Victoria, B.C., January 5.
Whether the gold deposits of the great North-West Territories of this
continent will fulfil the pessimistic predictions so widely circulated is a question which no one can as yet foresee. The curtain has but just gone up on the stage on which will be enacted the old ever attractive drama of gold, with the same elements of tragedy and comedy as were presented at Ballarat and Bendigo, Coolgardie, and South Africa. Just a
crowd will find its way to this new land, only it will be vastly larger, for all sorts and conditions of men all over the American continent, and the world for that matter, are being inspired with ambitions engendered by the Alaskan discoveries. Whatever may be the outcome of it all, whether it be early or late before the curtain drops on the stage, one thing is certain - the crowd will not be missing.
Already a goodly number of miners from Australia and New Zealand have
arrived in British Columbia, en route to the Klondyke, and each arrival of the Australian steamers for months to come is expected to add a contingent to the vast army of prospectors and others making the pilgrimage to this golden Mecca.
Victoria, the capital city of this province, is directly on the route to the gold regions, and the steamers that pass this port bring most of the news that is wired all over the country. It is the gateway of the north-west and its people are making preparations for the rush of gold-seekers who will be making their way here bound for the Yukon in the early months of 1898. It is the first port of call for steamers from the Orient and from Australasia. The Huddart steamers have had their passenger accommodation taxed to its utmost capacity. Agents are here from the old country making contracts for housing several thousand gold-seekers. Transportation companies are being formed to purchase steamers to handle the passenger and freight traffic between this port and Dyea, Skagway, St. Michael's, etc., and the number of ocean steamers listed for the trade already numbers 32, to sail regularly from this port.
The Hon. Clifford Sifton, Canadian Minister of the Interior, recently addressed a large and representative meeting in this city upon his return from a trip to the north-west. He said it was the desire of the Canadian Government to open up an all-Canadian route to the goldfields, and to study the interests of the miners, while promoting those of the Dominion. He declared that when rightly settled the boundary line between Alaska and British Columbia would include some important posts now in possession of the United States. Mr. William Ogilvie, the great Canadian explorer and surveyor who accompanied Mr. Sifton, also gave a lecture upon the goldfields, which has been published, and from its exhaustive and reliable character has created widespread interest. It may be stated that a copy will be forwarded free to any address on application to the "Board of Trade, Victoria, B. C."
MINING UNDER ICE.
Having come in contact with several who have been for some little time on the new diggings, it may not come amiss, perhaps, to give a brief outline of their views relating to the country. To start with, the ground is covered with snow most of the year. In July and August, however, it is very hot, the thermometer registering 80deg to 90deg and the mosquitoes are more than troublesome. Notwithstanding the heat, the ground does not thaw out, protected as it is with a thick moss. This moss the miner cuts off the surface with a shovel. Then he builds a fire, thaws out the ground, digs a few inches, thaws again, and digs, "turn and turn about."
A resident of this city, who procured an interest in several rich claims, in addition to bringing out with him £26,000 as a result of two years' labor, states that, contrary to the general belief, winter is the best time for mining. The largest paying mines are worked in the winter, and the washing-up is in the summer. A poor man, however, can dig out the gold in the bars and banks of the rivers in hot weather. This great rich stratum, that crosses in a wide belt the vast Klondyke district, runs in the direction of Alaska, in United States territory. The temperature in winter in the Klondyke
region goes to 70deg below zero. From Victoria City, in British Columbia, there are five different routes, distanced as follows: Fort Wrangell, 801 miles; Skagway, 1024 miles; Dawson City, 1594 miles; Teslin Lake, 1079 miles; Fort Selkirk, 1418 miles. The Canadian Government have taken initiatory steps to open up an easy route by way of the Stikeen River, and this will be the popular one when the spring comes and the rush properly sets in.
PRICE OF PROVISIONS.
Private letters from several who left here in the autumn do not betoken a very bright outlook, and they advise that none should go unless they have claims to work or something assured to go to. The last boat that got up the river to Dawson reached there about October 1. A correspondent, writing from there, says:- "There were 17 sacks of mail aboard, and some of the letters were a year old. There is no postmaster at this place, which has a population at a low estimate of 5000 people. It has been the custom hitherto when the mail arrived, whether by boat or private individuals who are enterprising enough to gather up the mail and bring it in at the rate of a dollar per letter, for the bar-room keepers to grab a bundle and carry it to their respective places of business, and then if you were expecting a letter you had to ransack every rum-hole in town to find it. But now the police authorities handle the mail, and do it admirably.
Another letter says - "We are now in the land of gold, but none of it has come our way yet. There is very little doing at present. All the summer diggings were about winding up when we got here, and the winter diggings had not yet started. The steamers have not been able to make the number of trips expected up the river, and in consequence many men have had to leave their work and go down the river to Fort Yukon, 360 miles from here, where it is said provisions are in abundance. Flour is sold at 8dol per sack, but I have seen men offering 150dol per sack on the street, but no person would take their offer. Food, and not gold, is the topic of the day. The mines are from eight to 30 miles out of town. Wages are 15dol per day, and are likely to go up, instead of down, by sheer force of circumstances. Little enough when you look at the expense and hardships men have to go through to get into this country. It is impossible to get a 'lay' on ground that has been prospected and proved to be worth anything. So our boys have decided to take
day wages for the winter, and that will give us a chance to secure grub for next season. Then perhaps we may drop on to something better next summer. It is true there are some very rich claims, but they are far in the minority. It is hard work and the hardest kind of life, and few have the courage or constitution to stand it. There must have been two
thousand left for want of 'grub.' Flour is now 75dol a sack, and beans 1dol a pound, and everything else accordingly as far as eatables are concerned, but this spring things will be different. As soon as the boats get in flour will be down to 6dol a sack, and beans 15 cents a pound. Thus it will be seen that 'all is not gold that glitters in the golden Yukon.' I have been on the goldfields in New Zealand and Australia, and was in Sydney in 1894 when Coolgardie was on everybody's lips, and men did not count the cost then any
more than they are doing now over this Klondyke craze, when the golden finger is beckoning the few to fortune and the many to disaster. But there will not be left behind in this case the compensating results of settlement and civilisation, for of all who go to ice-bound Alaska to make fortunes, few will go there to make homes. 'Swiftwater Bill,' who is now in New York living like a prince, and who used to throw a sack of gold-dust on the gaming-table at Dawson City with as much nonchalance as an average man would put a penny in the slot, 'struck it rich' in the Klondyke, and there will be others who never owned anything worth owning who will become millionaires, but history will repeat itself, and the law of averages remain the same while the boomer, with his rare abilities, will be in evidence."
"THE FAMINE AT DAWSON."
Under the above and such-like sensational headings many accounts of starvation among the miners of Dawson City have been published by the American and Canadian papers. According to several, however, who left there as late as the beginning of December, reaching here on New Year's Day, there is no occasion for any uneasiness on this score being felt. They say that, while there may, before the winter, is over, be some shortage, there will be no actual want. The American people, with their imagination fired with the visions of gold one the one hand and hunger on the other, with their characteristic philanthropy took up the cry of "wolf," and to keep him from the door of their fellow subjects in the inhospitable Klondyke petitioned their Government to send relief. Some mistaken notions have arisen over this, particularly in the minds of some people interested in the outfitting trade along the Pacific coast. It has been urged that a military expedition would be required, and that it might easily be used as a cloak for
the importation of an enormous supply of American provisions free of duty by private individuals, thus defrauding the Canadian Customs and injuring legitimate trade. To this objection the Canadian Government replied: that "in the first place, no person can possibly object to the sending of relief by a civilised government into any territory
where starvation is supposed to stare human beings in the face. To impose Customs duties on food for starving men would be an outrage to the natural feelings common to humanity." The Government, therefore, have undertaken to admit supplies free.
This expedition will not be of a military character, and it will take in only thirty or forty tons of provisions. It is to be in charge of one officer of the
United States army, but that is all. The Canadian Government will furnish the escort of 50 Canadian mounted police. The supplies will be purchased by the United States Government, and no private individual, nor goods for any private individual, will be allowed with the expedition. The United States Government is responsible for the single object of the pack
train, viz, relief of distress, and the officer in charge will see that the honor of the United States Government is not compromised in any way.
QUID PRO QUO.
Had there been a reasonable cooperation on the part of the Canadian
Government, and a friendly and neighborly feeling evinced between the two Governments, it is not likely that there would have been granted to the Hon. Mr. Sifton, the Canadian Minister, when in Washington, the concession which has resulted in the removal of the
vexatious and obnoxious regulations which prevented the free passage in bond of Canadian goods through the strip of territory on Lynn Canal, at present in the custody of the Americans. Customs inspectors have accompanied these goods across the passes at a cost to Canadian goods of 6dol (30s) per day, and the abolition of this is a valuable return for
the courtesy shown by the Canadian Government.
On January 4, United States Paymaster, James McFarland, arrived at Portland, Oregon, with 21 pack mules. He immediately proceeded to Vancouver barracks, where preparations will be completed for taking the rations into the Yukon. One hundred and twenty pack mules will be used in the expedition, which will start in a few days.
The three steamers of the Canadian-Australian line have already brought a
good mary miners here from West Australia, all bound for the Klondyke, and it is said that many more intend coming. To them a few hints may be given by one who has "been there himself." If the San Francisco route be the one selected, let the intending passenger
insist on getting a through ticket to Victoria or Vancouver (the A. and A. Company will forward him through without additional charge). By no means let him be cajoled by smart
American plausibility into purchasing his equipment in San Francisco. Victoria, B.C., is the best place to outfit, and he will save money, and have no duty to pay. If he should prefer coming direct, the Aorangi is the best boat by which to travel. - Melbourne Argus.
