work. The amount of gold found in the placer mines is evidence not so much, perhaps, of a very rich vein as of the disintegration of a very large vein.

"The "mother lode" has been looked for in vain in California, and perhaps will be so in Alaska. But it exists somewhere up the streams on which the placer mines are found. The discovery of gold in glacial deposits far away from its native place is familiar to American geologists.

"I have encountered placer mines in glacial deposits near Aurora, in Southeastern Indiana; in Adams County, in Southern Ohio, and near Titusville, in Western Pennsylvania, where, I see, there is a new excitement. But in all these cases the gold had been brought several hundred miles by glacial ice from Canada or the region about Lake Superior. These gold mines were near the edge of the glacial region, where there had been much assorting action of both ice and water.

"It is evident, however, that in Alaska the transportation of the gold has not gone so far. The difficulties of this transportation into the Klondyke region and the shortness of the season will continue to be great drawbacks to working the mines. The pass north of Chilcoot is 7,000 feet above sea level and but a few miles back from the ocean. There is no possibility of a road over it. But from Taku Inlet, near Juneau, readier access can be had. This route was followed by Schwatka and Mr. Hayes, of the United States Geological Survey, a few years ago, and has been partially surveyed with reference to a railroad line, and reported to be available. The only other way is by a river which is open to navigation only a short time each year and is a great way around.

"The general climatic conditions on the north side of the mountains are much better than those on the south side. On the south side the snowfall is enormous, but on the north side the air is dryer. Schwatka and Hayes went in the Summer down the Yukon Valley about to the Klondyke region, and from there struck off west, passing to the north of Mount St. Elias and down the Copper River. They had dry weather all the time, in which camping was pleasant, while Russell the same season was driven back by inclement weather from ascending St. Elias on the south side. It is therefore not impossible that explorations southwest of the present gold fields may be carried on with comparative ease. But at present that whole region is bare of means of subsistence.

"There is imminent danger that many will get in there before Winter with insufficient means and starve. An English missionary and his wife have been in that general region for many years, and report the people as being so near the verge of starvation that they do not dare both to Winter in the same village lest they should produce a famine. So they live in separate villages during the Winter. Eventually the reindeer which Sheldon Jackson is introducing into the lower Yukon region will be available both for transportation and food, being much superior to dogs in that they can procure their own food. But for the present every necessity must either be packed over the Chilcoot Pass or brought around by way of the Yukon.

"As to the ultimate yield of the mines or the prospect of finding more, we have nothing but conjecture to go upon. The geologists who have visited the region were not the ones who discovered the gold. What the prospectors have found points to more. The unexplored region is immense. The mountains to the south are young, having been elevated very much since the climax of the glacial period. With these discoveries and the success in introducing reindeer Alaska bids fair to support a population eventually of several millions. The United States must hold on to her treaty rights with Great Britain for the protection of our interests there. If England accomplishes her unreasonable designs she would shut us off from all communication with the Klondyke region except by way of the Yukon."

THE GREAT GOLD DISCOVERY.

HOW THE FIRST AUTHENTIC NEWS REACHED US.

Placer mining had been going on at Circle City and the settlement of Forty Mile for some time, and news of the wonderful productiveness of the mines there had reached the United States, but the gold fever did not become pronounced until the arrival in San Francisco, on the 14th of July of this year, of the steamer Excelsior with forty miners and gold dust valued at over $500,000.

These forty miners were the first to bring the story of the almost fabulous richness of the new Klondyke mines near the Upper Yukon. One of these miners, J. C. Hestwood, who brought home $10,000 worth of gold as the result of two months' work, had this story to tell:

"Circle City and Forty Mile have suffered the usual fate of mining camps which have petered out, only these camps have not petered out. When gold was found in such astonishing quantities on the tributaries of the Klondyke the whole population of those camps moved bodily to the junction of the Klondyke and Yukon rivers, where Dawson City is established. This district, the richest placer country in the world, was discovered by an old hunter named McCormick, who has a squaw for a wife and several half-breed children. McCormick went up in the spring of 1896 to the mouth of the Klondyke to fish, as salmon weighing ninety pounds are caught where this stream meets the Yukon. The salmon didn't run as usual and McCormick, hearing from the Indians of rich placers nearby where gold could be washed out in a frying pan, started in to prospect.

"Near what is now Dawson City he struck very rich pay dirt in a side hill. As soon as news of his discovery spread men from Circle City and Forty Mile rushed in. The richest claims are in Bonanza Creek, which empties into the Klondyke three miles above Dawson City. There are three claims in that district, each 500 feet long, extending clear across the creek on which it is located. No one can file an additional claim until he has recorded his abandonment of his old claim.

"In the adjoining Bunker district there are 200 claims. The two districts have been well prospected, but further up the Klondike is much territory which has never been travelled over.

"Old miners declared that the north side of the Yukon was worthless, so no prospecting was done until McCormick started in. There is no claim-jumping, as the Canadian laws are rigid and well enforced. The rich pay dirt is only struck near bed rock and this generally lies from eighteen to twenty-five feet below the surface.

"The method of mining is to remove the surface mass, which is eighteen inches thick, and then build a fire which burns all night. In the morning the gravel is shaved down about two feet. This is shovelled out, and another fire is built, and in this slow and laborious way the ground is removed to bedrock. This work can be carried on all winter, except when the mercury falls below 60 degrees.

"Dawson City is a booming town of about 3,000 inhabitants and is growing every week. Provisions were scarce and dear last winter, and all supplies are costly. An ordinary 75-cent pocket knife sells for $4, and shoes bring from $6 to $8. A dog-sledgeload of eggs was brought in last winter from Juneau. About half were spoiled, but the whole lot sold readily at $4 per dozen. Flour sold as high as $1 a pound."

Mr. Hestwood showed many small nuggets from the new Bonanza Creek district, where his mine is situated. The gold is the color of brass, and is worth $16 to $17 an ounce. It isn't as pure gold as found elsewhere on the Yukon.

THE GOLD FEVER SPREADING.

THE STORIES OF SOME MINERS.

The stories of the returned miners, telegraphed from San Francisco all over the country and to the