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Show HONKC-T MINBfta. MI llul la Mil Lying Around Car. I...I ( KlnnillkK Much ha been written ot tho wonders won-ders of the Klondike gold fields, a correspondent cor-respondent write, but practically nothing ha been said ot tho almost phenomenal honesty ot tho miners. What smaied me most during my first few day In Dawson City was tho reckless reck-less way In which miner left thou-ssn thou-ssn Is of pounds' worth of gold exposed expos-ed In empty cabin and tent, as It Inviting In-viting the flrat comer to help hlmetlf. Toi-ro were inlljlom lying about without with-out any one looking nftcr them, and to far a ono could tec, they belonged to nobody I explored many ot thcte eatilna during their owncra' abten.ee. tad In tho very flnt cabin ! entered I stw a dirty, tattered blanket careless-v,thrown careless-v,thrown aver two mackerel kits. I lifted tho blanket and found that the kit were almost full to the brim with gold dutt and nuggeli to the value or at lean X 5.000. The miner waa out prospecting on Hear creek, and had no mora anilely about hit pile than If It wero safely housed In tho bank or Hnglnnd It was the same In nearly every cabin I entered, (lold greeted mo everywhere. There were, shelve lull or oil ran, meat tins, fruit Jar, and buckskin and walrus bag, packed with the precious metal, all as unprotected unpro-tected as If they were full uf potatoes. Ono Norwegian miner on Hunker creek had made n strong box ol a pair or ennvss overalls, the leg or which ho had tewn up. I lifted the uncanny un-canny "safe," and found that It Trelgh-ed Trelgh-ed a good 100 pounds, etery ounce ot which was virgin gold, and tho least valuo I could place on the dirty overall over-all was 5,000 There were fUo-gal-lon oil cans full of gold rarclestly pushed under the miners' bulk, overy one ot which held n fortune, for which most men strove a lifetime. Out on lildorado creek there I a settlement ot miner who bavo no fewer than It rich claims, and are washing out gold at tho rnto of many thousands or poundt n week. Their ttrong room it a common galvnnlied wuhlng tub, and when 1 waa there It was three-quarter lull or gold, and much too heavy for two strong mtn to lift. Had I been Inclined I might have pluchtd thotieanda of pounda' worth. Oold abounded on etery ildo which teemed to belong to nobody. I!en If n mlntr Wave hi onbln for a week or mora be Imply leatu a notice lo thl effect attached to the walla. Ho never tblnkt of putting a guard over hit pile. Ot course tbtre have been attcrapti at theft, but the perpetrator! have been Invariably deteotcd. In one recent cie the thief managed to carry lib. tiooty a dlstanco of ten miles, when old and exhaustion compelled him to t.iko shelter at the cabin of one ot the miners. HI host' suspicion wai aroused uy tno roan- couuuci and ny the bags ot gold, for which be could nut satisfactorily account. Tho miner il talncd hi guest, communicated with xune ot hit fellows; and fifteen of thorn assembled lu the hut, and tat In Judgment Judg-ment on the thief He was found guilty, guil-ty, and halt a doien bullet put a ud-di ud-di n end to his career. Such case, however, are vary rare, and It speaks volume for tho honesty of the 40,000 men who are now gathered In Dawson 'uy, and they can cm hundred ot thouwndt ot pounds' worth ot gold Ivtng about, without etcn thinking or laying hand on IU |
