Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 January 1900 — WILL RUSH FOR GOLD [ARTICLE]

WILL RUSH FOR GOLD

HUNDREDS BOOKED FOR PAB- - TO CAPE NOME. ■ < Metal la Abundant—Men with Rude Toole Realise Great Ruma—Market Quotations for Necessaries Are High and Renta “Out of Sight.” Abram E. Smith, formerly editor of the Rockford, 111., Gazette and now United States consul at Victoria. British Columbia, writes to the State Department qt Washington that there is great excitement over the Cape Nome gold fields, and that there will be a great emigration to that new Eldorado in the spring. Mr. Smith says: “The indications, are that there will be a great rush to Cape Nome next spring, something like that to the Klondike in the spring of 1893. It is evident that numbers wiH go there from Victoria and this province, in preference to either Atlin or the Northwest Territory. The transportation companies here and on the Sound are aU actively engaged in preparing steamers for the long trip. The distance from Victoria to Cape Nome is 2,500 miles, entirely by water. “But, notwithstanding that fact, the transportation companies have already booked all the passengers that can be carried on the first', trips, on every vessel that can be secured. At a recent meeting of representatives of the companies it was computed that 65,000 persons desired to go to Cape Nome as soon as possible. “The reports that had been circulating last season in regard to the gold discoveries at Cape Nome were generally disputed here, the opinion being that the Atlin and Klondike countries were more promising, and also easier of access, but the last two steamers from the North effectually dispelled all uncertainties, the passengers bringing with them indisputable evidence that all along the beach in the vicinity of Cape Nome gold in paying quantities can be had for the digging. “A number of these men have called at the consulate, exhibiting specimens of ■' the gold, saying they dug it on the beach, near the water’s edge; that men with only hand shovels and the simplest and rudest of pans cleared from fSO to >IOO, and even >3OO, per day, while sometimes a clean up of from >I,OOO to >1,500 has been reported. Nuggets worth from >3OO to >4OO were found near Anvil Creek, and it is l>elieved >300,000 to >400,000 were taken out of Snow gulch last summer; one man, it is said, took out' >190,000, while another claims still more. “Every one of the men who came down expressed his resolve to return in the spring—some even engaging return passage on the steamers on which they came down. According to their statements the gold does not extend to a great depth, five or six feet being as low as any have yet wound 'paying, dirt.’ Market Quotations High. “There are now between 5,000 and 6,(MX) people at Nome City, Anvil City, Cape York, Port Clarence and vicinity. The buildings are, of course, of the most temporary character. Two uewspapers are printed there, from which I take the following market quotations, current last fall: Articles— Price. Beef, per pound, 75 cents to $1 00 Wood, per eord, >35 to ... 50 00 Flour, per cwt....-. 10 00 Butter, per pound 1 00 Canned milk, per can 50 Canned meats and fruits, about 75 Maple syrup, per gallon 4 00 Potatoes, per cwt., J>lo to 15 00 Onions, per cwt., >lO to ■.'... 15 00 Tomatoes, per can. 3 00 Coal, per ton 75 00 Shingles, per bunch 7 50 Lumber, per 1,000 feet .250 00 Ruling restaurant prices: “ Steaks, >1.50 to 3 00 Reindeer steak 2 00 Pork chops 1 50 Mutton chops 1 50 Boiled mackerel 1 5o Coffee and doughnuts 5(1 Hot cakes and maple syrup 75 Corned beef hash a... 1 00 Pickled pig’s feet 1 00 Mush and milk/. 50 Oyster stew, lobsters, ete 1 50 Ham or salmon 1 00 Hamburger steak ] 50 Clam chowder '.......... 75 Sardines, per box 1 00 Chicken tamales 75 Pork and beans... 75 Cheese, with any order 25 Hum and eggs 2 00 Three eggs 2 00 Fruit and jams, all kinds, each 50 Coffee, tea or chocolate 25 Pies, each 50 One loaf of bread 25 Welsh rarebit .... 1 00 Coffee, with bread and butter., 1 00 Renta Are Enormous. ‘An ordinary two-story dwelling of eight rooms rents frequently for >2OO a month. Freight taken from the beach, where it is landed from steamers in barges, costs from 35 to 40 cents per hundred; for the delivery of heavy freight by horses, team and wagon, >lO an hour is charged. "The ruling price of a shave is >l, and for a hair cut $1.50. A bath costs >2. Fifty cents is charged for laundering a flannel shirt, 75 cents for washing a colored linen shirt, and >1 for the rehabilitation of the rare and luxurious garment known as the white shirt. Cigars and drinks cost 50 cents each. ‘Longshoremen have been paid >2 an hour for their labor. Carpenters receive >1.50 an hour.” The prevailing fare to Cape Nome, just now. from Seattle or Victoria, is >IOO for first-class and >BO for second-class passage; freight, >4O per ton. The earliest dqte at which any of the steamers are advertised to leave for Nome is May 1, 1900.