THE KLONDYKE GOLD FEVER

Pahiatua Herald, Volume V, Issue 534, 23 August 1897, Page 4

THE KLONDYKE GOLD FEVER

Keoent cables warning miners against proceeding to tbe Klondyke rush, unless they are prepared to andure the severest hardships in the hunt for gold, aro fully confirmed by papers to band by tbe last mail. Tbe Ban Francisco Call of 18th July says : “ The excitement over the gold discoveries has in no way decreased, and miners are besieged by prospective emigrants. The miners are willing to answer all enquiries a° to the costs of getting to the fields and of subsisting after reaching there, but will advise no one directly to go into tbe country. While there is undoubtedly plenty of gold—and there may to ftS strikes made in other places as have been made in the Klondyke diggings - there aro anv number of miners already in the country who have made no money. ‘ The winters,’ puts one experienced man who lias made his stake there, ‘ are very cold, the mercury going down as low as 75dog. below zero. Tho coldest weather last winter was in January and February. Miners have to use the greatest care nc* to work themselves into a perspiration, as the moisture wou d freeze and result in frostbite. In the summer it gets quite warm, and some vegetables sru raised, and mosquitoes are so numerous that gloves have to be worn while working. Tho discovery of tho Klondyke diggings was made by a man named George Connie. He is a man who has had a great hold on the Indians, and they had told him they knew where there was gold. Last August they took him about half way up the Bonanza, win re he found pay dirt, and staked out a claim. As soon as the report spread that there was gold on the Bonanza, the miners flocked in, and in a short time the City of Dawson lmd about 8000 inhabitants. The mining distiict is about 15 miles from the city. It is in the bed of the Bonanza, and is about 20 miles in length. There is also gold along the El Dorado, which empties into the Bonanza.” The scarcity of food is the worst feature of the life at the mines. Supplies are received but once a year, aud there is very little in the county in the way of food. Caribou and moose are killed sometimes, slid give a little fresh meat to relieve the monotony of bacon. Canned fruit is the principal diet. The reluctancuof the miners to encourage emigration to tho Klondyke is not from the fact that they want the gold fur themselves aud fear to have the country overrun with people, but comes from the fear that the sudden influx of population without an adequate supply of food will cause a famine, and a great deal of suffering will ensue.”