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Show & Sr- tr S S - OUR BUDGET OF FUN. 5T-- COLD. FROM THE LAND OF SHINING (Sitka, Alaska, Letter.) The sudden finding of gold in a hitherto unsuspected country baa made millionaires out of poor men. In a minute from poverty they tame into affluence. The United States will have than ever, more more plutocrats, and more "sudden riches." Canada haa not struck it so rich, for the successful prospectors have almost without exception, been United States citizens and residents of the states. In the sudden making of millionaires it is difficult to tell who has struck it richest, accounts are so wideacly divergent. Hut all agree that no so the facts, counts have exaggerated far as the finding of great quantities of gold is concerned. The richest man among the new Alaska millionaires is Joseph Ladue, the owner of the town of Dawson, and the finder of enormous Ladue is a resident of gold deposits. Schuyler Falls, Clinton county, N. Y., w here, it is said, he is soon to be married to an old sweetheart whom he could not before afford to wed. When the gold fever broke out in a mild form two years ago he went to Alaska, after a failure in the Black Hills, and found enough to tell him of greater things later on. He returned to his home, but later went back to Alaska, took up a claim in the very heart of the country, paid for a certain quantity of laud which was then for sale at a very low figure, and started In to look for gold. His first fiuu biuiigliL setlleid there by the dozen. "Dawson" the place was called, and as the owner sold off small portions of the land his fame grew and spread. He now owns Dawson, having sold but little, and is so mauy times a millionaire that his wealth cannot be estimated. He is the Harnato of Alaska, the man who struck it rich, and, knowing a good thing when he saw It, held on to It. It i3 only another tale of South African luck, but much nearer home enviously near. The rush to the Alaska gold fields is such that all outgoing steamers are filled far in advance. These steamers run intermittently after the cold weather sets in, and there are long intervals when few Alaska voyages can be made. This accounts for the awful haste to reach there before the inland waters become unnavlgable. There is also an overland route, but this also becomes impracticable after awhile, owing to the lack of traveling accommodations and the long distances that must be without finding a habitation. Alaska has never been "settled," ow ing to the great cold there, but K is thought that It might in time be made as livable as any of the other cold cit ies, and, Indeed, as St. Petersburg or Chrlstianla or any of the large cities. But this is quite a step ahead, though not at all improbable. At present, If you want to get to Alaska and become a Barnato, there are two ways of going. One is by sea and the other is overland. If you take the sea route you can start by steamship from Seattle, if you have been fortunate enough to secure accommodations ahead, and crossing the Gulf of Alaska, touch first at Unalaska, passing through the Aleutian Islands. From there tho route lies directly north, getting colder and colder every minute. Here you will need all the arctic wraps you have brought with you. The ship's fare will be warm, nourishing chocolate, moats and spices. But for all that, you will need fur overcoats, fur hoods, blanket wraps, woolen d mittens and big, warm, bags In which to sleep. For one going from a very warm city Into this region the multi-millionair- great and so sudden that i3 be great suffering, and sure to there Harnatos turn many of the would-b- e back here. The crew, on the other hand, enjoy it, bt;rg accustomed to a polar latitude for you are now approaching the pole. In spring the weather would be getting daily warmer as the season advanced, but now you would find it steadily growing more biting. The steamship stops at St. Michaels; and here, within sight of Behring sea, almost within hailing distance of the Behring strait, you leave the steamship and start inland to search for gold. The Iiarnatos have nearly all followed the Yukon. It leads into Klondvke, and one of its tributaries Is the Klondyke river. Dawson, Joseph Led lie Barnato's town, is on the Yukon: and Circle City, another rich spot, lies on its banks. Iind is for sale here very cheap. Or you can do as many prospectors have done start in hunting for gold without making too many inquiries. The find is so sudden that there is no SOME COOD JOKES, ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. Increase In Brat or the Retort to the Man Wtio tiot Fired An Intuit Kmented I'lanulne a Restful Time-T- oo Smooth, Etc. An c Hinge Is so The Candidatei. TALKING 'bout And oiher things; , ez queer, And how some folks is influenced By seasons ol the Jest ALASKA COMMERCIAL CO.'S HEAD QUARTERS, trouble in case d a rich find. Another way to reach the gold fields is Many journey by the overland rjute. this way in waguis, as they went to "Pike's Peak or bist" years ago. The rtute begins at Settle and follows the coast north past Sitka, past Juneau, and through the Chilcoe pass. And A1 p Pif fur-line- 'a 'a T.Li TRADING i.v: When he walks into Coffee John's The heelers near and far. To hear his idees on reform. Crowd in around the bar; d man And where's a In all the town than he, For jest afore election He's ez good ez he kin be. freer-hearte- Since business is so sluggish like And summer came so late, I don't know what we. would do Without the festive candidate; With his smile so set and stiddy, And his outreachin' hand, He sheds glad, a sort of radiance Wherever he may stand. ' We hev to take him ez he Is Leastwise that's my idee And that may be the reason Why his beamin' face we see. But after he's elected It makes me sore to say-- He wants not our acquaintance Till next election day. An Increase in Heat. July 27 the Dominion cabinet decided to demand a royalty on the output of the new diggings of the Yukon. Under regulations previously issued, a fee of $15 per claim for registry and a tax of $100 per annum were imposed Now, in addition to this, a royalty ol 10 per cent of the output is to be collected from all claims producing $50( per month, and 20 per cent on these producing more than that amount, Moreover, every alternate claim on all placer ground is to be reserved as the property of the government, to be sold or worked for its- revenue. The establishment of such a system, which is, we believe, without prec3dent on this continent since the end of Spanish rule in Mexico, is startling to those who have already acquired property on the Klondyke by right of location and possession, if not by title from the government, and to prospectors who are proposing to go there. The right of the Canadian government to make such regulations is unquestionable; the There is a suspipolicy is doubtful. cion that they would not have been so severe if it were not that most of the miners in the district were Americans, and the rush of prospectors thither promises to be chiefly American also. It was, of course, to be expected that the Canadian government would take measures to reimburse itself for the expenses of administration in the new district, and there is a plausible reason for a departure from the policy of liberality in granting public mineral land for the purpose of developing the unsettled parts of the country, sirce it is likely that the Yukon district has few natural resources besides its mines, and when the latter are exhausted the district will be abandoned; but this looks only to the easily worked placer deposits, and fails to take into account the lodes whence they originated, which some day will require capital and industrial freedom for their exploitation. The measures adopted, however, seem to us unwise, owing to the retardation in the development of the mineral resources of the Canadian Yukon which they will cause, and the hard feeling they are sure to breed among the American prospectors, who are likely to clamor for retaliatory These will be, moreover, treasures. difficult and expensive taxes to collect, since it will be nearly impossible to watch every miner, and the Klondike is so near the American frontier that clandestine exhortations can It is a sound hardly be prevented. principle of government that revenue needed should be raised in the most inexpensive manner possible, and any other system is unjust to the people who have to pay the taxes. Most of all to be regretted, however, is possibility of friction arising between two nations whose interests ere really Identical; since recent history has demonstrated that rich gold mines are a prolific source of contention and hard feeling. Engineering and Mining Journal. - JOSEPH LADUE, The Gold Kins of Alaska. sharp lino drawn between that which is sold and that which belongs to the United States, and a man la free to hunt where he will. For your own comfort, however, it Is well to have some definite arrangement made with the nearest authorities, so as to avoid : vn ""jm STATION ; Canada's Policy Is Criticised. 1 . He seems a sort uv average man In ordinary times A chap ez how you seldom sea A spendi!!' uv his dimes. He ain't egzactly famous for His broad philanthropic; But jest afore election He's ez free ez he kin be. i On so north Dawson. and when other side himself in ON THE YUKON. through the gold fields to The "finds" here are rich, Klondyke is reached, on the of Dawson, a man finds the very middle of the gold country. The distance to be traversed is great and the journey is a long, hard one, but notwithstanding this, thousands are struggling Alaskaward. It cost Ladue nothing to become a Barnato. : Wells-Farg- watch our' LOUIS T. STOKES. North-of-Euro- pe eals, $1,400,000 ap-p- gone-ove- food-cer- worth of gold dust o would be shipped by the south, and that $708,000 in dust was awaiting transportation. In one day there came down on the Puget Sound steamship $200,000 in Alaskan gold. There is, as usual, a howl about the exaggeration in values hereabouts. But the facts are as stated and greater. It was so when gold was found in the West Rockies and in California There really was gold and plenty oi There is a it, and so in Alaska. chance for twenty Barnatos, but, ol course, among 20,000 the present number of applicants that have at the steamship and overland offices there must be many disappointed ones. Even without making a Barnato fora man may do well here, foi tune, there is a fine chance for Yankee ingenuity and the building up of fine American cities in the very far north that year; friendly candi- -' date, And every time you'll see How jest afore election lie s ez good ea he kin be. A EL'S BAY. ST. MICH i But those who want to fol- low in his footsteps will need something like J1.0OO in money. The country is more thickly populated now and pries have gone up, whereas they used to be next to nothing. At Circle City you must now pay $40 for a fur coat, when you used to get one for And flour, sugar and spices, the absolute necessities.have advanced ii0 per cent. The luxuries tea, coffee, eggs and butter are bringing fancy prices, so that a man now needs ten times the sum required a year ago for traveling through the settlements of Alaska. One of the party should be a practical chemist, or understand the compiling of drugs, and one should be able to sow. A woman is of the utmost assistance, but few of the sex have ventured out. In the baggage which the four carry should be pieces of tanned skins, shoe leather, flannel, and wool, everything for repairing the Alaskan wearing apparel. One of the number should be able to cook, and the fourth should understand the art of putting up a All quick shelter. should be willing and ready to share and share alike in hardship. One of the hardest things the prospector has to endure Is the sight of the sacks of gold dust that are being shipped from ( very seaport and the tons of ore that are being SCM down from St. Michael's and south from Juneau. In one day 'bere came idvicei from St. Michaels .- -o Hojack Does your employer treat you as warmly now as he did at first? Tomdik More so. Hojack Indeed? That's good. Tomdik Yes. He fired me yesterday. rhinnlng; a Restful Time. , "Well, I did as you requested told your wife she must go to the mountains." "I hope you fixed it so she won't taka me with her." "Yes; I told her that she ought found a big mountain, and have it all to herself." Chicago Record. t Too Smooth. "Why have you quit riding the bicycle with Miss Smoothly, Dick?" "She knows the town too well. Sh would pilot me to an ice cream parlor in the quietest residence district I could find." Detroit Free Press. Farticulars Wanted. "Little Binks is going to marry that very tall Miss Hopkins." "Goodness! How did he court her with a stepladder or a telephone?" Chicago Record. lioston, of Course. "Pretty Polly!" said the lady. "Caj Polly talk?" "Polly," replied the Boston parro Indianapolis Journal 'can converse." Resented. tiff Sorry Sawyer From dls day Tired Taggsey an' me is mortal enemies. He offered an insult to me perfeshunal To feel much for others, and little pride dat I kin never forgive. for ourselves, to restrain our selfish, Weary Walker Wot wur de natur uv and to Indulge our benevolent affec- de insult? tions, constitute the perfection of huSorry Sawyer I wuz sunnin' mese'f man nature. Adam Smith. on dat board pile, an' he asked me if I; wuz takin' a sun-bat- h, j |