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flORAftE |L ,^OPO^ rm\^ I ?H?NDV^r._ ^ iMJirrtK aix. RKWAHP. The banker's daughter looked up wit] a vivid shock, as her name, spoken sud deniv, unexpectedly in the accents of th man to whom she owed all her sorrov and bereavement, fell upon her hearing Erec t, trembling, she faced him, am the heart of the plotter, expecting re proaches, shrinking timidity, accusation took courace. She was neither th frightened child of the past, nor the bit ter, crushed woman of the last bou he had seen her. Her face, growini steadily paler, took an icy hauteu * ? ~slcintVtc hop nvp? novo tu 113 CA^ICSCIfb uvpvuc) uvt VI V- W?.? leaving Arnold Dacre's face, sbe stoo( like a queen at bay, a being turned t stone. "Flora!" be repeated.*' I bave sough you everywhere. You did not ex pec me, but?speak, girl! why do you star at me so stonily?" He quailed before the never-waverini glance. This unexpected iciness am silence puzzled him. "What have you to say to me?" wa forced slowly from her reluctant lips. "What have I to say!" cried Dacre misconstruing the hidden centempt, re pugnancy and resentment that pun soul harbored against him, supposini Kg* Kn? tfrtuVtlric wmiM mal'A hf?r 3 crushed despairing woman, reckless o all save a craving for peace and safety "Much that can interest you, Flora!" hold your destiny, your future in m; hands." She did not reply, she might have beei marble for all she moved. Steeled t< the heart, sugeested by the circum stances of the case, she stood curbinj % every emotion. "We will not waste words," continue! Dacre, "for I see you are in a frame o mind to listen to me, and probably ac upon my advice. You are a refugee, ac counted an accomplice in the robber' of the bank. You can never return ti Ridgefield. You are a begger, I can en rich you. I can restore to you you former, your father's name." Only the eyelids quivered at this. 91 s. Vt ? 1 1 i n rv 1 tt UU UU, Mlt; 2>UIU, ?LUI IJJ J, VUiJUU^iT "1 offer you wealth, luxury, peace If you will marry mo, I will take you t< some far spot where life shall be a per feet holiday, I can give you a statel1 home, love, devotion. You can forge the past, it is your only hope, or else yoi are an outcast, a pauper. Chooseriches or the almshouse, love or desolu tion." "And if I refuse?" The accents were ominous, but th< eaper scoundrel ran on gibly. "Then I leave you to your fate?a bit ter one. I leave your father's honorec name in the mire of disgrace, where i' Rravels. Your lover! Oh! you start now! He escaped, but he is now a pris oner at my will in the town jail at Deep lord. Wed me, and I agree to clear youi father's name of the last vestice o crime, I agreo to free your lover. ] agree to restore to you the fortune now in mv possession. Speak! will you con sent?" She fairly took his breath away witt the sharpness, ihe suddenness of hei reply. "Yes," she said simply. A cry of joy parted the schemer'; lips. "What! you agree? You will wed me?' "On one condition, I will undertake ihe marriage cerembny, yes." "And that is?" "Word for word, truth for truth, front beginning to end,you are to tell thestor) of the trouble at the bank?all your pari in that fraud, all the details as they OC' curred." "It is a bargain! You will wed mc first?" "ll tne story win oc lortncoming.-"I vow it Wait, I have brought th( magistrate with me. The cereinonv ear be performed now. at once. I will re^ turn within two minutes time." He sped back through the open door way. His whole soul was aflame with hope and triumph. Shrewd plotter thai he was. he never discerned the latenl warning that the girl's immobile faco ex pressed. "She is too crushed to resist," h< gloated, as he dashed through the wooc in quest of the landlord. "!>he demand: the story of the crime at the bank, Good! I will tell it. She suspects it now. Anything, anything to gain her as mj bride. Ellna schemer! Had he lingered ? single moment, he would have seen Flors Merwyn speed to the adjoining apart ment. Hurried tones issued ibence ir excited consultation. Then sbe cam* back to the outer room, and, steeling her face to utter coldness, she awaitec the return of the man she was leading t( his doom. "Farce for farce!" she murmured, "Oh! the torture of even Rlancinjr at th< fo:il-hearted monster, but, for my pooi murdered father's sake, for Ray Web ster's sake, I will go through with thi ordeal." The silence was broken a minute latei by the reappearance cxf Arnold Uacre ^ Behind-tbe eager plotter followed his ' hired emissary, the landlord. "Here is a magistrate." spoke tb< cashier. "Ho is prepared to ouiciate a the ceremony." "Von agree to confess all?to releas< Ray Webster, to vindicate my father'! name later?" demanded Flora. "Yes, only by explaining all to yoi can I make you understand the truth and how it may be told to the Dubli< ' with safety to me?witless John Whar ton shall bear the blame. They canno punish him." "All ready!" spoke the coarse-grainet landlord. They joined hands. A sickenini shudder traversed the girl's frame at tin contact, but she steeled her heart to thi ordeai. me ceremony was compieieu. "My wife?mine at last!" breathed th' plotter, joyfully. "Flora let the pas die out. A life of devotion?" "Send that man away.*' ' He chilled at her sbrinkine face and a her icy tones, but he whispered to th landlord to return to the horses. "Now, the story?the confession, spoke Flora Mcrwyn, a strange clow ii her impenetrable eyes. Without apology, the villain began hi narrative. In iepal possession of th girl and fortune alike, what had he t fear? In a reckless but deprecatory sor ?f a way, he revr.aied all the dark plot that had ed up to the present hour. He stepped towards her as he cori eluded. "For your sake I did it all," he spok ardently. "The speculating was wrong but I was led to hope 1 could double th money. Ray Webster was my rival, an I removed him from my path?all fai . J tr. ? JO 10VB 0,11(1 war. IUUI laiuvi o ucati was no lault of mine. Flora. iuy wife let it all drift iuto forgetfulncss. I Rome foreign clime, a life of devotici will claim its reward in your love." He paused. Over the face of the gir had come a sudden change. The Ion repressed emotion she had kept in checl fcurst forth. .. . . RWYttS? FORTUNE. iTorror, repugnance, vengeance in her blazing eves, she regarded him with a b look that made his very soul shrink within him. e "Your reward!" she cried. "Monster! v self-confessed thief, forger, and assassin, your reward is?there'" j , She flitted aside to make room for ani other form, suddenly appearing over the i, threshold of the door of the next aparte ment It was the Sheriff of RidgeGeld, and i he held in his extended hands? g The villain's reward, indeed!?a pair i of glittering steel handcuffs. r i chaptek xx. 0 CONCLUSION. Arnold Dacro paled to the lips at the * sensational denouement of the moment. 1 As to Flora Merwyn, utterly exhausted 0 at the difficult role she i:'' assumed and carried to successful execu.lou, she sank * to a chair, half-fainting, overcome. * "Take that man away!" she gasped. "The sight of him is horror to my soul." s "What does this mean?" panted the petrified schemer. ' "I'm sorry," spoke the Sheriff, "Mr. " Dacre, but?" e "You need express no regret at hand? ling such a scoundrel unmasked and In * his true colors at last," interrupted a * stern voice. * "Mercy!" gasped the petrified Darce. * "Ray Webster! I thought?" V "That I was in jail at Deepford? Scarcely," retorted the convict "Ruse 1 for ruse, Arnold Dacre, you piayed with 3 I edced tools, Sheriff, arrest that man!" A spasm of dread convulsed the plot? ter. In a flash, he discerned the truth. He had been led into a trap. His apJ pearance had been unexpected, but Flora ' Merwyn had undertaken the task, of 1 winning a confession from his lips, and had emmeshed him in the toils of a sub? tie subterfuge. 0 As to Ray Webster, there could be but | one explanation of his appearance here r ?some innocent person had been arrested for him, or he had hired a man to impersonate him. Aware of the landlord's 6Cheme to arrest him. he had probably * bibbed some willing substitute to don his 3 disguise and take hjs place, for he stood " denuded of blue spectacles and false at? tjre now. 1 Like the stroke of doom, that oranious sound rang out as the Sheriff snapped the handcuffs over the wrists of his prisoner. "Arrest me?" raved Dacre. "Sheriff, 3 that man is your prisoner?an escaped convict and embezzler?Ray Webster!" ' "He is noembezzler," replied the officer 1 calmly. "Your own confession proves 1 it." His own confession! Arnold Dacre ! gritted his teeth with Impotent rage. These people were witnesses to his act r of impetuous fol y. They had overheard his conversation with Flora Merwyn? from his own lips he had condemned himself, and pronounced sentence on his many iniquities. "Your career is run," spoke Ray WebJ ster. "Flora, my darling! do not trembie : so. Oh! my brave one, the task I es| saved of unmasking this heartless j scoundrel, your woman's wit, executed ' j readily. Sheriff, this man must be , lodged in jail. I will accompany you I and deiiver myself up to the authorities. I Klnrn fOLirasre. onlv a brief time, and ! my innocence shall be proven!" I "You forget!" hissed the malignant 1 Dacre. "This woman is my wife?that r victory, at last, is mine." [ 'Your wife!" uttered Ray Webster, scornfully." No, I deprecate the farce that desperate circumstances inaue nec' essary, but Flora Merwyn was already a wife. She wedded secretly this morning. " ! Arnold Dacre gnashed his teeth in 1 ballled, impotent rage. Verily, the end had come, and vengeance full and complete bad been executed. One last resource was left him. His | wicked eyes gleamed as he thought ol L it. lie had directed the landlord to return to Ueenford. In the saddle bags of the steed he had driven he had stowed the precious package. It would not be 5 discovered or removed. He could bank ' on that, get word secretly to the land5 lord, and employ it to purchase his lib erty. "Take your pauper brido," he raved, r paie and malignant at the calm and dignified Kay Webster. "Tb* fortune at L least shall never be yours." "Her fortune?" replied Webster; "that ?-- -I T r.rlr.,1 it frv MJ C an i:au v uu?ac93vo. m unuuuu iu lw her this morning." "You?" ^ "Yes." j "It is false, I have the package?" j "No, you have a dummy stuffed with old newspapers. I reached the cave hefore you did. The real contents of that j package are now in the possession of ' ttieir real owner, my wife," concluded . Ray Webster, with a loving caress of the , woman whose deep devotion was only ?addened, by the memory of her beloved father's cruel demise. * * -* *** * 3 One month later, a series of rapidlyoccurring events startled Rideefield. > The first was a public explanation of t all the details of the crime at the bann. It. rehabilitated Ray Webster and his 3 wife in tbe estimation of their friends, 3 it removed every stain cf evil from the fair Merwyn name. H'Vio HanncitnrQ UBArf* nnirl in full nut i * * MVKV??.?V.V " ~ of Flora's fortune, and as the last dollar j of debt was liquidated, Arnold Dacre . was marched to the State Penitentiary t on a fifteen years sentence. As he entered that living tomb, an1 other man left it?Ray Webster, bearin^ ? fall oardon from the Governor. John Wharton recovered bis reason. * His story was an atonement for the B past, and only went to enforce the vilB lainy of Arnold Dacre, artd the innocence of Ray Webster. The latter found a e trace of his missing family, and, with tho 1 injunction to "eo and s>in no more," the contrite tool of a wickod scoundrel, with the recovered Tom Cuuple left Riagcfield 1 never to return. e The banker, Abel Merwyn, has two monuments to his integrity?one a magnificent mauselem in the Ridgefield n oemoterv. tho other the staunch and massive Bank. s For Flora insisted that Ray should t: continue the enterprise. Its existence " vindicated her dead lather's memory. x They are worthy of one another, these s tried souls, and only the saddening thought of Abel Merwyn's fate, darken! '* the entire union of two noble hearts in the trust and devotion of pcrfcct lovo. 6 [tiie END.] e d To Sccure American Sailors, r Lieutenant-Commander Hawley will visit I. m nmr a# f Vt a I o L'o nittaa f a rniinijf onll^ro fc\y li j Luauy ui uhxj vmwij iv;uiuii. oui.viu ?"? ;t I the navy, the object being to secure more ri I Americans of the high standard required n | than are to be found in the seaboard cities. 'I i H A Farmer'? Tina. k I At Colon, Mich., u farmer found a gold ring In a potato hill. MMMHMHnBHaHBHBnaHHBHBMI I THE KLONDIKE GOLD & X J?n ??\* The United States Government in 1867 paid Russia ?7,200,000 for the | Territory of Alaska says the Chicago | Times-Herald. 1 Alaska has paid back her purchase i money in gold four times, having pro- f duced daring tb e time it has been a part i of tbe United States about $30,000, - i 000 of tbe precious yelloAv metal. ] To-day tbe eyes of the world uro i turned toward our frozen acquisition in tbe north, for within its borders j has been discovered an Eldorado, seem- \ ingly "richer than Pluto's mine." r A few weeks ago tbe word Klondike, e literally translated meaning Deer c River, was known to geographers and x a few miners on tbe Yukon; to-day it c is on every tongue and is known as ] the designation, if the reports be but t half true, for a gold-bearing district e greater in area and richer in character ] than any the world has known, with 1 the possible exception of California. f The reported gold discoveries of tbe c present day in Alaska and tbe report- c ed gold discoveries of '49 in California afford many parallels. To the average t man the treasures of the coast State g were seemingly as inaccessible as are t the riches of the Yukon and its tributaries. One was more than 2000 miles v across a trackless desert and over e snow-bound mountain passes, beset v by savages, whose deadly attacks v marked the trail with bleaching bones a across the Western States; the other t is nearly 7000 miles by water, through g a rigorous climate, or almost 4000 g miles by land and water, with moun- c tain passes to scale as dangerous as t those of the Swiss Alps. ti The fabulous tales of wealth sent out 1 by the California pioneers were no less t wonderful than those brought back by t the men who braved the last cold b season in the Klondike mineral belt, u and in both cases those who returned d brought back with them great nuggets o of the precious stuff that left little or r no doubt in the mind of the hearer, n The California miner in the song who I had so many nuggets that he was ac- a customed to "go a hatful blind" finds n his parallel in the Yukon miner who fi claims to have "washed out" $212 in a one panful of dirt?a process that re- t< quires ten or twelve minutes. t] n ti I AS THE ^O^NEY ^J>0W8 LAK] Poor Man's Mines. jThe Alaska anil California gold fields c are alike also in being placer mines, t Placer mining is commonly called L "poor man's mining," for the reason 1 that it is done without machinery, \ while the implements required in the work are few and of small cost. A placer miner can get along very well ^ with a pick, shovel and gold pan. If j the dirt is not rich he can accomplish J better results by running it through a J sluice box, but where the yield is in j nuggets instead of fine gold he prefers /, to "pan" it. J The great Klondike strike was made J ? nnr woo * LI 1 Lit? ilium HO uui; uv/uuauq itm? * known of it in the United States until I June 15, when a vessel called the Excelsior arrived in San Francisco laden I 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. Experienced 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 t ?A rkflvil nn/1 nnrlornrnno 5 IUCU 11U.U G-LIV-A HA XJ C4 MA nuv? uu\kV4 QV/UV I MINERS CROSSING THE CHILKOOT PASS. ( [ great hardships in accumulating the < fortunes they brought, and they told i 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 j hold out is alluring. 1 Locution of the Klondike District. The richest of the mines in the i Alaska region seem to be in the Klon- 1 diUp n few miles over the British 1 border. They were discovered, as has i been said, by a party of "tenderfeet," j who, against the advice of the old- 1 timers in the district, wandered "over | yonder in the Klondike" and struck it ' rich. From Klondike comes much of i the gold and from Klondike seems to i come all the excitement. A few "tenderfeet," going it blind, have ] stirred up the Nation. Out of the regions of their discovery has come, 1 it is estimated, S'2,000,000 worth of gold during the present summer. Nearly all of that gold has found its way into the United States. ... ;K)$0t0^)^O0l0l650K)?()l( {c FIELDS 111 ALASKA. 1E ei toioioioioieioaoioaoaoidi^ ? tc It is hard to tell -where the Alaska fold fields are located except that in a < general way the best of them are along v, he Yukon. There are a few "lode" aJ niners near Juneau and along the ty outheast coast of the Territory (the r? nost accessible part of it), but the ore m s of low grade and mining is made ja profitable only by the most careful ^ Management. + The placer mines, from which pros- ej sectors are said now to be lining their gfl pockets with gold, are in the region ^ emote from civilization, little known, m md, on account of its uncertainties, ja langerously alluring to the average _j nan. This gold-jproducing country &] ?f the interior is in the vicinity of the 8T] t'ukon near where that great river fr urns to the west in its course to the v.;ea. Before tbe discoveries in the ilondike the most productive districts p( lad been along Forty Mile Creek, m >artly in British and partly in Ameri- j an territory, and tlio Birch Creek ipj lislrict, all in A merican territory. Along all of the river in this section, ributaries to the Yukon, gold dig- ^7 .ings exist, and in many places pay he prospector well for his trouble. In all the immense country over rhich the place:: mining extends it is ftD stimated that up to last year there /ere 2000 miners. The district?, in ca fhicli most of them worked were in a . broad belt of gold-producing rock, hrough which quartz veins carrying ;old occur frequently. Through the old-bearing rocks the streams have ut deep gulliea and canons, and in heir beds the gold which was conained in the :rock is concentrated. ^he mining A this country consists, herefore in wat.lnng out the gravel of hese beds. So the miners worked, ? ieing fairly well paid for their labor, ( mtil the "tenderfee-;" made the Klon- = ike discovery. That was nine months t r so ago, and the news of it is just eaching the outside world. It was ict long in reaching the miners along ^orty Mile and Birch Creeks, though, nd they shouldered their picks and loved forward in a wild rush at the rst word of the new lucky strike. As result gold dust and nuggets by the on are turned into the mints out on T< be coast, and men who never before is ot * I . / m s m ac fo ' P* E LABARGE DURING THE WINTER. wi EU ose above the level of the commonest le: f miners have come back to civiliza- jo ion and comfort loaded with gold to ca ast them a lifetime. Take as an il- ot ustration this list of returned miners cli \rho came on the Excelsior: st< Brought Value D; from of ov Alaska claims. \ 8. Llppy 9 65,000 .81,000,000 \ Q. H. Bowker 90,000 500,000 wj oe La Due 10,000 500,000 do '. B. Hollinseed 25,500 Villlam Kulju 17,000 ames McMann 15,000 Libert Galbraith 15,000 xni fell Macarthur 15,000 )ouglas Macarthur.... 15,000 Jernard Anderson 14,000 35,000 8a tobertKrook 14,000 20,000 mi ^red Lendes9er 13,000 m, Uexandor Orr 11,500 fohn Marks 11,500 "" Thomas Cook 10,000 25,000 SO il. 8. Norcross 10,000 th f. Ernmerger 10,000 ? Jon Stamatin 8,260 Libert Fox 5,100 35,000 T1 Ireg Stewart 5,000 20,000 pi f. O. Hestwood 5,000 250,000 L Thomas Flack 5,000 50,000 , jouls B. Rhoads 5,000 35,000 lu ^red Price 5,000 20,000 ge llaska Commercial Co. 250,000 Total $399,850 ? A Perilous Journey. Every one of these men has a story o tell of the vast riches of the new jold fields, but they tell another itory, too?a story of hardship, trial md suffering through long winter days, vhen the sun was smiling oh this earth's other pole and leaving them in niserable cold and darkness. They tell a story of prodigious travels, of staggerng journeys and the dangers that beset the traveler. They tell what a trip it is to reacn tne goia neias, ana re-hen they get through the faint- t aearted prospector, who isn't thoroughly convinced that he wants to unlergo the trial, decides to forego the trip to Alaska and dig up his wealth it home or go without. Some of the 5old-mad adventurers, though,rush on unheeding, crowding into the Alaska- _ bound steamers without anything like snough supplies or enough money to *e see them through ten days of travel P( on land. Miners who have been there P] jay that such as those will perish. How to Reach the New Gold Flelils. There are two general routes to the r< Klondike district. From Chicago both lead to Seattle, and there diverge. One 5oes by ocean steamer west and a littie north, and passes through Dutch & Harbor, at the extreme end of the pj nn'tm-Mt. Almcilrnn npniiiBnla From M there the steamer turns north and con- ^ tinues on to St. Michael's Island,a little r! ibo.'e the mouth of the Yukon, in Ber- Si ing Sea. At that point passengers are B trai: sferred to the river steamers to be- ^ ;in the long journey up the Yukon, b which winds northward and eastward, Si md finally brings the traveler to Daw- ? son City, now the principal town in rp the mining district, although sixty-five c miles from the Klondike fields. p The cost of the trip from Chicago ? this -way, as prospecting miners usu- ? ally travel, is 9251.50. It is divided 0 rb follows: From Chicago to Seattle T (second class), 851.50; from Seattle to s) Dawson Citv. 3200... . i> In time the trip costs thirty dayslur from Chicago to Seattle, sixteei om Seattle to St. Michael's Island id ten up the xukon to Dawson Uir y the fast boat. The distance in gen al figures is 2250 miles from Chicagi ? Seattle, 2500 miles to St. Michael'i dand and 1890 miles up the Yukoi i Dawson, a total of about 6600 miles The other way to the Klondike, th< mountain route," is shorter in miles at equally long in the time it require: id a great deal more difficult. Bj lis route the traveler sails more di ictly north to Juneau, which is 891 iles from Seattle, and then goes bj ke and river and over the mountaini )00 miles to the new mining terri ry. . On arrival at Juneau the trav er changes to a smaller boat anc tils 100 miles north to Dyea. Fron: lere he has a portage of twenty-sever iles through the Chilkoot Pass. Tht af Via 1f.mil a of ftiia -no a a ia httat o acier and the severest of climbing, trilkoot Indians are employed to pack ipplies to the top of the pass, hut om there on the traveler has to pack s own load. After getting through the Chilkool ass the traveler reaches Lake Lin dean. At that point is a sawmill, here boats are sold for $75 each, ravelers who do not care to pay thai ice can purchase lumber and build eir own boats. The lumber can be >ught for $100 a thousand feet, and out 500 feet are required to build a tat that will answer the purpose, ill other travelers carry whipesaws id get out their own lumber, and a an handy with a saw and hammer n build a boat in three or four days. THE RIVEB ROUTE TO DAWSON. ) continue the trip, though, a boai necessary and by some means oi her one must be had. After securing his boat the travelfloats down Lake Lindeman and ike Bennett and then has half a mile portage where his boat has to be oved on rollers. There is any aountof rollers to be had, though, r earlier beaters of the path have ft them. This half mile overland :ings the traveler to Lake Tagish, :rough which he goes six miles and -er a quarter of a mile of portage to ud Lake, and on to the White Horse apids. Here Ihere is another port ;e ot tnree-quarters 01 a mne, ana e traveler brings his boat to Lake ibarge. From there on the journej through Thirty Mile River, the ewis River, 150 miles to Five Finsr Rapids, to the Yukon at Fort Selrk, f.nd then down stream 250 miles Dawson. The cost of the trip this way can>t be definitely stated beyond Jujau, because after that point it deinds somewhat on the bargain made ith the Chilkoot Indians, who paci pplies through the pass, and the ngth of time the overland part of the nrney requires. The cost from Chigo to Seattle is the same as by the her route, of course, ?51.50 second iss and $10 more for first class. The earner fare up to Juneau and on to yea is $42. What it costs on the erland trip each traveler determines rtially for himself, but the Indians :o act as guides and pack supplies i not work without big pay. The Centre of the Gold Kegion. Dawson City, the centre of the new ining region, although sixty-five iles distant from the Klondike, is id to be a typical mining camp? inus the guns. The British Governant Anfnmfls its laws in Dawson, and ose laws prohibit the use of firearms, few men carry guns. The laws of e camp are enforced by mounted po:e, whose captain is ajcivil officer, lough there are said to be 3000 peoe in Dawson, few houses have been lilt, for the principal reason thai mber is 8100 per 1000 feet. The ineral fear is, of course, that there ill be great suffering there this winii b.> ? DAWSON CITY, IN THE ir. and it will be increased, it is ex ected, by the rush of unpreparec rospectors who sailed for the nev elds immediately on learning wha ick had befallen those who have bu scently returned. To give an accurate idea of the cos : living in Dawson City, the prici st of a general store there is herewitl iven: lour, per 100 pounds $12.0i oose ham, per pound 1.0< aribou meat, per pound 6 eans, per pound 1 Ice, per pound 2 igar, per pound 2 aeon, per pound 4 utter, per roll 1.51 ggs, per dozen l.S etter eggs, per dozen 2.0i ilmon, each 81 to 1.5 otatoes, per pound 2 urnfps, per pouna ea, per pound 1.0 offee, per pound & ried fruits, per pound 3 anned fruits & tinned meats 7 unions, each 2i ranges, each .5 obacco, per pound 1.5 iquors, per drink & tiovels 2.& inlui.? a. R.0 _ Coal oil, per gallon i.u Q Overalls ! 1.5 Underwear, per suit 85 to 7.& ? Shoes 6.O1 j Rubber boots $10 to 15.01 Alaska and Its Resources. o In the purchase of Alaska, theUnitec s States acquired a Territory more thai a half a million square miles in extent . a part of it within the arctic circle anc B in the region of everlasting ice anc . I A PLACER MINE IN THE [ snow, where, during part of the sumi mer, there is continuons day and duri : 4 V.. ?'-i.? ? J i mg me ?in lci uuutiuuuuo, ureary > night. The Alaskan coast line is greater than our Atlantic seaboard, but i the entire population of whites, Eski, mos and fierce Indians, who are called the Apaches of the north, is not much more than that of a ward division in . Chicago. In acquiring the Alaskan Territory, though the United States moved its center, figured in geographical miles, not in area or population, ae far west as San Francisco. The country now extends from about the sixty-fifth degree of longitude up at the far east corner of Maine to the 122d 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 the purchase of Alaska, has really been our western land limit. The United States, therefore, may Zi.1. /I i-"U ~ uimuQt any witu uu^iauu tuut tuo duu never seta on its possessions. The principal river in Alaska, the 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 l southern part of Alaska, and then strikes northward, following a broad 1 circle to the west before it empties [ into Bering Sea through an extensive delta. Six hundred miles in from the coast it is more than a mile wide and 1 the volume of its water is so great as ' to freshen the ocean ten miles out from land. The principal cities of Alaska are 1 Juneau and Sitka. They are both ' thriving towns, and probably they will J 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 Dy ^resident mcKinley to succeed James A. Sheakley. Tlie Governor's residence is in Sitka. The citizens up in that frozen country do not vote for President of course, being under Territorial government, but they do send delegates to the National political conventions. The judi. cial function there is exercised by a district court, established in 1884. | The court sits alternately at Sitka and 1 Wrangle. [How odd for a court to sit at Sitka and Wrangle.] 1 And speaking of Wrangle, among the things Alaska has done for this coun1 try aside from stirring up the present 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 1 ?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 undiplomatic) note from Secretary of State (Mi J T-aa. Diieruiau ueuiuuuiujj mui* uuuou teasels "keep off the grass" as it were in the seal fishing grounds. L The Boundary Question. i It was not unexpected, -of course, i that the discovery of gold in the Klon dike region would revive in a measure KLONDIKE GOLD REGION. * - the old question of a boundary line be1 tween Alaska and the British North7 west Territory, t The Klondike fields are considerably t east of Fort. Cudahy and Dawson City, and both of these are on British soil, t Into the new regions, though, Ameri2 can miners first ventured and made i the first discoveries of gold. Since then hundreds of tnem nave iroopea U over the border, staked out their claims o in the rich hills and begun to dig. 5 Should the Canadian Government pass ? an exclusion act all of these miners, 5 of course, would be dispossessed. 0 The difficulty of enforcing such as g act, especially on miners who have [) staked out their claims, is at once ap> 0 parent. The result in retaliation bj jj the Government of the United States rj is also easily imagined. The Domin ~ * i -- * 1..1.1:? 1,? J t) ion (ji-overnment nas aireauy esuiuuaucu 5 a custom bouse on the border, and if ^ doing a fair business collecting dutj o on the goods that go into tbe new 0 country, and miners think they will 0 be satisfied with that. Tbe exclusior 0 of Americans would practically clost n the country for a time, for the best ol Jn the means of transportation to 0 frozen region are owned by American^H^S 0 companies. 3 In the past miners of any nationality have been free to enter any new 1 diggings and stake out their claims i without restriction. Canadian miners , are now free to work across the border 1 in the Alaskan fields. What the result I of an exclusion act would mean to if KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS. Canada in a retaliatory measure by the United States, Canadians know better than they can be told. y 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 things. Topography, Population and Climate. The Territory naturally falls in six errand divisions. Thev are the Arotio division, a treeless expanse diversified. by icy hills and mountains and with.| no inhabitants but the Eskimos; the! Yukon basin, with its extensive forests near the coast and its inhabitants of Eskimos and Indians; the Kuskokwim dis-J trict, the Aleutian district, comprising^ the islands off the coast,Wrhere fishing, and sealing are the ohief pursuits, and! whara the nntmlation is mixed Aleutian r and Russian blood; the Kadiak district,.j including the mainland and. islands south of the Alaskan range, and the, Sitka district, including the archipel-j ago and the coast, extending south to! British Columbia. The Sitka district( is that seen by the tourists from the. < States. They gaze on its enormous! forests and imagine they have seen the country. As a matter of fact, they da little more than set foot on the Terri-' tory. ! The census enumeration of 1890 gave the population of the Territory as, 30,329, of whom 4416 were whites, 82; blacks, 1568 half-bred Indians and Es-j kimos, 13,735 natives not Eskimo^ (Indians), 2125 Chinese and 8400 Eskimos. The number of whites has probably been more than doubled since i then, as the Alaskan gold fever set in in mild form three or four years ago. j In winter the thermometer falls so lo\r in places that no one will recognize it; MINERS CROSSING THE BOEDER. I that it goes down to 70 degrees and lower. During all this kind of-winter; up in the Yukon region little can be done but sit about a fire in a vain en-; deavor to keep warm, for darkness exists most of the time, and the life seems like that of a man uncomfortably seated at the bottom of a well. During the summer season the days are sometimes even a little bit hot, but not for long. In that time, too, j there is almost continual day, for that end of the earth (for it may be so called) is the one that is pointed directly at the sun. ! But as the summer brings warmth and daylight it also brings mosquitoes, j ^ < iL-J And such mosquitoes, urearures mat buzz and bite in Buch a -way as to1 make the (beaded Jersey variety seem,1 by comparison like the silvery, angelic, sweetly, humming fancies of a peaceful dream. The travelers who return from the Yukon region tell stories of. how brave and strongmen, courageous' endugh to undertake the perils a journey to that country involves, actually break down and sob in utter desperation and despair under the torments of these terrible pests. The ice and I the "magnificent distances" of the 1 country are not the only drawbacks to i its exploration or to journeying to the * gold fields; the mosquitoes must ever be remembered. Of course, in the southern part of Alaska, where Juneau and Sitka are situated, the winters are not so rigorous. There the weather is comparatively mild, and in summer is said to be delightful. But Juneau and Sitka are infinitesimal as compared with the whole country, and they are not an index to what is furnished farther up and farther inlaud. 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.: i The pursued, by a quick Hank movei 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 11 hand which gripped the lever. There it sat contentedly, while the passengers I craned their necks to get a view of the -.1.1 Tl>a snavrnw didn't ^ OllU J. uv ^ - ? , seem to mind the fact that the motor-1 . man's hand was constantly turning, j r around as he manipulated his lever,' m , and, after riding on its queer perch4 1 for fully a block, chirped its thanks I and flew away.?Philadelphia Record. , ' An Orlando (Fla.) citizen, who is ' known locally as a successful inventor,' 1 has devised an apparatus by means of i which he says he can by suction tranaport grrain lor several hundred miles * '-JC-n.i, l,?Qf<I - -V t I irom lnittua aeiue w I