THE NEW EL DORADO.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 3261, 19 October 1897, Page 3

THE NEW EL DORADO.

BY CABLE.

By Telegraph. —Press Aesowuevjn. ■ Copyright ; Received October 18, 10 p.m, London, October 17. Reports are published that non© of the minors starting for .the Klondike goldfields via the Yukon river after the middle of July will reach their destination before the winter sets in. The majority of them will winter on the ice on the Lower Yukon. The worst reports about the impending starvation at Dawson city have been confirmed.

LIFE AT KLONDIKE. THE STRUGGLE TO REACH THE GREAT GOLDFIELD. Every man who has been unsuccessful in his efforts to reach the Klondike goldfields this season, say the Vancouver papers to hand by the last mail, has very much to bo thankful for. At Dawson City, the metropolis of the gold district, starvation stares tho miners in the face, and there is a wild rush, even wilder than the recent rush to Skagway and Dyea, to got out of the country. There is lots of gold, but of food there is a scarcity, and according to tho story brought from St. Michaels by the steamer Cleveland, only four steamer loads of provisions can be taken up the river before it freezes over. going to the fields by balloon. A stock company of Ottawa capitalists is being formed to arrange for the construction of a balloon from tho design of Jose de Leterle, which will be used for tho transport of passengers, freight and Government mails from Edmonton to the Yukon goldfields. About £2OO has been subscribed, and the balloon is expected to b'o ready early this month. Tho motive power of the balloon will bo such that will not bo affected by climate, cold or damp atmosphere, and it will travel close to the ground. A LUCKY FIND.

" The discovery of gold on Bonanza creek —there are no claims on the Klondike, it being a river nearly as big as the Assiniboino —was made by a man named Kernock, by the merest accident/’ says Mr Matthew R. Gowler, one of the north-west Mounted Police, who has been at Klondike for a considerable period. “He was off his way from Circle City, which was about that time beginning to get pretty flat, to Indian river, about 100 miles beyond the Klondike, when he happened to notice what seemed to be rich dirt just in front of the spot he had selected for his camp. He panned out a shovelful from the surface and was surprised at its two days he had washed from the surface dirt over ,£l5O. Ho soon spread the news and the great rush started. It was not a fraction of what lb would have been had the people known where untold millions lay along tho banks of that insignificant littlo stream. A hundred pounds have been taken from a single pah of dirt. Of course we know nothing of all this as wo plunged for 25 miles through slush and mud half way to our knees, or tore our way through the thick bushes. We reached the sp:>t at last, and ascending the river beyond the point where Kernock made his discovery, we staked our claims. Mine was numbered 58 above the discovery claim, which means that seven people had measured off 500 feet of that creek bed and posted their names upon it before I reached the scene. Next day we commenced our return journey, and a short time afterwards 1 sold half my claim, the purchasers doing development and each sharing alike in tho returns. Ward, one of ray comrades, let out 180 feet of his claim and netted as his share ,£3500. Jenkins, anol her policeman, had a partner who took out J 23000. Frank Densmoro, on claim No. 26 above discovery, got out of three days’ wash-up ,£7OOO. He had eight or ten men employed on this claim.” NOTHING BUT STARVATION AHEAD.

“ Will there be sufficient provisions for the winter ?”

“I am positive there will not be half enough. Last year, with 1500 people in Lawson, they were on half rations. There were 4000 there when I left in July, and from all accounts there will be not less than 12,000 in by winter, Starvation and bloodshed will bo rampant there this winter. They cannot possibly get enough provisions in to supply the needs. Wo passed a steamer of the Arctic Commercial Company on oar way out loaded with a cargo of whisky. Such waste of freighting capacity, already so limited, shows an utier disregard for human life. I would not attempt to enter the Klondike at this time of the year for any sum you might offer me. People have rushed in in swarms, some talcing supplies, but many taking none. Very little increase has been made in the facilitiesfor gettingin food,and more than the increase has been used up for whisky. The means for getting food there are practically nil, and I cannot see anything for it but starvation. Those that took supplies enough to last themselves will suffer with the others, for on the Yukon * everybody shares alike/"

“ Will they not be able to send in supplies by dog train ?” “That idea is ridiculous. Tlio journey has been made, but a hardy man is about the only thing that can get through. A man named Nash started out last winter with 17 dogs. He reached the JDyea with two. Hundreds of dogs wouldn’t get through with enough provisions for 100 men. There will be hundreds who have gone to the Yukon who will never be heard of again.”

LIFE IN DAWSON CITY “This is a pretty lively place,” writes a resident of Dawson City. “The saloons and gambling houses are doing a big business. Cigars and drinks are 2s each. Whisky sells at from .£4 to £5 per gallon, flour is £2 10s per hundred, bacon Is 8d per pound. When we arrived here we could have sold ours for a dollar per pound if we had wanted to. Potatoes are lOd per pound. -- A man gob here a week after we did with eight hundred pounds of patatoes and thirteen cases of eggs. He got .£1 Is a dozen for his eggs_and 4s 2djper pound for the potatoes. So what do you think of that P These same eggs sold in the restaurant for 4-3 2d apiece. Bonanza and El Dorado creeks are just as rich as reported. It is the richest striko ever made. Everything is taken on those creeks. Thero has not been much prospecting done this summer on account of the mosquitoes. They are something terrible, but from now on there will be more doce. We are both working hero in town. Carpenters get .£3 per day, helpers get £2 and miners’ wages are .£3 per day. If a man could land hero now with a stock of goods, eggs, potatoes, choice ham and bacon, apples, lemons and things like that, he could make some money, or if ho got in the first of next spring, for after the clean-up everybody will have lots of money, and they handle it as though it was sand. That is the way they have been doing this summer. It is a common thing to see a man lose or win a couple of thousand dollars. Board is .£5 a week, meals 5s and upward-?. Buildings are expansive. Lots .where the business houses are sell for .£25 per front foot. Lumber costs .£27 a thousand. Klondike’s first newspaper. The first paper published in the Arctic goldfields is termed the Klondike News. It consists of four pages of three columns each, size I2in x 9in, is to be published weekly at a cost of 3s a copy or a year, “ invariably in advance.” There were five “ads.” in the Ifirst issue, three of which called attention to the music, drink and gambling advantages to be found in the establishments of tho advertisers. THE RICHEST NUGGIT. The largest nugget yet taken out of Bonanza creek was worth .£SO and was got by Bert Hutchison. The next largest one was worth .£47, and was taken out by Clarence Berry. The richest dirt on the claims, says one prospector, will run from .£2O to ,£3O to the pan. WHAT A CANADIAN MINISTER SAYS. Sir Louis Davis, Minister of Marine and Fisheries for Canada, speaking in reference to Klondike district, said it had gold beyond the dreams of avarice or the wildest anticipations, but he warned investors and men asked to go there that the Klondike region was largely unknown. The Government had no information that would justify any man in going there now. If a pioneer wanted to risk his life and every- | think else let him go at his own risk, but don’t let it be said that any responsible Minister in Canada recommended it. The difficulties there were great, and steps were being taken to overcome them. It would take a journey of 6000 miles from Montreal to reach*the place, and people would have to overcome difficulties almost insurmountable to get there. He trembled when he thought of the hundreds and ’thousands who went there ill-provided with money and ill-provided with supplies, and who must die in the pass before they reached Klondike. He also trembled for the ill-effects of the rush there reacting upon Canada, which would in the end bo blamed for it. ' '