty-eight miners, some with $5,000, some with $10,000, some with $50,000, a few with $100,000 and over, but all with gold.

With the product of their work for a season in the new "diggings," the richest in surface gold ever discovered, these miners had made the long voyage from Dawson City, the new golden town, 1,895 miles down the Yukon to St. Michael's, and at St. Michael's had boarded the Portland with their treasure, bound for homeland and intent upon changing their dust and their nuggets into the minted, milled coin of their country.

On the voyage the gold was stored in the captain's state room. The little safe in the corner was packed full of bags of gold, and the remainder that the safe would not hold was placed in three boxes.

When the steamer came to the port the miners put their bags on their shoulders and walked down the gang plank in the presence of a vast throng of Seattle people assembled to see the great pile of treasure from the rich fields of the far North. A miner with only $5,000 in his bag easily carried his fortune. Twenty thousand dollars in two bags is a good load for any stalwart man, no matter if he has worked where the mercury falls to sixty degrees below zero. Two men used all their strength in carrying a strapped blanket, in which was about $50,000. The few with the big fortunes, $100,000 and over, had to hire help to get their precious possessions to a safe place of storage in Seattle.

The greater part of the ton and a half of gold was taken from the ground during three Winter months. Last Fall some green strangers, "tenderfeet," fresh from the comforts of civilization, were so absurd as to give no heed to the advice of the old miners. The pioneers of the Yukon mines, the men who know Circle City and Forty Mile Creek and all the surrounding country, said there was no use looking for gold "over yonder on the Klondyke." But the foolish strangers went "over yonder on the Klondyke." During the Fall the news reached the older diggings of the amazing discoveries of gold by these absurd tourists from the South, and from all the country round about came the rush to Klondyke.

When gold is waiting to be lifted out of the ground cold is not to be considered. During the dark Winter days the temperature, 30 or 40 degrees below zero, the quest for dust and nuggets was pursued continually. The product of the work of some of these Winter miners, defiant of the cold, is shown in the treasure brought to the United States by the Portland and the Excelsior.

The greatest fortune gained by any of the company of miners is the honeymoon treasure of Clarence Berry, of Fresno, Cal. He brought $135,000 in dust and nuggets. In 1890 young Berry went to the Yukon country, and for several years he prospected along Forty-Mile Creek and other placer fields without success. Last Summer he returned to California, married, and took his bride with him to the North. Instead of remaining in Alaska he went over the boundary line into British possessions, and on the Klondyke he struck the richest pocket that was discovered. He said that the principal part of his $135,000 came from three hundred "box lengths." A "box length" is fifteen feet long and twelve feet wide. In one length he found a pocket of $10,000. In another length was a nugget weighing thirteen ounces, next to the largest found in the diggings. Mr. Berry deemed his fortune sufficient for the present, and is taking his bride to his home in Fresno, where, in the July temperature of 110 above, she may find compensation for the 58 below of January on the Yukon.

One of the foolish strangers who gave no consideration to the advice of the old miners is Frank Phiscater. Last Autumn he went from Borada, Mich., to Alaska and thence to Klondyke. He was one of the first to discover gold in the fabulously rich placers of the new El Dorado. He employed nine men and in three months' time took out from two claims $96,027. He still owns the claims, but having nearly $100,000 made in less than twelve months he deems himself entitled to a trip to Michigan.

A FEW OF THE PRIZES WON.

THEY HAVE MADE THEIR PILE AND BROUGHT IT HOME.

Clarence J. Berry $135,000

W. Stanley 115,000

F. Phiscater 92,000

F. G. H. Bowker 90,000

T. S. Lippy 60,000

K. B. Hollingshead 25,500

R. McNulty 20,000

Wm. Kulju 17,000

Joe Mamue 10,000

James McMann 15,000

Albert Galbraith 15,000

Neil MacArthur 15,000

D. MacArthur 15,000

Ber. Anderson 14,000

Robert Krook 14,000

Fred Lendesser 13,000

Alexander Orr 11,500

John Marks 11,500

Thomas Cook 10,000

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.