New-York tribune. [volume], July 03, 1921, Page 3, Image 21

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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Gold Is Struck
H'llan?tx)liyfaia a Wild Scramble Begins
-? 4
Earlv Klondike
And California
Scenes Revived
??i?ni>le? Brought to The Pas
Show Hiph?t Content on
Record There, Running
Up to $100,000 a Ton
Svteiol Corrttvondene? of Th? Tribuna
THE PAS, Manitoba, July t.
CALIFORNIA days of '49 and
Klondike scenes of *94 are
being relived in northern
Manitoba. Gold again is lur?
ing thousands of adventurous souls
isto the Northland. They are rushing
to to* scene of the newest Eldorado~
pltww Lake, 150 miles north of The Fas
?lid 650 miles north of Winnipeg?with
tj,e same show of determination and
the same disregard for hardship and
danger that marked the pilgrimages of
the "Forty-niners" in prairie schooners
Hid the dashes of the mushers by dog
team and snowshoe over the frozen
Alssksn wastes.
Another "gold strike" has been made,
which, according to reports of pros?
pectors who have staked their claims
snd returned to civilization for grub
and supplies, bids fair to give the
North American continent one of the
greatest sources of the precious metal
within its confines.
Two young Irishmen, Gordon and
Kenneth Murray, comparatively new ar?
rivals in the northern Manitoba min?
eral belt, are responsible for the spec?
tacular free gold discovery that has
attracted world-wide interest and is
calling prospectors from all parts of
the United States and Canada into the
wilds "north of Fifty-three." The Mur?
rays entered the Elbow Lake district
by trail before the 6prlng thaw and
started work as soon as the winter
Mows begai to disappear from the
muskeg.
In the latter part of May they made
their find?an outcropping of gold
laden quartz right at the water's edge,
where Grassy River flows into Elbow
Lake. Then they started stripping the
gold-bearing vein and tracing th?
trend of the ore. Finally they were
satisfied that they had not found just s
pocket, but had discovered a tremen?
dous body of quartz, carrying high
content of gold fairly evenly distrib?
uted throughout the rock.
Samples Show Highest Gold
Content in Assayer's Record
Without a word of intimation to th?
few other prospectors in the distrid
they staked their limit of claims anc
started by canoe and trail for The Pas
carrying samples of the ore. Aftei
they had recorded their stakings they
sought an assayer for a test of th?
quartz they had brought in. No wore
emanated from the Dominion Lane
Office of the recording of the claims
and the Murrays were tight lipped
But the assayer's report was too much
even for the tactiturn prospectors,
"Boys," he told them, "you've strucl
it. YouVe found the richest stuff I'v?
ever seen here. Your samples shov>
ore that bears from $25,000 to $100,00(
a ton in gold content. If the ore bodj
is any siz? at all you're both rich."
The Murray brothers couldn't keej
the secret longer. They told a few
friends in The Pas where to stak?
claims to be "in" on the big strike
Then the news spread like wildfire anc
within a few hours this little frontiei
town was in a flurry of excitement.
Before night had fallen a score oi
prospectors were on their way to El?
bow Lake. On foot, by canoe and bj
gasoline "jigger" up the Hudson's Bay
Railway the gold seekers started foi
the scene of the strike. There in n<
direct trail, either land or water, to th?
field. The prospectors must travel ful'lj
two hundred miles by roundaboui
routes to reach their goal, whicl
means a trip of from fou; to six days
Then on June 11 the ?tory of th?
new gold find went over the wires tc
the outside world. Within two dayi
this little town of 1,500 began to ac?
quire a transient population that ha?
swelled daily since. Now every ar
rival of the "Tamarack," the every
other-day train over the Canadian Na
tional Railway from Winnipeg anc
other points in Manitoba, means an
other hundred or two of gold seekers
They are not all men, either. Severa
"omen already have passed througl
The Pas on their way into the muskej
tastes of the Northland in quest o:
gold and ready for revival of the min>
ing camp dance halls.
The earlier prospectors are startinj
to return to The Pas to record thei:
claims in the Dominion Land Office
Hundreds of acres are being ?taked .'?
?he region extending as far as Ooppe:
hske. ten miles from Elbow Lake
where another stampede took place ir
the spring of 1919 a3 the result of i
strike made by J. P. Gordon, a veterai
Prospector.
But the Murrays are not idle. Thej
have gone back to their "bonanza" an<
?re working like the beaver colony ii
the adjoining lake to ascertain jus
*nat lies beneath the huge overburdei
that covers the ore dyke.
They have stripped the overburdei
?way from the ore for 350 feet fron
tile point of discovery and to a widtt
oi fifty feet, but no walls have beei
encountered yet. Gold is depositec
freely throughout in a mineralizatiot
o? Porphyry with quartz stringers. Thi
"cdy of the dike is in greenston?
formation, *^th a continuous evidenc?
01 free gold. Many of the samples duf
ut so far are reported to be possesse?
of a 50 per cent gold volume.
iae Murrays are not the only pros
P?ctora to find void since the first dis
??very was made and the rush started
*ady half a dozen other strikes havi
b??n reported, some far from the seem
? "e Murray claim. Even across th<
Grtaay Rivt.r, opposite the Murray find
8 oik? has been picked up again anc
Scenes in the New Gold Country That Are Like Those of the Days of '49
free gold in large quantities is in evi?
dence.
The Pas Is Breeding Place
For Genuine Prospectors*
But the gold rush is not a new thing
I to The Pas. For a decade, since the
; tittle town acquired more than a mere
; handful of inhabitants other than In?
dians and half-breeds, it has been the
? mother of mining camps and one of
i the few breeding places left for the
- genuine prospector. This gateway to
; the great, almost uncharted northland
I that lies next to Hudson Bay really
was born of a prospecting expedition.
It was in 1896 the first prospectors
j ventured into the wild bush country in
: quest of precious metals. At that time
I a claim was staked near Reed Lake,
from which an assay of $9 a ton gold
i ore was obtained. But the discovery
I in the Yukon country at that time drew
j prospectors into Alaska, and nothing
, more was done in northern Manitoba
; until 1906.
From that time until 1915 prospect
' ing parties traversed the mineral belt
, at intervals but little intensified pros
j pecting was done. Then the Beaver
! Lake discoverv caused a ripple of ex
! citement in the Northlancl and pros
I pectors swarmed into The Pas on their
i way to the mineral belt. A little set
tlement, Beaver City, sprang up, but
the district proved disappointing and
the gold hunters gradually drifted
away. To-day Beaver City is a little
group of deserted shacks, and on the
opposite side of the lake is Golden
City, inhabited only by the "ghosts" of
rush days.
In the summer of 1915 the Flin Flon
copper mine was found. Four men who
had hunted gold found rich copper de?
posits and staked the claim. They did
their assessment work and held on to
the property until a few months ago,
when it was sold for a sum reported to
be $4,500,000, making each of the origi?
nal prospectors a millionaire. It is
estimated that the Flin Flon ore body
contains $200,000,000 in copper.
The average prospectors, however,
seek first for gold, and most of them
have eyes for nothing else. So it was
that the drift of the quest for riches
turned again in 1919 to the Elbow and
Copper Lake areas in the vast mineral
belt. Thomas Webb, who for six years
had been seeking gold in first one dis?
trict and then another, prospecting in
the summer and trapping in the win?
ter, finally settled in a shack at Elbow
Lake. He had no companions, and it
was rarely that any one visited the lo?
cality. It was believed that Webb was
M CtfUFOZN/rt in. '49.
! "bushed" from his years of solitude in j
the wilderness, and mining men ridi- {
1 culed the idea that he ever would find j
j mineral worth while.
Then J. P. Gordon made a strike of
a rich gold pocket at Copper Lake and
the stampede was headed into the
Elbow and Copper Lake district again.
The Gordon pocket played out and the
prospectors turned back to The Pas to
await another discovery report. Webb
again was the sole occupant of the
territory.
But with the first ice in the fall o?
| 1919 Webb came into The Pas over the
i frozen trails, bringing samples of ore
j almost as rich as those which Gordon
| had taken from his Copper Lake
| pocket. Then another stampede took
place into the very area where the
; present "bonanza" has been found.
i Prospectors went out by dog team and
I staked claims purely by location, as it
j was impossible to know what the
ground contained beneath six feet of
snow.
Stakers of Blind Claims
Allow Holdings to Lapse
However, when the spring of 1919
came the ardor of most of the men
who had staked the snow-covered
claims cooled and they allowed the
Elbow Lake holdings to lapse because
they did not do their assessment work,
as required by the Canadian govern-1
ment.
Webb went back to his Elbow Lake
shack, however, and took a small hand
ore-crushing plant with him. He re?
turned to The Pas In the fall with a
; fair quantity of gold and took a trip
i to Vancouver and the Hawaiian Islands,
; apparently not as "bushed" as the
I other prospectors had believed him to
? bt. For when he returned to The Pas
early this spring he brought with him
! a bride from Vancouver.
In the mean time the Murrays had
settled in the Elbow Lake area and
I were engaged in trapping and prospect
: ing. Gordon, the older, had been in
'? the Copper Lake district, but moved to
; Elbow Lake when he was joined by his
; brother, who had been fur trading in
| the God's Lake country. 150 miles to ;
| the north.
Soon after the winter snows disap?
peared they started their hunt for pay
dirt. Right at the edge of the water
they noticed a peculiar quartz out?
cropping and removed some of the
overburden of earth.
After they had investigated enough
to prove they had made a real strike
they staked their limit in claims. Then
it was that Webb returned With his
bride, just in time to take up his old
claims and to stake again beside the
Murray discovery. So Webb, at last,
will gain ample reward for his pa?
tience, although the Murray strike was
made in ground which he had trav?
ersed many times and passed by to
work in places he believed more prom?
ising.
First on the heels of the announce
The Peace Resolution Concludes an Epoch
By Mason McGuire
WASHINGTON, July 2.
THE joint resolution doeclaring
a state of peace to exist be?
tween the United States and
the Imperial German govern?
ment and the Imperial and Royal
Austro-Hungarian government is about
to go into effect.
The imminence of this step, which
is the final outgrowth of a long chain
of history-making events?the bitter
Cght between the Senate and former
President Wilson, with the subsequent
rejection of the Versailles Treaty?
linked with this, the referendum of the
Presidential election which swept a
Republican President into the White
House on the heaviest vote ever polled
in the history of the country?these
and a hundred more bring to the
mind of the nation the question:
"What is the meaning carried in
this action of the Congress of the
United States and what are to be its
results?"'
When President Harding puts his
signature on the resolution of reace
it will mark the close of the greatest
chapter in tha history of the country
and open wide the doors of to-mor?
row. The United States will then
be standing squarely on the thresh?
old of its future as one of the powers
of the earth.
The greatest war of all time will
then have passed completely behind
the wings of the sta^e of current
events, and all of the nations that a
few years ago bent their lives and
energies to the conflict will then be on
an equal footing in the progress of
a normal world.
This formal act by the Congress,
\
after almost three years of actual
peace, will put in motion a thousand
new conditions and influences. Biany
| of these can be seen in bold relief;
1 others, unseen to-day, must be molded
| and will come into view with the pass
I ing of time.
Almost twenty of the so-called "per?
manent war powers of the President"
will be automatically suspended by the
signing of the peace resolution. In?
cluded among these are those drastic
? laws which provided for the mobiliza
? tion of the industries, transportation
; sytems and resources of the entire
| country. They are still effective, and
President Harding has to-day under
the law the right to take these over
completely.
The resumption of diplomatic rela?
tions will be accomplished virtually
i hand in hand with the conclusion of
| the new treaty of peace President Har
'? ding will negotiate after he has sign?e
! the peace resolution. He is already
! considering the names of several who
! are strongly urged for first post-war
Ambassador to Germany. Among these
are David Jayne Hill and Representa?
tive Alanson B. Houghton, of Cor?
ning, N. Y.
There are two courses open to the
President in negotiating the treaty.
One of these would be the negotiation
of a new treaty with Germany, which
would protect American interests and
mark the formal restoration of peace
time relationship. The other would be
the resubmission of the Versailles
Treaty, with the understanding that the
Senate should, by amendments and res?
ervations, reject the portions to which
there is objection, including particu?
larly the League of Nations covenant.
It is understood that he is still unde-'
cided as to which of these two plans he
will follow.
But when the State Department does
begin work on the treaty it will be up
against one of the most intricate prob?
lems it has ever had to face, for woven
into the international situation affect?
ing the two countries are two old
treaties, parts of which may be found
to be still effective. One of these was
ratified July 11, 1799, and the other
May 1, 1828.
Probably the first question that must
be taken up in connection with these
old treaties is what effect did the con?
federation of German states and the
establishment of the German Empire
have upon them.
Under the terms of Article 27, of
the treaty of amity and commerce con?
cluded on July 11, 1799, between the
United States and Prussia, the con?
vention was to remain in force only
"during the term of ten years from
the exchange of ratifications."
Ratifications were exchanged at Ber?
lin on June 22, 1800, and on June 22,
1810, its brief period of operation was
automatically terminated. On May 1,
1828, at Washington, Ludwig Nieder
stetter, the Prussian Charg? d'Affaires,
and Henry Clay, the American Secre?
tary of State, signed a treaty of com?
merce and navigation. According to
Article 15 of this treaty the convention
tvas to "continue in force for twelve
years, counting from the day of the
exchanged of the ratifications; and if
twelve months before the expiration of
that period neither of the high con?
tracting parties shall have announced,
by an official notification to the other,
1th intention to arrest the operation of
said treaty, it shall remain binding for
one year beyond that time, and so on
until the expiration of the twelve
months which will follow a similar
Psychological Effect on the World
Most Important Result of Peace
The adoption of the peace resolution by Congress means:
The reopening of diplomatic relations with the Teutonic powers.
Renewal of official commercial and trade relations and, to a large
extent, actual commerce.
Adjustment of old treaties and negotiation of a new one, describ?
ing boundaries governing the future relations of the United States
and Germany.
Repeal of the war powers conferred upon the President for the
conduct of the war.
And, what may be more important than any other, the stimulating
psychological effect that is expected to be produced in every corner of
the earth and in every phase of the life of all nations.
notification, whatever the time at
which it may tnke place."
Therefore, unless the treaty was
specifically denounced by one of the
high contracting parties, it should con?
tinue indefinitely in operation.
The introduction into the treaty of
1828 of this principle of "denounce?
ment by notice" made it idle for any
one to take the position that the treaty
could in time be voided merely by
obsolescence, the stated purpose of
such a provision being expressly to
"furnish a way out of the inconveni?
ence growing out of changed circum?
stances, an excellent example of which
may be seen in the denunciation of the
Russian treaty of 1832."
In the discussions that grew out of
the sinking of the Lusitania the Ger?
man publicist PTeischman defended
the action of the German commander
and streuously maintained that the
treaty of 1828 was obsolete and no
longer binding upon the high contract?
ing parties. However, a review of the
repeated declarations made by both the
United States and Germany with re?
gard to this treaty would seem to in?
dicate that up to the outbreak of the
World War both governments evidently
held that it was sti'.l operative.
Likewise the mere fact that since
the conclusion of the treaty one of the
contracting states had undergone fun?
damental political changes was not
considered to have invalidated the
tieaty.
The attitude of the United States
government was similar to that of
Prussia. Apparently, it held that "if
a state, after incorporation into an?
other, while losing its international
personality still retains a territorial
identity with full power of action over
the subject matter of a treaty con?
cluded, the other contracting party
may reasonably insist upon a recogni?
tion by the new or acquiring state of
the continuing obligation of the treaty,
so far as consistent with the new order
of things." The political changes
through which Prussia went did not
alter the status of the treaty of 1828.
This fact was clearly shown at the
beginning of the war of 1870, when the
United ^ates government assumed
that its obligations as a neutral under
the treaty of 1828 were binding upon
it in relation to the North German
Confederation just as they would have
been had Prussia alone been involved
in the war. And on several other occa?
sions the attitude of the government
with reference to the continued validity
of the treaty of 1828 was clearly de?
fined.
Japanese Medical College
To Experiment WUh Glands
TOKIO, June 1.?Under the lead of
Dr Yasusaburo Sakaki, of the Kyushu
Imperial University Medical College,
Japanese physicians and doctors are to
undertake experiments in grafting
animal glands into the human inter?
stitial gland to produce renewed vital?
ity for men and women in their dotage.
The Imperial Medical College will be
the first such school in the world to
establish a department to carry on
these experiments.
Doctor Sakaki and a number of other
scientists have been following the
work of American and European doc?
te rs, and their experiments will be
along the ?amqAlin*.
Women Join in
Rush to Fields
"North of 33^
Irishmen's Find of Ore 650
Miles From Winnepeg
Draws Prospectors From
All Over Canada and U. S.
jnent of the discovery have come the
oldtime prospectors, who are hieing to
Elbow Lake from all parts of the Pa?
mineral district. But the sourdoughs
are here too, the "tonderfeet" in the
prospecting game, and they are pour?
ing in as fast as the limited transpor?
tation facilities will handle them.
The Pas again will reap its gold rush
harvest, for all of the prospecting par?
ties stock up with provisions and sup?
plies in the metropolis of the North?
land. It is virtually the only gate
through which the new gold fields can
be reached.
New Town Is Budding
Bot Still Is Nameless
But even now a new town is budding
at Elbow Lake. Nameless as yet. it will
have ft thousand inhabitants within a
few weeks. Then some newcomer with a
moment to spare from the feverish
search for yellow metal will hang a
fitting monicker on the settlement?
probably "Elbow City" or "Murray"?
and the name will stick.
The days of the other mining camps
will be revived, for the same element of
rough-and-ready men still follows th?
trail of gold as did in the days of '49
and 94. Red-blooded, two-fisted fellow?
with a love for thrills second only to
their lust for golden wealth filched from
the bosom of Mother Earth, they will
find their way into the dance hall and
the gambling joint.
Prohibition may have some small ef?
fect, but not enough to cause the new
town to worry. It is "north of fifty
three," in fact, just south of the fifty-.
fifth parallel of latitude, and to a cer.
tain extent the saying, "there is no law
north of fifty-three." still holds good.
The bootlegger is destined to prosper
and the dance hall girl is sure to have
another fling at new made wealth, even
before it has seen the mint and become
coin.
Even in The Pas to-day there is that
certain something undefinablo which
allows more so-called personal liberty
than in towns and cities in more
densely populated districts. The "law"
is here, it is true, but it is not so
inquisitive concerning "a little game
! of draw" or a "little pot of brew" out
! in the bush as its minions are in the
,; towns and cities south of the fifty-third
parallel. Real crime, though, does not
have a chance in the Northland. Mur?
der, thievery and other major offenses
against law and order are few and
I far between. It is not the nature of
the average prospector, trapper or
lumberman in this part of the world
to resort to crimes of violence. There
are fights between men, of course, but
they are "fit square and fair," as the
natives say, and the be3t man wins?
with his fists.
The new gold field is not easy of
access, but that means little to the
fortune seeker. There is no railroad
within 100 miles, and the nearest river
steamer landing is the same distance J
away. Even those transportation facil?
ities are limited, for on the Hudson
Bay railway a train leaves The Pas
only once in two weeks?every other
Wednesday morning a" ? o'clock?and
[its schedule from the starting time on
is decidedly uncertain.
Nearest Steamship Landing
100 Miles From Elbow Lake
The steamer Nipawjn. operating on
i the Saskatchewan River and one or ,
two of its larger tributaries, goes from
i The Pas to Sturgeon Landing, 130 miles
I north, but that is still 100 miles from
i Elbow Lake. There are no trails which
j can be traveled by vehicles, so the
! horse and the flivver are eliminated, ex
[ cept in the winter. Even then the dog
I team is the best mode of travel over
! the snowy trails.
So the prospector must rely on the
; canoe for the water portion of the trip
i and his sturdy legs for the portage?
between lakes'" and rivers. It is
| soul-trying trip, at the best. Carrying
a canoe and a couple of hundred
pounds of supplies and food over a
| rough trail for a score of miles is a
\ man's task, but the lure of gold seem?
! to lighten the load.
However, the prospector of the
i northern Manitoba field has one great
! advantage over the men who surged
! into California across the desert and
! into the Klondike over the frozen
j trails?his food supply, or at least ?
'great part of it, is here for him. The
| lakes abound with r?*ny kir-d* af <""m?
i and game, ranging trim the giant
moose to the rabbit and squirrel, is
plentiful. Again, "there in no law
: north of fifty-thrc<s" so far as game
killing is concerned. Any animal may
?? be shot or trapped at any time when
| it is needed for food.
So the grub pack needs to cany
! only flour for "bannocks"?the soggy
bread of the prospector?together with
' salt, tea, sugar and bacon.
What the present gold rush will
mean to this undeveloped north coun?
try seems now to be a matter for much
1 conjecture, but one thing is certain,
i that being the as*-''rance that the great
, mineral belt will be prospected thor?
oughly and every resource "?orth while
will be bared to the world. Nature
has done much tc barricade the wealth
l of the region, for the ground remains
; frozen eight or nine months of the
; year and only by dint of the hardest
kind of work can the mineral store be
tapped.
But the "gold rush" is on, and the
belief of oldtiraers, who have main?
tained steadily for a decade that "the
; stuff" was certain to be found in the
Northland wastes beneath the muskeg
and the snow, seems to be an the high
I road to vindication,