The times dispatch. [volume], April 02, 1905, MAGAZINE SECTION, Image 31

About The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
MAGAZINE
SECTION
ISS ?W^^TnV-S'V-WHOLE NUMBER. 16,308.
RICHMOND, YA?, SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 1905.
THREE
SECTIONS
PRICE FIVE CENTS
rwn HRILLING and MlMBfis tlie call
M now being trumpeted'byTatiana, the
? ? Eldorado in Alaska.' Already thou?
sands of frenzied seekers after gold are there.
"For fortunes beyond the dreams of.ava
, rice are being garnered by placer mines along
the streams in that locality.
As much as $ioo a pan has.been washed
out in this new district. How startling these
figures are to miners may be judged from'the
fact that, ground averaging 40 cents to the
pan is considered a bonanza, and ip cents a
pan is regarded as big pay.
During the last winter, in spite of the
fact that the ground was frozen, one claim
averaged $1000 in pay dirt a day, and a num?
ber of claims changed hands at $60,000 each.
Within the last twelve months 4000
miners from the Klondike have rushed to the
new fields.* They were the first to hear the
news. All durW.g the winter hundreds strug?
gled thither over snow and ice. Indications
point to a remarkable rush northward from
Seattle this string.
Fairbanks, the centre of the Tatiana
region, consisted a year ago of a few log
cabins. To-day it is a prosperous city of over
three thousand people, with all the conven?
iences of modern city life.
AS SOON as boats are able to navigato the
inland streams of Alaska, a great summer
rush to Tanana is expected to begin. Re?
ports from Seattle state that gold-seekers
aro crowding therj from all parts of the country.
A surprisingly large number are outfitting as
though they had been in mining regions beforo nnd
knew how to arrange for the long and tiresomo trip
by steamer, dog team and afoot. , 1
' Freight charges from Seattle to Dawson in
eummer average over $7d a tori, and as much moro
from .Dawson to Fairbanks, so that the cost of tak?
ing along an extensive equipment is considerable.
It is estimated that the Tanana region pro?
duced $1,500,000 in gold last year, when tho num?
ber of miners was insignificant, compared with the
great army that will camp alonar its streams this
season.
Before news of tho rich'finds penetrated beyond
,the silent forests, pioneer prospeotorj had quietly
taken out a quarter of a million in yellow metal
flakes.
Until the new trails were broken aud in use,
Tanana was not an easy section of Alaska to reach
or leave, and travelers along that way wero scarce?
consisting principally of Indians hunting game or
stray prospectors nosing about for gold.
Situated on tho Tanana river, tho town of
Fairbanks is 150 miles southeast of tho point of
juncture pf that river with'the mighty Yukon; Daw
eon, in the Klondike, is 500 miles away to the oast
ward by sledgo trail, and to the south Valdez, on
the coast, is 5?i miles distant.
Discoverers of gold along tho Tanana wore not
inclined to shout tho glad tidings to the world.
Among those patiently .washing dift there dur?
ing the fall of 1002 wa*'a secretivo individual, a
Mexican, known as Pedro,
Pedro, like the others, lived in a little hut. His
bed was a blanket; chairs and table Avere simply
blocks of -wood. He had little use for the cabin, ex?
cept as a placo to sleep and store his provisions.
All the long arctic days ?ho searched soil along
the streams for gold, usually alone in the vast wil?
derness. At other places w? re other men'similarly
engaged, but they, too, were'there for business and
had little time for sociability. '
Ono day Pedro made" a big strike. Ho found
gold that turned out $100 to, the. pan. Pedro was
a rich man. Then he went away to the couth. But
he didn't spread the news-?he was faithful to tho
miners left behind. >
Others, too, were lucky. Stray prospectors
came that Avay andimmediately'located claims.- It
seemed as if somo had smelled the good news from
distant camps.,
For months this handful of men struggled
fiercely to wash all the gold they could before tho
mad rush they knew was coming, sooner or later.
First to arrivo Avere some steamboat men Avho
had ascended the river with supplies for tho trading,
post just opened at Fairbanks. These men heard
of the marvelous new field and promptly staked
claims there.
Among them was an energetic Japanese named
Wada, Avho, like others of his race, had been in
many mining camps of the far North.
For some reason, as soon as ho had ctaked his
claim and learned of the richness of the region,
Wada started out on a long, lono tramp over the
snow, with a dog team drawing his ? ipplies, for
Dawson) BOO mi lea away.
No trail liad been broken -or at least half the
distanco, butWada. plunged along, helping the dogs
and Making from fifteen to twenty-five inilos a day.
He wns tho first to bear the news of Tanana'a
wealth to Bawsou, and minors of the older Klondike
region immediately Avent wild.
This was in the Avintor of.lOO'i?an exception?
ally cold season, even in Alaska.
Without waiting for spring, -.rimers hurried off
in hundreds for a 6U0-mile journey over snow and
ice, and through a.roadless -yilderness, in a tem?
perature from 50 to CO degreed below ?ero.
Hastily authoring what supplies thoy could,
some left Bawson in small sleighs drawn by horses,
others with ?log teams; but the greater number
hurried along on foot, drawing their sleda them-,
? 'selves. '. ? ?
'?, It was a mad rush for g?ld^:3ir?ny.reached tha
?new field before spring, ?but hundreds of others
came'toiling in all during tho sunom?f. '.,.'
, "When the majority arrived thoy, found the best
claims'already taken, a shortago of, supplies facing
them, and discouragement in tho air.
Wada had returned with the rush. When some
of the men realized their position, they brga?niged'
a miners' meeting and decided to hang the' Jap.
A rope Avas found, and Wada was about to be
strung tip, when ho produced a copy ?f a Seattle
newspaper, showing that he had onco saved the
lives of many whalers, ico-impriaoned in the Arctic
Ocean by tramping overland from Point Barrow to,
St. Michael in dead of winter.
This saved his life, but "Wada Avas driven from
the region to which he had invited tho rush.
In spite of their first disappointment, tho new?
comers spread out and set to work. At this time
gold was only known to exist along one creek. Soon
it" was found along a dozen creek's.
In the spring tho rush from Bawson continued
by steamboat. Olairas were located in overy direc?
tion. Now hundreds who arrived late, or Avho found
that thoir claims did not pay, ar.o working as labor?
ers for tho moro fortunate.
In a little Avhilo, too, all thb surface gold had
been panned, so that it became noces?ary to work
the underground strata by machinery.
; When'tha Klondike Avaa struck, the only method .
known of thawing the frozen ground for sinking
ehafta and running tunnela was to build Avood fires
on the surface, scrapo away the earth as far as it
had thawed, build other fires and keep this tedious
process up indefinitely.
Already at Tnnana steam thawers aro being
used, and steam"ia also employed to movo the wind?
lass buckets that lift the earth.
Theeo steam engines and boilers aro brought
from the etistern United States at great expense.
It is estimated that there ore now about one hun?
dred and fifty at work in the Tnnana region, and
many more are expocted this1 spring.
Iron pipes with hojes in ono end inject the
steam into tho frozen ground. An enormouaamount
of-fuel is required to feed theso boilora, and it.is
estimated that fully one-fifth tho laborers in tha
Tannini country are engaged in cutting and hauling
wood.
This wood costs from $7 to .$10 a cord, and as
each camp burns thousands .of cords a winter, it ia
fast becoming scarce.
Hydraulic methods of mining will bo employed
this Bummer, when the soft surf ace way bo swept
away very offec'ually. Machinery for this work is
also expensive, and freight rates to the interior aro
enormous.
The best-paying claims so far located nro on
Fairbanks, Cleary, Gold Stream and Pudro creel?.
Scattered all along theso etreama and their
numerous tributaries are tho hottics of tho miners.
(CONTINUED ON INSIP^fAOlS)