THE KING OF KLONDYKR.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXII, Issue XVIII, 6 May 1899, Page 620

THE KING OF KLONDYKR.

Some particulars are forthcoming about Macdonald, ‘the King of Klondyke,’ whose wedding was celebrated last week. Born thirty-nine years ago in the town of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, of Scotch parents, Mr Macdonald is described by a correspondent as having led for twenty years the sturdy life of a settler. It was when he was in his twentieth year that he first turned his attention to mining. Hearing of the success of the silve* mines of Mexico, at that time the most productive in the world, he first bent his steps in that direction, and there by dint of hard labour and steady perseverance, he soon succeeded in acquiring a fortune. The very richness of his mines, however, proved his ruin. The immense quantites of silver put forth annually by the mines of the world gradually led to such a depreciation in its value that he was finally compelled to realise at a loss. It was at this time —early in 1895— that he resolved to go to the goldfields of Alaska. Dawson City at that time was nothing more than a mere collection of huts. Far from being a city, as it is now, of over 30,000 inhabitants, it was a place where meat sold at 4s per pound, and eggs cost 2s each, and vegetables were unprocurable. At the end of barely three years Mr Macdonald found himself the owner of no less than seventy-eight mines, including those of the famous El Dorado and Shookum groups, with a yearly outpui of above a million pounds, and valued by the Government assessors at over twenty-seven million sterling. Instead of allowing his good fortune to elate him and lead him into foolish extravagance, Mr Macdonald is reported to have become still more abstemious, and displayed in greater prominence his benevolent disposition. One of his first acts was to re-build, at the cost of many thousands, the Boman Catholie Church at Dawson City, of which he had been a staunch member. About this time also he resolved to leave the cold climate of Alaska and visit England. After visiting his parents in Scotland and placing them far beyond the reach of poverty, he decided to find out Superintendent Chisholm, of the Tlivor Police, to whom he had a letter of introduction. He visited Mr Chisholm’s house at Brixton, fell in love with his eldest daughter, and was married to her on Friday.