These stories would have excited derision were it not that all these men were able to furnish ocular proof of their tales with pounds of yellow gold. Not one of the party went into this camp last Fall with anything more than his outfit and a few hundred dollars. Not one came out with less than $5,000, a dozen cleaned up from $10,000 to $20,000, while half a dozen averaged from $20,000 to $90,000. Scores of them left claims that they valued at $20,000 to $1,000,000, which are now being worked by their partners or by hired laborers. They are not boasters nor boomers. In fact, they are careful to warn any one about venturing into the Yukon country unless he is young, vigorous and brave, able to bear hardships, and has from $500 to $1,000 for outfit and current expenses after reaching the new gold fields. Perhaps it is these very conservative views which have made their talk take such powerful hold on the popular imagination. All returned miners agree that the best way to reach the new gold fields is by way of Juneau. The journey is mainly by land over a snow-covered trail, down numerous streams and across lakes. The only very dangerous place is Chilicoot Pass, which is dreaded because of the sudden snowstorms that come up without warning and that have proved fatal to many adventurous miners. The distance is 650 miles, and it takes an average of twenty-five days to cover it. Dawson City has now a population of nearly 3,000. It is beautifully situated on the banks of the Yukon near the mouth of the Klondyke River, and seems destined to become the mining centre of the Northwest territory. The people now live in shanties, each built of a few strips of weather boarding and canvas. There is a sawmill in operation day and night, but it cannot supply the demand for its products. Lumber sells at the mill for $150 per thousand, but when delivered at mines the price jumps to $450. One of the peculiar features of the new camp is the lack of shooting, due to the fact that the Canadian Government does not permit men to carry firearms. Police disarm miners when they enter the district, so that there is not any of the lawlessness and crime which marked early placer mining in California. There is much gambling, and play is high. An old miner, Alexander Orr, who spent eight Winters in Alaska, but will not return, said: "Dawson is not like most of the large mining camps. It is not a tough town; murders are almost unknown. The miners are a quiet, peaceable kind of men, who have gone there to work and are willing that everybody else shall have an equal chance with themselves. A great deal of gambling is done in town, but serious quarrels are the exception. As a gambling town I think it is equal to any I have ever seen, and this, by the way, is always the test of a mining camp's prosperity. Stud poker is the usual game. They play $1 ante, and often bet $300 or $500 on the third card."