THE CAPE NOME GOLDFIELDS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2430, 10 October 1900, Page 19

THE CAPE NOME GOLDFIELDS.

Gold — the god of the modern world — is the ; talisman of our time. Alas ! it is not only a talisman ; it is also the fertile source of war and strife. As soon as it was officially decided that there was no title to any of the tidal water shores in Alaska, the enterprising Ame- \ rican capitalist decided to take a hand in the I great game of grab. The poor miner, with ] his spade, scooping, single-handed, nuggets j from the gravelly sand, must not be left in 1 undisturbed possession of so rich a field. 2 Enterprise and capital decided to relieve him of the arduous^ though well-remunerated, toil. The capitalists of the Pacific have spent the winter building a fleet of powerful steamdredgers fitted with huge suction pipes. When j the tide rises the miners on the shore retire to j wait the fall of the waters; but the great • dredgers, anchoring above the golden hoard, j will thrust their siiction pipes! through the ! water and scoot) up the auriferous sand, work- 1 ing double tides and all tides, putting 24- ] hours' work uito each day. j

Of course, against such competition the shoreside mine" can do nothing. The 50 dredgers now ready to start for Cape Nome will eat up the golden shore by the acre, leaving not even the tailings for the private miner, with his 1 shovel and his pail. But the 10,000 men who are now waiting on shore for the melting of the water (many of whom have i walked 3000 miles overland from Skagway and ' other districts, in order to be in at the start) are in no mood to see their prospective fortune dredged away before their eyes. Neither do the 80,000 who are waiting to be ferried over intend to be' forestalled by the dredgers. The old miners have their rifles, and will not hesitate to shoot. But the capitalists who are sending out the dredgers are not men who will turn the cheek to the smiter. They are plating their dredgers with iron, and among their equipment are Maxims and Nordenfeldts and other machine guns, with which, if a shot is fired, they will sweep the shore with a deadly hail of bullets. To preserve the peace, tbe United States Government is sending a small army of infantry in a warship, and an armed despatch boat, to patrol the shore and stavo j off the threatened war. j It is interesting to reflect upon the results i that would follow if the Cape Nome gold- I fields were to prove inexhaustible. The auriferous shore is paid to stretch for 100 miles from eapt to west. No ono knows how deep is the gold-bearing sand, or how far under the ocean the great deposit ranges. The latest news is that similar gold-bearing sand has been found on the Siberian shore, on the opposite side of the Straits. For 40 miles inland the coast is paid to be gold-bearing. There is at lea^t the possibility that the gold gravel may stretch as far under the ocean. As to its depth, no one has yet any information. It may go as deep as the Rand for anything

that is known at present. What is confidently asserted by the authorities at Washington Mint is that this year's yield caimot be less than £4.000,000 ; and with the new appliances with which the dredgers are fitted it may be much more. The supply of gold from the Tiansvaal is praciically cut off. Instead of yielding £20,000,000. as they would probably have done this year if there had besn no war, it i* doubtful whether the mines vill yield £5,000,000.

But the question arises, what if in come out-of-the-way part of the world, possibly in theneighbourhood of Cape Nome itself, a bed of pure gold were discovered where it could be loaded up like chalk? The speculation may appear absurd, but it is hardly less wild than 20 years ago would ha-\ c seemed a phophecy that before the century ended the gold output of the world would be doubled. In 1888, according to the figures of the Director of the American Mint, the world's goldfields only yielded £22,000,000 of the precious metal in the 12 months. The yield is now over £60,000,000. The Rand, Klondyke, and now Cape Nome have nearly trebled the annual yield of the standard of value. And yet, so far, there has been no great derangement of

prices. If to treble the gold output does not depreciate the value of gold and raise the price of commodities purchasable with gold, it is impossible to say confidently what would happen if it were trebled again. — "Review of Reviews."

A VICTORIAN'S EXPERIENCES.

A letter has been received by Mr Cameron, of Donald, from Mr J. J. Warren, who is well known, in the district and who Failed for the Klondyke goldfields' in April, 1899. The letter is dated Cape Nome, Alaska, February 5, 1900. Mr Warren states that the climate is much the same as at Dawson City, with the exception that the wind is always blowing with terrific force. Owing to the scarcity of wood very little work has been done this summer, and the gold won is but a small item. There is not a tree within 100 miles of the place, and the only wood to be got is that which has drifted ashore along the beach. Of the 2000 people -wintered there a large number have to drag this wood fully 20 miles by hand, but dogs are also utilised for this purpose. The price of wood is £15 a cord. There are no laws at Cape Nome. Each man has to protect his property by physical force or with the aid of a revolver. A large number of Australians are there, and as a rule club together. On the coldest day 3'et experienced it was about 25 degrees below zero. Vagabonds and thieves are galore, and it is impossible for a man to leave his cabin for a few hours. If he does, he will find it pulled down and cut up for firewood. A great rush to the Cape Nome goldfields is expected this summer, but Mr Warren says that unless something is found in the meantime it will be of no use for anyone to come, and he is of opinion that the place will be worked out before the first boat arrives. For fully 200 miles on both sides of the town the beach has been pegged out by syndicates for speculative jjurposes. According to Mr Warren it is a most outlandish place, not one word of news of the outside world having been received since October, 1899.