All about the Klondyke gold minesKnox, J. Armoy (John Armoy)
History
All about the Klondyke gold mines
Knox, J. Armoy (John Armoy)
Klondike River Valley (Yukon) -- Gold discoveries
J. B. Hollinshead: "I was in the diggings about two years, and brought
out about 1,500 ounces, which I suppose will bring $17 an ounce. I'm not
sure about going back, though I have a claim on Gold Bottom Creek,
fifteen miles from Bonanza. It is less than a year since I located my
claim. My dust will bring over $25,000."
M. S. Norcross: "I was sick and couldn't work, so I cooked for Mr.
McNamee. Still I had a claim on the Bonanza, but didn't know what was in
it, because I couldn't work it. I sold out last spring for $10,000 and
was satisfied to get a chance to return to my home in Los Angeles."
Thomas Flack: "My dust will bring more than $6,000. I have an interest
in two claims on the Eldorado. One partner sold out for $50,000 and
another for $55,000. I had an offer of $50,000, but refused it just
before I came out."
Thomas Cook: "It is a good country, but if there is a rush there's going
to be a great deal of suffering. Over 2,000 men are there at present,
and 2,000 more will be in before snow falls. I've been at placer mining
for years in California and British Columbia, and the mines at Dawson
are more extensive and beyond anything I ever saw. Last year I did very
well at Dawson. I have a claim worth about the average, they say from
$25,000 to $50,000, on Bear Creek, across the divide from the Bonanza."
Con Stamatin: "I was mining on shares with a partner. He's still there.
We worked on Alexander McDonald's ground in Eldorado for forty-five days
and took out $33,000. We got 50 per cent. and the other half went to
McDonald. Then we divided our share, and I came away."
All miners unite in saying that the only fear for the coming winter is
the lack of supplies. The Alaska Commercial Company promises, however,
to send in all that is needed. Living is high now, as may be seen from
these quotations of prices when the miners started for home: Flour, $12
per hundredweight; (following are the prices per pound) moose ham, $1;
caribou meat, 65 cents; beans, 10; rice, 25; sugar, 25; bacon, 40;
potatoes, 25; turnips, 15; coffee, 50; dried fruits, 35; tea, $1;
tobacco, $1.50; butter, a roll, $1.50; eggs, a dozen, $1.50; salmon,
each, $1 to $1.50; canned fruits, 50 cents; canned meats, 75; liquors,
per drink, 50; shovels, $2.50; picks, $5; coal oil, per gallon, $1;
overalls, $1.50; underwear, per suit, $5 to $7.50; shoes, $5; rubber
boots, $10 to $15.
Miners who have reached San Francisco do not act like people who have
suddenly jumped from poverty to comparative wealth. They are level
headed. They went to the best hotels, and they are living on the fat of
the land, but they do not throw money away, and not one started in to
paint the town red. They have worked so hard that they appreciate the
value of money. What they delight in most are theatres and other
amusements. They say no one knows how to enjoy these if he has not spent
a year in Alaska. Three-quarters of the miners will return in the Spring
when they are well rested."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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