LURE OF ADVENTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20650, 23 August 1930, Page 2 (Supplement)

LURE OF ADVENTURE.

KLONDYKE GOLD RUSH.

VETERAN DIGGER'S STORY.

FATAL DUEL WITH SHOTGUNS. On£ of tho few Jiving Englishmen who took parfc in the great gold rush to the Klondyke in 1898, Mr. John Smith, known in the West in tho old doys ns " Charlie," has peacefully settled down in a little English inn, tho Star, in Norman's Bay, between Pevensey and Hastings. Tho gold rush of 1898 has inspired more " Wild West" stories and films than any other happening in history. It has been immortalised by a novel by Robert W. Service, and it was tho theme of the wellknown film " Tho Trail of '98." I " And yet," Mr. Smith has stated, " they cannot put an adventure like that into a book or on tho screen. Nothing I have read or seen at tho pictures comes up to the real thing. Those were the days of .adventure; nothing like it will happen again." When quile a young man Mr. Smith's roving nature took him to America. He wanted to see something of tho world, and so he packed a few clothes into a bag and sailed for the States. He followed his trade as a butcher for a time, and then ho worked on the great railroads that were being built. ■ " It was while I was working on tho road," the old prospector related, " that the famous strike in tho Klondyke was

made. I heard about it, and at once decided that I would like to try my luck there.

" I threw in my lot with a FrenchCanadian called Ed Cbaneau and a German known as Dutch Fritz. 'They were both good men. Ed's brother, I remember, was a postmaster at Montreal. "Well, all sorts of things happened to us. There was ono day, for instance, when " Soapy" Smith, a desperado with a gang of thirty ox forty men, and Reid, tho Sheriff's deputy, shot each other dead in tho main street of Skagway. I shall never forget that. " Soapy " was responsible for a lot of shootings and robbings. Finally, tho Sheriff gavo notice that if any of tho gang turnod up in Skagway they would bo shot at sight. And Reid, who was all for law and order, said ho would make himself personally responsible for shooting " Soapy." " Well, " Soapy " was no coward. When tho news reached him he took his guns—he used revolvers with tho triggers sawed off for quickness on tho draw—and wont down to Skagway. Reid heard ho was coming and tinned out to look for him. They came face to face in tho main street. " For a minute they stood looking at each other. There were lots of chaps about, friends of " Soapy's " and supporters of the Sheriff and Reid, and everybody had their guns along. " Soapy," spoke first. " Well," ho said cool and sarcastic, " hero I am." " Yeah," says Reid, " I see you." "Then they grabbed .their guns both at once, and the two shots camo so quickly that they sounded like oiuf. Both woro good shots and neither missed.,, I don't know which of them died fir§^. " After that " Soapy's " gang took to tho mountains. They never• gave much trouble afterwards. " Eventually me and two pards got to Pine Creek. Wo staked a claim 26 lots bolow Discovery, tho original claim. For four summers we wonjed there. During the winters wo worked on the railroad at Seattlo. " There were one or two Englishmen among the prospectors. Ono man 1 knew —I should like very much to get in touch with liim if he is still alive—was called Cocks. Ha was a North Country man, and I believe ho was at ono timo a medical student at St. Bartholomew's Hospital."