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r__ 1 H KIMD1KE GOU The United States Government in ? 1867 paid Russia $7,2000,00 for the W Territory of Alaska. * ^ Alaska has paid back her purchase money in gold four times, having produced during the time it has been a part of the United States about $30,000,I >600 of the precious yellow metaL |y- To-day the eyes of the world are v 'turned toward our frozen acquisition ?' -* in the north, for within its borders r has been discovered an Eldorado, seemingly "richer than Pluto's mine/* A few weeks ago the word Klondike, j \ literally translated meaning Deer River, was keown to geographers and * lew miners on the Yukon; to-day it . is on every tongue and is known as j f the designation, if the reports be but kalf true, for a gold-bearing district > greater in area and richer in character 4han any the world has known, with J* ike possible exception of California, yr The reported gold discoveries of the fresent day in Alaska and the reporttod gold discoveries of '49 in California afford many parallels. To the average v. man the treasures of the coast State swere seemingly as inaccessible a? are | tbexiches of the Yukon and its tribuv taries. One was more than 2000 miles | across a trackless desert and over aaow-bonnd mountain passes, beset Vfc by savages, whose deadly attaeks % marked the trail with bkaching bones ? asroas the Western States; the other x is aesrly 7000 miles by water, through ? a rigorous climate, or almost 40(30 y miles by land and water, with mouar tain passes to scale as dangerous as those of the Swiss Alps. , The fabulous tales of wealth sent out i by the California pioneers were no less N wonderful than those brought back by the men who braved the last cold t>. season in the Klondike mineral belt, IAS THE MINEBS JOUBNET DOWN LA . ,.and in both cases those who returned brought book with them great nuggets oi the precious stuff that left little or lio doubt in the mind of the hearer. The California miner in the song who & .had so many nuggets that he was accustomed to "go a hatful blind" finds * bis parallel in the Yukon miner who oiaizns to have "washed out" $212 in one panful of dirt?a process that requires ten or twelve minutes. Poor Man's Mines. Rr The Alaska and California gold fields # are alike also in being placer mines. jSSi'Plaoer mining is commonly called jPSr "poor man's mining," for the reason that it is done without machinery, ? -while the implements required in the Jjjfii' work are few and of small cost. A placer miner can get along very well & , with a pick, shovel and gold pan. If K&' the dirt is not rich he can accomplish Ep&ttier results by running it through a V. htoice box, but where the yield is in BUggets instead of fine gold he prefers SR.; to "pan" it. ] The great Klondike strike was made W-: wfc? months ago, but nothing was <..known of it in the United States until June 15, when a vessel called the Excelsior arrived in San Francisco laden with miners from the Klondike, who in turn were laden with gold. I They told almost incredible tales of H 'the richness of the newly discovered 'ijjV district, where fortunes had been accumulated in a few months. Experij/^.,C?eed miners and "tenderfeet" seemed ' to have shared good fortune alike, and -with some justice, too, for the oreait at the discovery of the new gold fields - is due to the inexperienced men. ' Another vessel brought to Seattle a . ssoond party of successful prospectors *ud a ton and a half of gold. These men had endured peril and undergone XZKZB8 CROSSING THE CHILKOOT PASS. f great hardships in accumulating the fortunes they brought, and thev told story that had a dark as well as a bright side. To follow their example means a risk of wealth, health and f even life, but for those who are willing to take the chances the prospect they ^ hold out is alluring. ! ^Location of the Klondike District. The richest of the mines in the Alaska region seem to be in the Klon' dike. a. few miles over the British W A : r X$ ?n? < ' "* * . . 1 7 vvvtvfVfVvvvvTviVivvv$v^ ) FIUS IS ALASKA. I border. They were discovered, as his been said, by a party of "tenderfeet," who, against the advice of the oldtimers in the district, wandered "over yonder in the Klondike" and strnck it rich. From Klondike oomes much of the gold and from Klondike seems to come ?ll the excitement. A few "tenderfeet," going it blind, have stirred up the Nation. Out of the regions of their discovery has oome, it is estimated, $2,000,000 worth of gold during the present summer. Nearly all of that gold has fonnd its way into the United States. It is hard to tell 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 southeast coast of the Territory (the most accessible part of it), but the ore is of low grade and mining is made profitable only by the most careful management. The placer mines, from which prospectors 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 ? J ik. C.aol can termorj, muu uiu nuv,u viwa district, all in American territory. Along all of the river in this section, tributaries to the Yukon, gold diggings exist, and in many places pay the prospector well for his trouble. In all the immense country over -FE .KE LABARGE DURING THE WINTER. which the placer mining extends it is estimated that np 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 quartz 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 was contained in the rock is concentrated. The mining of this country consists, therefore in washing out the gravel of these beds. So the miners worked, being fairly well paid for their labor, until the "tenderfeet" made the Klondike 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 I 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, and men who never before rose above the level of the commonest of miners have come back to civilization and comfort loaded with gold to last them a lifetime. Take as an illustration this list of returned miners who came on the Excelsior:, Brought Value from of Alaska claims. T. S. Llppy $ 65,000 $1,000,000 P. O. H. Bowker 90,000 500,000 Joe La Due 10,000 500,000 J. B. Holllnseed 25,500 William Kulju 17,000 James McMann 15,000 Albert Galbraith 15,000 Neil Macarthur 15,000 Douglas Macarthur.... 15,000 Bernard Anderson 14,000 35,000 Robert Krook . 14,000 20,000 Fred Lendesser 13,000 Alexander Orr 11,500 John Marks 11,500 Thomas Cook 10,000 25,000 M. S. Norcross 10,000 J. Ernmerger 10.000 Con Stamatin 8,250 Albert Fox 5,100 35,000 f * rtfto on nnn vht^ v,vw ?v,wvv J. 0. Rest wood 5,000 250,000 Thomas Flack 5,000 50,000 Louis B. Rhoads 5,000 85,000 Fred Price 5,000 20,000 Alaska Commercial Co. 250,000 Total 5399,850 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 pole and leaving them in miserable cold and darkness. They tell a story of prodigious travels, of staggering journeys and the dangers that beset the traveler. They tell what a trip it is to reach the gold fields, and when they get through the fainthearted prospector, who isn't thoroughly convinced that he wants to undergo 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, thougb.rush on ? " 7 V :l unheeding, crowding into the Alaskabound 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. How to Beach the New Gold Fields. There are two general routes to the Klondike distriot From Chicago both lead to Seattle, and there diverge. One goes by ocean steamer west and a little north, and passes through Dutch Harbor, at the extreme end of the southwest Alaskan peninsula. From there th s steamer turns north and continues on to SI Miohaers Island,a little oK/ntta tka mnnfh nl tKa Valrnn ifl 1W. ing Sea. At that point passengers are transferred to the river steamers to begin the long journey up the Yukon, which winds northward and eastward, And finally brings the traveler to Dawson 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 usually travel, is $251.50. It is divided as follows: From Chicago to Seattle (seoond class), $51.50; from Seattle to Dawson City, $200. In time the trip costa thirty days? four from Chicago to Seattle, sixteen THE EIVEB BOUTE TO DAWS05. from Seattle to St. Michael's Island, and ten np the Yukon to Dawson City by the fast boat. The distance in general figures is 2250 miles from Chicago to Seattle, 2500 miles to St. Michael's . Island and 1890 miles up the Yukon to Dawson, a total of about 6600 miles. The other way to the Klondike, the ' "mountain route," is shorter in miles, but equally long in the time it requires and a great deal more difficult. By this ronte 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 j 1000 miles to the new mining terri tory. On arrival at Juneau the trav- ( eler changes to a smaller boat and i 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 I supplies to the top of the pass, but < from there on the traveler has to pack i his own load. i After getting through the Chilkoot i Pass the traveler reaches Lake Linde- i man. At that point is a sawmill, J where boats are sold for $75 each. ( Travelers who do not care to pay that 1 price can purchase lumber and build i their own boats. The lumber can be 1 bought for $100 a thousand feet, and 1i about 500 feet are required to build a J < boat that' will answer the purpose. Still other travelers carry whipesaws t and get out their own lumber, and a c man handy with a saw and hammer i can baild a boat in three or fonr days, i To continue the trip, though, a boat < is necessary and by some means or { other one must be had. < After securing his boat tho travel- t er floats down Lake Lindeman and i 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, J for earlier beaters of the path have 1 left them. This half mile overland brings the traveler to Lake Tagish, i through which he goes six miles and : over a quarter of a mile of portage to w?d T.aira ftnrl nn to the White Horse Rapids. Here there is another port- 1 age of three-quarters of a mile, and ( the traveler brings his boat to Lake j Labarge. From there on the journey 1 is through Thirty Mile River, the i Lewis River, 150 miles to Five Fin- i ger Rapids, to the Yukon at Fort Sel- < kirk, and then down stream 250 miles i to Dawson. < DAWSON CITY, IN THE KI The cost of the trip this way can- < not be definitely stated beyond Ju- 1 neau, because after that point it de- ' pends somewhat on the bargain made 1 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- i cago to Seattle is the same as by the i other route, of course, $51.5,0 second class and $10 more for first class. The < steamer fare up to Juneau and on to : Dyea is $12. What it costs on the overland trip each traveler determines 1 partially for himself, but the Indians who act as guides and pack supplies do not work -vfithout big pay, > The Centre 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? minns the gnns. The British Government enforces its laws in Dawson, and those laws prohibit the uue of firearms, so few men carry gnns. The laws of the camp are enforced by mounted po a placer mine in the : Iiee, whose captain ii a civil officer. Though there are said t<rbe 3000 people in 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 winter, and it will be increased, it is expected, 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 /vf ^ ?ana?nl o+avo tliora ia hnrAnnf.fi 113If VI m gouoiai OWAV VMV&V ?U MNMWTTAVM given: Flour, per 100 per ads $12.00 Moose nam, per ,>ound 1.00 Caribou meat, par pound 65 Beans, per pound 10 Bice, per pound 25 Sugar, per pound 25 Bacon, per pound 40 Butter, per roll 1.50 Eggs, per dazen 1.50 Better eggs, per dozen 2.00 Salmon, each fl to 1.50 Potatoes, per pound 25 Turnips, per pound 15 Tea, per pound 1.00 Coffee, per pound 50 Dried fruits, per pound 35 Canned fruits 50 Canned meats 75 Lemons, each 20 Oranges, each 50 Tobacco, per pound 1.50 Liquors, per drink 50 Shovels 2.50 Picks 5.00 Coal oil, per gallon 1.00 Overalls 1.50 Underwear, per suit $5 to 7.50 3hoes-. . 5.00 Bubber boots $10 to 15.00 Alaska and IU Resources. In the purchase of Alaska, the United Q+o+aa a/vmirad a Territorv more than half a million square miles in eitent, % part of it within the arctic circle and in the regiqn of everlasting ice and mow, where, dtiring part of the summer, there is continuous day and during the winter continuous, dreary aight. The Alaskan coast line is greater than our Atlantic seaboard, but ;he entire population of whites, Eskimos and fierce Indians, who are called ;he Apaches of the north, is not much pqre than that of a ward division in Chicago. In acquiring the Alaskan Territory, hough the United States moved its :enter, figured in geographical riiles, lot in area or population, as far west is San Francisco. The country now extends from about the sixty-fifth decree of longitude up at the far east sorner of Maine to the 122d degree up it the far northwest tip of the Alaskan mainland. This is taking no ao-xrant )f the little island of ?ttu, 1000 miles ' >ut in the Pacific, beyond the Hawaiian group, which, since the purchase of Uaska, has really been our western and limit. The United States, therefore, may ilmost say with England that the snn never seta on its possessions. The principal river in Alaska, the Fukon, np which prospectors have to trork 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 :ircle to the west before it empties nto Bering Sea through an extensive lelta. Six hundred miles in from the .ONDIKE GOLD REGION. uoast it is more than a mile wide and the volume of its water is so great as to freshen the ocean ten miles outfrom 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 Governor, who just now is J. 6. Brady, recently appointed by President MoKinley to succeed James A. Sheakley. The Governor's residence is in Sitka. The citizens up in that frozen country do not vote for President of course, baing under Territorial government, but they do send delegates to the National political conventions. The judicial function there is exercised by a district court, established in 1884. The court sits alternately at Sitka and "Wrangle. [How odd for a coart to sit at Sitka and Wrangle. ] And speaking of Wrangle, among the things Alaska has done for this country aside from stirring up the present 3^'"" KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS. gold excitement one of the most forward 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 settledyet, and the Britf \ ? f ! KuUa.J 1SD lion is eyen now roaring a incis aim angrily swishing its tail because of a diplomatic (1he British call it undiplomatic) note from Secretary of State Sherman demanding that British vessels "keep off the grass" as it were in the seal fishing grounds. Tho Boundary Question. It was not unexpected, of course, that the discovery of gold in the Klondike region would revive in a measure the old question of a boundary line between Alaska and the British Northwest Territory, The Klondike fields are considerably east of Fort Cudahy and Dawson City, and both of these are on British soil. Into the new regions, though, American miners first ventured and made the first discoveries of gold. Since then hundreds of them havfc trooped over thehnriler 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, would* be dispossessed. The difficulty of enforcing such an act, especially on miners who have staked out their claims, is at once apXnatBS CBOSSIJfQ THE BORDER. | parent. The result in retaliation by ( the Government of the United States 1 is also easily imagined. The Domin- i ion Government has already established 1 a custom house on the border, and is 1 doing a fair business collecting duty 1 on the goods that go into the new j nnnnfr<ir and minora thinfc tVlAV will 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 nationality 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 th an they can be told. It is not believed, however, that Canada will attempt to exclude American miners. It is true that the United Siates excludes Chinese, but Canada probably recognizes that keeping out tuinamen ana oimug me ay iu< < Americans are two diL'erent things. j Queer Place of Before. ' The passengers on a Tenia 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 i sparrows, one in chase of the other, J swooped down in front of the car. J The pursued, by a quick flank movement, .eluded its tormentor by darting under the roof of the front platform, i and before the motorman knew what < was up the bird had perched on his 1 hand which gripped the lever. There 1 it sat contentedly, while the passengers j craned their necks to get a view of the -J J TKn flnorrnw Hilln't UUU Dpcuiatic. amw .. ? seem to mind the fact that the motor- < man's hand was constantly turning < aronnd as he manipulated his lever, 1 and, after riding on its queer perch 1 for fully a blo:k, chirped its thanks * and flew away.?Philadelphia Rqcord. "Breakfast Picnics." ' People get up early in the morning j out in Nebraska, and from this habit 1 some enterprising social leader has 1 evolved an idea which has become a fad in the neighborhood of Grant! 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 1 S mm mil m Over a Thousand Increase on the: t c Pension Rolls. ' I STATE SEIZED THE WHISKEY. * Dismissed With Gosts?A Manslayer * r Pardoned?A Reward by the Governor?Palmetto Chips. \ , - jSb . v?W There has been a large increase in the number of the pensioners of the x State this year. In all 1,127 new names appear upon the rolls. This year great pains have been taken under the new aet to care for all applications filed and there will hardly be any complaints. The olerks in the comptroller's office 4 are bnsy transferring all the figures to the big fnal pension sheet, and the board nopes to have the checks for tljft individual pensioners in the several counties go forward to the clerks o? court immediately. This year almosthalf of the pensioners come under the> head of class C, No. 8?widows. Last year they numbered 1,966. The total number of pensioners of all classes is 5,841 against 4,714 last year. The following facts about the $100,000 appro- 'Pjfi priation which is the same this year aa last will be of interest to the pension- \i ers: Last year the class A pensioners received $8 a month apiece or $96 for the year. The total amount paid them was $j, 184. This year the class A'pensioners will get nearly $1,800 less, the act having reduced their monthly payments to $6. Last year the class B pensioners got $29. lO each, or a total of $9,578.90. The class C men drew $45,842 and the widows $38,140.40, each getting $19.40 apiece. This year the class A pensioners will draw $72 apieoe. The class B men will get in the neighborhood of $15.50 apiece. The expenses last year were something over $800 paid to the several county Doafrds p of pensions. This vear the expenses will run np to about $1,400, under the provisions of the new law. The carload of whiskey shipped to !^S] Anderson after Judge Simonton's decretal order and injunction, was seised . \S> 3* the constables by the Governor's - .;s3 Hvioe. The reason given by the Governor is that the shippers oonsigned the '-vi liquor to themselves as agents and not ., .rjs to a regularly appointed agent in this &jj State, who happened to be a resident of the State/ f|H| The State authorities admit that the decretal order settles quite thoroughly the question of shipping bottles by the , v' carloed lot, yet at the same time it is pretty certain that any suoh shipments not made under the exact conditions of the Gukenheimer shipment will be fol- ? " ' lowed by legal proceedings. There can hardly be a doubt that the State ? 2rot will not attempt to interfere with a shipment made exactly as in the * , * Florence case. So far as sales by the cask or in cases are concerned, there can be no question about them so long * , as the regularly appointed agent of a house in some other State sells tU stuff in the shape it was received. Last week a committee of six leading >? negro preachers of the Methodist church appointed by the conference fitp called on Governor Ellerbe, presenting , him with a report adopted by the eon- :, V, Terence dealing with lynching* and at* r^.p saults. Serious apprehension was exCefB.d at "the grnwing dsregardoi ';rl w and order manifest throughout tbe >'vffflt Dountry, North, East South, and West.* ]?he orderly investignMon and punishment of crime by con t are of ted sup- '.J planted by excited ana prejudice judgment and the cruel and inhuman taking ' [>f life by mobs." Governor Ellerbe erpressd himself as pleased with the position taken by the conference. There will be no farther attempt on ' 3 the part of Mr. Wesley or hie attorneys now to get poseasion of the agricultural & ball property at least nntil the hearing of the appeal in November before tkW' United States court of appeals and the final determination of that appeal. On the 11th Attorney General Barber wired the assistant attorney general fcpm Greenville, that the supercedes* bad been granted by Jndge Simonton and the exeontion stayed. Jndge Town- ~i send, in accordance with this order, ' i bas amended the bond and forwarded it to Jndge Simonton. The State of the 12th says there is locked np in police headquarters in Columbia a negro Bullman car porter $; named D. W. Alexander, who has been irrested by Chief Daly upon suspicion. r4 Ka nrnvai fn ha (ha riirhtmM II Vlffr serious charge will be made against turn. He is said to have assaulted a -,Si lady on a Pullman car. He jumped from the car when the chief made for tiim, but was caught. The Secretrry of State has 'issued a "-'M commission to Louis Belirens, r". L. Meyer, O. G. Marjenhoff aud &. E. Bi- " S jaise, of Charleston, as coriKirators of the Charleston Fire Depar meat Aid Association. Tho purpose oi the company is to aid its sick and bury its dead members. . * The assistant attorney general lias received from Greenville the copies >f the final orders signed by Judjge cicnonton in the three other "original package" cases. Each case has been lismissed with the costs falling on the liquor people. Governor Ellerbe has granted a parIon to Chas. K. Hatfield, who was convicted of manslaughter in Darling ton county in October, 1896, and sentenced by Judge Aldrich to a term of three years in the State penitentiary. ^ In an altercation at a colored Baptist ihnrch at Yorkville Henry Jones, n.ias Henry Fry, shot and killed Andy Dar- , ?': by. Both the parties are colored. The fuss originated over a white woman oi bad character. . & Governor Ellerbe has offered a reward 5f $100 for the apprehension and conriction of Pat Dreher, the negro who tilled his wife at Lewiedale a short time ago. ^ There are now two "original package" establishments in Laurens. .- s - - t ,l{