It's Gold 
 Gold 
 
 Gold all over 
 
,^wcaimi^ 
 
 1S98. 
 
'' It's Gold, Gold, Gold all over. 
 
 ff 
 
 Says William Stanley, one of the returning Alaskan argo- 
 nauts. Perhaps his opinion might be considered as rosily tinged 
 by his $1 12,000 in dust and nuggets, the fruits of only a few 
 months' work, and the fact of his claim being reasonably safe 
 to produce $1,000,000 more; but not so with Captain Francis 
 Tuttle, Commander of the U. S. revenue cutter Bear, whp 
 says : " It is gold, gold, everywhere ; one can hardly credit one's 
 senses." Nor with Burton F. Bennett, U. S. district attoFney 
 for Alaska, who reports that "there is gold in every body of 
 water, big or little, in our country ; " nor with Captain W. E. 
 Nye, cf the steamier Santuit, who says, "The country is full of 
 small rivers and creeks, and every river and creek is full of 
 gold." And Alexander McDonald, the Mackay of the Klon- 
 dike, gives it as his opinion that " we ..l^VieQ®ijfy'^§)iiT.d >the edge 
 of the pay streak, and in the next ye^r or two the. world^ Will be 
 dazzled with the richness of this territor-^."^^ .. •. / 
 
 Fairly, there is every reason to exped^-^triaitirinother year, 
 with ample supplies, men and machinery, and modern methods, 
 T-T J J ^^^ revelations of 1897 will pale before the new- 
 developments of this marvelous storehouse of 
 of Tons treasure. Tons upon tons, yes, hundreds of 
 of Gold. ^^"^^ °^' "gold, gold, gold, bright, shining, pre^ 
 cious, dazzling gold," as the Chicago Tribune 
 has it, may confidently be expected. And we of the Yukon 
 
Trading:, Mining: a,nd Exploration Co», Ltd*, expect to 
 
 have a most vivid and tangible interest in those golden tons. 
 
 It is always interesting to read of those who have reaped 
 fortunes, and we have therefore compiled a few cases as 
 reported from the Golden Yukon the past summer, believing 
 that our shareholders will be glad to have at hand a record of 
 these striking 
 
 MODERN INSTANCES. 
 
 First let us take William Stanley, as one of the earliest 
 __ __ heard from. He brought down as the result of 
 
 three months' work of himself and his son and 
 the Gold their two partners, the comfortable sum of 
 to Show $1 12,000, and they own four claims conserv- 
 atively estimated to contain at least $2,000,000 
 more, which "can be taken out with no great work," he says. 
 He believes "there is gold in every creek in Alaska ; certainly 
 on the Klondike the claims are not spotted — one seems to be 
 as good as another. It's gold, gold, gold all over. It's yards 
 wide and yards deep. 1 say so because I have been there and 
 have the gold to show for it." 
 
 May all of us have the same belief next year, for the 
 same most cogent reason ! 
 
 Another fortunate man is William Henry Marstens, an 
 ^ Englishman, who brought down $100,000, 
 
 ijave away and is safe to take $1,000,000 more from 
 a $275,000 his claim in the next three years. His case 
 ]y[|j^g^ is also an instance of the curious fortunes of 
 
 mining and the tremendous opportunities it 
 
offers. The very claim from which he took $60,C00 in three 
 months was one which he and a partner had abandoned as 
 worthless a year before ; and from another claim which he and 
 his partner worked fruitlessly for two weeks and finally gave 
 away, $275,000 has since been taken. 
 
 George Hornblower, a 21 year old boy from Indianapolis, 
 
 found in the heart of a barren waste known as Boulderfield 
 
 A $5 750 ^ "^^§^^^ ^°^ ^^h^^h he received $5,750, and 
 
 * took out from the claim he located there 
 
 Lump. $ 1 00,000 in four months. 
 
 One of the pleasantest of the Klondike histories is that of 
 Clarence J. Berry and his bride, who in the spring of '96 
 made their wedding trip to Alaska, not knowing, 
 A Golden as they told their friends at home, whether they 
 Wedding ^^^^"^ ^^^^ return. Without capital or prospects 
 y they eventually landed at the gold fields, whence 
 
 * ^ "• fifteen months later they returned home to 
 California, he v/ith $80,000 in gold dust and nuggets, she with 
 $8,000 that she had herself picked up. To-day the Berry 
 mines are among the richest in the district, easily worth over a 
 million. 
 
 With Mr. Berry in the spring will return to the Klondike 
 Frank Phiscator, of Michigan, another young and successful 
 miner, who brought out $96,000 last summer. 
 
 Another miner, Charles B. Lamb, of Los Angeles, Cal, 
 left the Klondike early last spring to go home and be married, 
 (j,^- p.p.p. , returning in June to receive from his partner, 
 
 ^ ' James McNamee, the pleasing wedding con- 
 
 His Cabin. gratulation, "Lamb, there's $37,000 up there 
 
 3 
 
in the cabin for you, your share of what we have taken out 
 while you were gone." 
 
 "Skiff" Mitchell, of Eureka, Cal., and his partner, Charles 
 Dinsmore, of Auburn, Me., cleaned up $1 13,000 in the wash- 
 up last spring and are easily worth a million apiece. 
 
 No. 31 claim on Eldorado creek was offered to a dozen 
 different men for $ 1 1 5 before finding a purchaser at that 
 A -p' price; he sold it for $31,000, and the new 
 
 ^ owners have refused $60,000 for a half interest. 
 
 Chance. 
 
 J. D. Clements, of Seneca Falls, N. Y., after three 
 years wandering from home, got into the gold fields last season 
 located claim 20 above Discovery took out $1 ,200 in four days 
 work, and came out with over $40,000 for a visit East; he returns 
 to his mine next spring. 
 
 William Alperson, of Spokane, Wash., with two other men, 
 took out $30,000 in 47 days, carrying the dirt over a , mile to 
 A <trf\n nnn ^^^^ ^^ ' ^^^ there been water at the claim 
 
 A $500,000 they could have taken out $100,000 in 
 
 Quartz Mine. the same time. They have also located 
 a rich quartz property worth half a million. 
 
 On Sulphur Creek the gold is found in a manner un- 
 accountable even to the old and experienced miners — lying in and 
 r" t J -D i.t- on the gravel of a pebbly stream ; coarse. 
 
 Could Pay the ^ u- ^ u . ,a a ^ 1 f- , 
 
 ' heavy, bird-shot gold, and of the finest 
 
 National Debt, quality— $18 to the ounce. At Nos. 12, 
 13, 14 and 15 above are Hunter & Co., who,- it is reported, 
 probably have gold enough in their 3,000 feet to pay the 
 national debt. 
 
 4 
 
One year ago Alexander McDonald had not money enough 
 
 to pay for a little fresh meat he had bought ; to-day he is the 
 
 richest man on the Klondike, worth anywhere 
 
 r auper ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^-^^^ millions ; and half the surface 
 
 Millionaire* of his ground has not yet been scratched. 
 
 As a matter of fact, he does not know whether he is worth five 
 
 millions or twenty, and it will not be known till the clean up 
 
 comes, a year or two from now. 
 
 In Skookum Gulch the lay of the gold is as inexplicable as 
 in Sulphur Creek. Nuggets have been found under bowlders ; 
 under 12 inches of moss two men picked $800 
 Nuggets . in coarse gold in one day ; a foot below the sur- 
 Under ^^^^ *^° others with a rocker picked out $585 
 
 in half a day; and many instances are known 
 DOWiaerS. ^here claims have yielded to two men from $ 1 00 
 to $800 a day. Yet thousands of people have walked over this 
 ground in the past year, and no one suspected its richness. 
 
 On the Pelly River, near its junction with the McMillan, 
 over 1 00 miles across two ranges of mountains from the Stewart, 
 a remarkably rich placer bed has been struck. 
 Dazzled From here Mr. H. A. Boyleson writes his brother, 
 
 'With ^ store-keeper at Sheep Camp, to " drop every- 
 
 — -J thing and come right away ; I am dazzled with 
 
 gold ; one pan turned me $825, and I am only 
 down ten feet." 
 
 Early in the summer appeared a list of some of the return- 
 ing miners, with the sums they brought. It was necessarily im- 
 perfect, as many kept their own counsel ; but we reproduce it 
 here, with some later additions, as it is interesting in connection 
 with the above : 
 
J. J. Clements, of Los Angeles 
 
 , 
 
 
 $175,00a 
 
 Prof. T. S. Lippy, of Seattle . 
 
 
 . 65,000 
 
 Wm. Stanley, of Seattle 
 
 
 
 . 112.000 
 
 Clarence Berry . . . . 
 
 
 
 . 135,000 
 
 Henry Anderson . . , . 
 
 
 
 . 55,000 
 
 Frank Keller, California . 
 
 
 
 . 60,000 
 
 T. J. Kelly 
 
 
 
 . 33,000 
 
 Wm. Sloane, of Nanaimo 
 
 
 
 . 85,000 
 
 Frank Phiscater . . . . 
 
 
 
 . 94,000 
 
 Louis Rhodes . . . . 
 
 
 
 . 40,000 
 
 Anton Strander . . . . 
 
 
 
 . 20.000 
 
 Ben Wall. Tacoma 
 
 
 
 . 50.000 
 
 William Carlson, Tacoma, 
 
 
 
 . 50,000 
 
 John Wilkerson, Nanaimo . 
 
 
 
 . 50,000 
 
 Sam Collej 
 
 
 
 . 25,000 
 
 Stewart & HoUenshead, California 
 
 
 
 45,000 
 
 Charles Myers and Partner, Ariz, 
 
 
 
 . 22,000 
 
 Johnny Marks 
 
 
 
 . 10,000 
 
 Alex Orr . . . . 
 
 
 
 . 10,000 
 
 Fred Price, Seattle 
 
 
 
 . 15,000 
 
 Tim Bell .... 
 
 
 
 , 31.000 
 
 William Hayes 
 
 
 
 . 35.000 
 
 Dick McNulty 
 
 
 
 . 20.000 
 
 Jake Halterman 
 
 
 
 . 14,000 
 
 Johnson & Olson . 
 
 
 
 . 20.000 
 
 Neil McArthur 
 
 
 
 . 50,000 
 
 Charles Anderson . 
 
 
 
 . 25,000 
 
 Joe Morris .... 
 
 
 
 . 15,000 
 
 Hank Peterson 
 
 
 
 . 12,000 
 
Thomas Cook 
 
 M. S. Ncrcross 
 
 J. Ernmerger 
 
 Con Stamatin 
 
 Albert Fox . 
 
 Thomas Flack 
 
 Louis B. Rhodes 
 
 Henry Dore . 
 
 Victor Lord . 
 
 Albert Galbraith 
 
 James McMahon 
 
 J. 0. Hestwood 
 
 F. G. H. Bowker 
 
 Joe Ladue 
 
 Jack Home . 
 
 Douglas McArthur 
 
 Bernard Anderson 
 
 Robert Krook 
 
 Fred Lendesser 
 
 J. J. Kelly . 
 
 N. A. Transportation Co 
 
 Geo. E. Starr and party 
 
 Edwin Thorp . 
 
 Dick Law 
 
 J. Smith 
 
 Joe Brant 
 
 Cornelius Edwards 
 
 Whipple 
 
 Harry Ash 
 
 $10,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 10.000 
 
 8,250 
 
 5,100 
 
 5,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 15,000 
 
 15,000 
 
 15,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 90,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 6,000 
 
 15,000 
 
 14.000 
 
 14,000 
 
 13,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 175,000 
 
 18,000 
 
 20.000 
 
 100,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 30,000 
 
 25,000 
 
 10.000 
 
 10,000 
 
James McNamee 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 $10,000 
 
 Charles Vest .... 
 
 
 
 
 600 
 
 Joe Lowe . . . . . 
 
 
 
 
 15,000 
 
 J. S. Dinsmore 
 
 
 
 
 8,000 
 
 T. J. Allen .... 
 
 
 
 
 35,000 
 
 Segrin and Schroder 
 
 
 
 
 30,000 
 
 Charles Engle 
 
 
 
 
 20,000 
 
 Fritz Cloak .... 
 
 
 
 
 12,000 
 
 A Barber .... 
 
 
 
 
 10,000 
 
 Sam Matthews 
 
 
 
 
 •5,000 
 
 George Reynolds . 
 
 
 
 
 5,000 
 
 Hans Anderson 
 
 
 
 
 5,000 
 
 M. Misamore . . . . . 
 
 
 
 
 3,000 
 
 N, A. Transportation Co. 
 
 
 
 
 150.000 
 
 Fifteen of Cleveland's passengers 
 
 
 
 
 225,000 
 
 J. Rowan .... 
 
 
 
 
 50,000 
 
 Jim Bell . . . 
 
 
 
 
 45,000 
 
 Joe Goldsmith . . . . 
 
 
 
 
 35,000 
 
 N. W. Powers 
 
 
 
 
 
 35,000 
 
 W. W. Caldwell 
 
 
 
 
 
 30,000 
 
 Win Oler 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 30,000 
 
 C. K. Zilly . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 25,000 
 
 F. W. Cobb . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 25,000 
 
 W. Zahn 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 15.000 
 
 G. S. Lansing 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 15,000 
 
 A. Buckley . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 10,000 
 
 B. Farnham . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 10,000 
 
 M. R. Gowler 
 
 
 
 
 
 5,000 
 
 Passengers on Sout 
 
 h Coast . 
 
 
 
 
 150.000 
 
B. Wold 
 
 
 . $60,000 
 
 A. Harper 
 
 
 60,000 
 
 Mike Knatsen 
 
 
 5,000 
 
 A. Andrews . 
 
 
 . 50,000 
 
 H. Summers . 
 
 
 50,000 
 
 Hank Petersen 
 
 
 . 35,000 
 
 Will Hayes . 
 
 
 . 35,000 
 
 F. Densmore . 
 
 
 . 30,000 
 
 J. McQuenten 
 
 
 . 30,000 
 
 Charles Raymond . 
 
 
 . 30,000 
 
 John Thorn . 
 
 
 . 25,000 
 
 0. Rapp 
 
 
 . 20,000 
 
 W. A. Sherman 
 
 
 .. 15,000 
 
 E. P. Leggett 
 
 
 . 12,000 
 
 H. Schaefer . 
 
 
 . 10,000 
 
 Alaska Commercial Company . 
 
 . 300,000 
 
 Twenty-five other passengers or 
 
 1 Excelsior . . 188,000 
 
 Passengers on Humboldt 
 
 . 15,000 
 
 Reported to October 1 
 
 . $4,097,600 
 
 " Nov. 2i 
 
 I 
 
 1,267,000 
 
 $5,364,600 
 
 Late returns say that from 3 to 5 millions in dust and 
 nuggets is mined and is now lying in Cabins awaiting shipment. 
 
The total amount of gold produced in the Klondike, last 
 season cannot be even fairly approximated. Many of the miners 
 did not report their earnings, some gold was lost on the P. B. 
 Weare over two millions is undoubtedly still in the miners* 
 cabins and as much more in the safes of the trading companies, 
 awaiting shipment ; but whether the product has been seven or 
 eight or a dozen millions, it must be remembered that only the 
 crudest methods have been as yet employed for its extraction ; 
 and we believe it a safe estimate that it will be from eight to 
 twelve times as much in 1898. 
 
 It is certain that the modern methods which we shall adopt 
 in working the mines will give us results far in advance of any 
 yet secured in that section, getting out all the 
 Labor-saving gold with less time and labor, and thus vastly 
 Devices* increasing the profit by decreasing the cost ; 
 
 and we are firmly convinced that the dredging 
 of the river beds will prove a bonanza fully equalling if not far 
 excelling the richest placer finds thus far known. 
 
 When it is remembered that as yet the discoveries have 
 been in comparatively limited localities, while all the evidence 
 tends to show that regions yet unexplored are likely to prove 
 equally as rich as those now v/orked, the be- 
 Largest Hef that Alaska is far and away the richest 
 
 Dividends ^^^ greatest gold find the world has ever seen 
 
 •c rjr- is firmly impressed upon us ; and we are con- 
 
 hverivnown, ,.^ ,:^ , ., f. , , ,u 
 
 fident that our capital mvested there is going 
 to return the largest dividends ever known in the history of legit- 
 imate financial business. There is ample room for the profit- 
 able employment of millions in the extension of operations al- 
 ready successfully under-way, with certain assurance of increased 
 
Y" t^ dividends with such extension of our capital, 
 
 ,_, J, labor, knowledge and sagacity, make a powerful 
 
 o-' combination. The result of such a combination 
 IViining CL is v^hat the world generally calls "luck;" but 
 Exp. Co* just as some one has said that genius is "an in- 
 finite capacity for taking pains," so is this " luck " more likely 
 to be the know-how, the will and ability to work. 
 
 To make successful such an undertaking this company re- 
 quired just the combination above named. It needed acquaint- 
 ance with the Alaskan country, what it had and what it lacked, 
 how to get the former and supply the latter ; and these require- 
 ments have been carefully considered in the selection of the 
 men to fill its offices and superintend its work. The extended 
 knowledge and unerring judgment of our Presi- 
 Invaluable dent, Mr. Charles S. Hartwell, in the matter of 
 Exoerience purchasing exactly what was needed, and at the 
 lowest possible figures, made him unmistakably 
 the. man for this position. He had been for years in charge of 
 the same department of the great Chicago Fair, and his expe- 
 rience has been invaluable to the company in securing the 
 largest possible margin of profit on all merchandise, while his 
 unvarying sagacity and acumen have been shown to the com- 
 pany's great advantage in all questions of policy that have come 
 before the directors. 
 
 The long acquaintance of our Vice-President, Mr. W. T. 
 
 Criswell, in Alaskan commercial affairs, has also been a valuable 
 
 reliance of the company in the selection of 
 
 Acquaintance supplies, the best spots to locate them and 
 
 J yt I f the means of getting them there with the 
 
 least delay and expense* All reports in- 
 
dicate an immense influx into the gold fields next year, the 
 
 Northern Pacific- Railway alone announcing that it expects to 
 
 "TU l\7r f ^^^® ^P 100,000 passengers; and it is cer- 
 
 y tain that every ounce of merchandise will 
 
 Bs Fed* bring enormous prices, thus assuring the 
 
 company enough profit to declare a heavy 
 
 dividend on its capital stock, entirely regardless of its mining 
 
 and transportation resources. 
 
 Our Secretary and Treasurer, the Hon. Charles A. Keeler, 
 
 of Rochester, N. Y., is an eminent jurist, most favorably known 
 
 » «. there for his exactness and probity, having been 
 
 for many years in charge of the fiscal affairs of 
 
 Favorably large financial corporations. His experience, 
 
 Known. ability, and important connections in this line 
 
 have been of signal value to the company, in 
 
 which he is largely and actively interested. 
 
 ■KT Rigfht here we would like to say that 
 
 we consider the stability of the company 
 
 Figure gfreatly due to the fact that it has no figfure- 
 
 Heads. heads, every officer and director is not only 
 
 an investor in it, but a worker also. 
 
 To Mr. F. Eugene Gladwin, its chief engineer, the company 
 
 is indebted for the suggestion of its dredging operations, which 
 
 bid fair to eclipse in results anything yet done in the Alaskan 
 
 fields. Mr. Gladwin has had years of hard practical training in 
 
 -J mining, in addition to his natural ability and 
 
 his scientific knowledge of the subject, is not 
 
 Better. only a cool, clear-headed, practical miner, 
 
 but also an enthusiastic student of the possi- 
 
bilities of his chosen profession, and a man of intuitively correct 
 judgment as to the practicability of new devices. Few men 
 so thoroughly qualified for his most important position could 
 have been secured — certainly none better. 
 
 Mr. George M. Belden, our Resident Manager, though 
 comparatively a young man, has had a wide and diversified ex- 
 Never perience from Colorado to Australia and South 
 
 -_. . Africa, and has seen as much of actual mining 
 
 IViaKeS a operations under varying conditions as most 
 
 Mistake. miners of twice his age. His knowledge of 
 
 geology is absolute, and he never makes a 
 mistake in estimating the value of indications. We have the 
 most entire confidence that the results of his work in the field, 
 not only in directing the prospectors but in the methods of 
 working and the employment of capital in purchasing properties, 
 will enrich the company and its shareholders even beyond any- 
 thing we have ventured to hope. He has already, on his way 
 jrj^, . to Dawson City, secured for the company 
 
 IVimook ^j^j^ j^Q_ ,^ ^^^^g Discovery, on Gulch 
 
 JVLillions, creek, and interests in three others. No. 1 
 
 directly adjoins Discovery, from which the 
 locator and his partner took out 103 ounces of gold in three 
 days, showing a richness not excelled by the best Klondike 
 strikes. Gulch creek is a tributary of Minook, where some 
 very rich finds have recently been made, over a million dollars 
 in gold having been taken from this district within four or five 
 weeks. Nuggets worth as much as $370 have been found. 
 Mr. Belden is clear-headed, alert, energetic and a keen buyer, 
 and the company's affairs in the Klondike could not be in better 
 hands. 
 
 13 
 
In the matter of dredging operations, the acceptance of a 
 directorship in our company by the Hon. Warren B. Hooker 
 gives us one of the most important acquisitions to our board 
 that could have been made. Alaska being a 
 Dredging territory, is under the control of Congress ; the 
 
 Privileges. privilege of dredging the rivers is a matter 
 that is decided by Congress on the recommen- 
 dations of the River and Harbor Committee of the House of 
 Representatives ; and of this committee Mr. Hooker is chair- 
 man. 
 
 Mr. Hooker is a man of wide acquaintance with affairs, 
 and we consider it of the highest credit to the company that 
 after a careful investigation of its plans and condition he should 
 be willing to identify himself with it and accept the responsible 
 position of director. 
 
 In fact, as such matters are ordinarily looked at, the com- 
 pany has been fortunate from the start ; as we look at it, it is 
 the wise conduct cf the company from its inception, the faithful 
 application of every man to its interests, and each man's loyal 
 employment of all his abilities and energies to the prosecution 
 cf these interests, that have given it the success already 
 achieved and that we look to for the steady increase of this 
 success. 
 
 We believe also that the first principle of its organization, 
 
 that each man should contribute his own money as well as his 
 
 work, that none of its stock should be given 
 
 r unoarmental away for any purpose or consideration what- 
 
 Principles. ever, is largely responsible for this success. 
 
 Why should not a company organized 
 
 and conducted on such sound business principles succeed t 
 
 14 
 
Tha company has recently made an additional transporta- 
 tion contract which gives us control of some of the finest steamers 
 ^ Onn ^" ^^^ Pacific coast, thus enabling us to carry 
 
 ' up to the fields at least five thousand more 
 
 Passengers people next season, take good care of them, 
 At Least. ^^^ ^^^ ^esive us a very large profit. We in- 
 tend to give to those sailing with us the fullest 
 information and best advice available, and to assist each man 
 in every way possible to attain the success he desires, as well as 
 looking after his comfort while on board. In this way we pro- 
 ^ J pose and expect that every one of our passen- 
 
 y gers will feel friendly towards us and inclined 
 
 TTrade to deal further with us, to purchase from our 
 
 For Our trading posts such supplies as he may require, 
 ^, and recommend others to do the same, and thus 
 
 tend to establish for us a steady trade for our 
 stores ; and in case cf any' who may wish at any time to dis- 
 pose of his claim or any interest therein, we believe he will 
 naturally come to us first for such sale, and that in this way 
 also we shall benefit. 
 
 About January 1st a representative of the company sails 
 for England to arrange for the transportation of European pas- 
 sengers, cf whom there will be many thousands, meaning many 
 thousands of dollars additional profit for the company that were 
 P^ . not contemplated in its original operations. Ar- 
 
 rangements can then be made to ship direct to 
 Saved — the Klondike one or more cargoes of supplies, 
 Money which will not be subject to Canadian import 
 
 w- J duties, being transferred in bond through the 
 
 * Alaskan territory, and thus leaving an increased 
 
 15 
 
profit to the company when sold. These passengers and sup- 
 plies will sail from England in March and April, reaching St. 
 Michaels in ample season to m.eet our Yukon boats and be 
 transferred up the river at the opening of navigation in the 
 spring. 
 
 In other great gold strikes it has been almost an invariable 
 rule that the first reports are wildly exaggerated, and later ne\/s 
 T5 J cuts down the richness of the finds. But in 
 
 the Klondike it has been one continual in- 
 Better. crease* The latest news is far ahead of the 
 
 first reports in the richness and extent of the fields. 
 
 Mr. Eli J. Gage says the first boat down the Yukon next 
 spring will bring $15,000,000. Reports of new discoveries are 
 received every week. Tanana, Mihnute, Koyukuk, McMillan, 
 P . . Pelly and Minook, widely separated localities, 
 
 come in a procession of glittering golden finds 
 Creek until it seems certain that the scientists and sur- 
 
 Rich veyors have made no mistake in allotting to 
 
 Alaska the credit of being imcomparably the 
 greatest and the richest deposit ever known or likely to be 
 known in the history of the world. A veritable land of gold, 
 eclipsing in sober truth all the tales of the " Arabian Nights" — 
 a new proof very striking and exceedingly cold — that " truth is 
 stranger than fiction:" 
 
 Von Homboldt, visiting Dutch Harbor twenty years ago, 
 predicted that the mother lode would show itself in Alaska in 
 parallel line. General Duffield, superintendent for the United 
 States cf the demarcation work on the Alaskan boundary line, 
 said : " The gold has been ground out of the quartz by the pres- 
 
 i6 
 
sure of the glaciers which lie ana move along 
 
 A Mountain the courses of the streams, exerting a tremen- 
 
 f p f J dous pressure. This force is present to a more 
 
 appreciable extent in Alaska than elsewhere, 
 and I believe that as a consequence more placer gold will be 
 found in that region than in any other part of the world." Prof. 
 Debendelben, on whose report of the resources of Alaska Sec- 
 retary Seward relied when urging the purchase of Alaska, de- 
 clares that the mountain named after him is full of gold, and 
 
 that only the particles from the mother lode 
 $70,000,000 are now being found, Mr. William Ogilvie, 
 From Two ^^^ Dominion surveyor, gives it as his opinion 
 p 1 that there is a zone of gold lands not less than 
 
 five hundred miles in length extending from 
 Birch Creek southward ; and this is in North West Territory 
 only, not referring to the United States lands, as his reports 
 were made only for the benefit of the Canadian government. 
 From two creeks alone he expects $70,000,000. 
 
 We do not know that we can sum up the probabilities better 
 than in the words of Joaquin Miller, who, premising that he has 
 not been sent up there to give opinions but 
 Hundreds facts, says, under date of September 4th : 
 QX T^Qj^g "Next spring we will astonish the world ; gold 
 will be shipped down from the Yukon, not only 
 by tons but by hundreds of tons. It is all brought into town 
 on pack trains ; two much of it, and too heavy for men to pack 
 It. Two men overtook me when I came limping back from my 
 long, hard trip to the interim camps, and insisted on putting my 
 pack on one of the three horses they were leading. The three 
 
 17 
 
horses were laden with gold So you see 
 
 norses ^-^q ^^^^ j^ y^^^q ^^^^ ^^q room is here 
 
 Laden But I am not to advise. I have entered into 
 
 WitH every camp here, looked into every big claim, 
 
 talked with every miner, and have set down the 
 
 vjOla. facts as 1 found them ; I leave you to form your 
 
 own conclusions, to decide, and do as you please." 
 
 Let us quote just one more paragraph from Mr. Miller : 
 
 "The m^an who cannot conduct a healthy store or business of 
 
 any sort, has little business to be engaged in mining here. A 
 
 break in the dam, a careless man on the bed- 
 
 JDUSineSS rock, a defective drain — in fact, a dozen things 
 
 Sense might easily sap the season's profits from a 
 
 T- r careless or shiftless miner in the Klondike ; for 
 
 iissence oi 
 
 the seasons are so short and the impediments 
 
 Success. so many it takes as much good sense to run a 
 
 mining claim to good advantage as it does to conduct the Palace 
 Hotel of San Francisco or the great Board of Trade in Chicago." 
 
 And here is just where the advantage of a company over 
 individual effort comes in. 
 
 This company is officered by men who know the business. 
 Us men are thoroughly experienced, picked miners. It is al- 
 ready established in the field, and the man de- 
 More siring to secure a share in the wealth of the 
 
 Prnfit ;it Yukon, can, nineteen times out of twenty, get 
 more profit with no labor or loss of time by put- 
 rlonie* ^jj^g j^j3 fi^Q hundred or thousand dollars in with 
 
 us and sitting comfortably at home, than to take the same 
 amount and go into the fields on an uncertainty and endure the 
 
hardships and risks on the chances of striking it rich for him- 
 self. There may not be so much adven- 
 Less Komance ^^^^^ ^^ ^^ much glamor of romance to it; 
 But More but there is good, sound business sense in 
 
 /^ tj every aspect of it, and money should only 
 
 be invested on business principles, not heed- 
 lessly risked in a temporary glow of enthusiasm without solid 
 financial backing. 
 
 Who draws dividends ? There were doubters when Calu- 
 met & Hecla sold at 17 cents, now $450 ; when Bell Telephone 
 sold at $ 1 .00, now $250 ; when the famous Alaskan mine Tread- 
 Doubters ^^^^ ^^^ offered at 18c. and in four years sold 
 ■pv f. at $2,800. A single strike in the Comstock 
 
 p^ lode sent the price from $2 up to $1,825 a 
 
 ^^^'^ share. Belcher went from $ 1 .50 to $ 1 ,570. 
 
 Dividends. who made the money? Who drew the divi- 
 dends? The men who went in early. They were made 
 rich, and the mines paid continuously and enormously. 
 
 Doubters don't draw dividends. The man of judgment and 
 decision does — and there never was so great an opportunity for 
 him as the Alaskan gold fields to-day, " It's gold, gold, gold 
 all over," says William Stanley, one of the pioneers, adding : 
 " I say so because ! have been there and have 
 It's Gold, the gold to shew for it." Hundreds of others 
 
 Gold Gold ^"'^^^ ^^^ ^^"^^ ^°^^^ P'^°°^" 2^^^"^^^*^ ^^^'^ 
 
 ' predicted, miners have proved, that the greatest 
 
 All Over. ^^^^ ^.^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ ,3 ^i^^^ ^he Yukon. Every 
 
 new report adds to the incalculable wealth of this vast store- 
 house of gold. Eli J. Gage says the first boat down the Yukon 
 
 19 
 
in 1 898 will bring Fifteen Million Dollars in gold. Alexander 
 McDonald, the Mackay of the Klondike, says two hundred 
 tons of gold ($100,000,000) v/ill be taken out this winter. He 
 is a cool, careful, conservative man. William Ogilvie, the 
 Dominion government surveyor, says two creeks alone will 
 yield $70,000,000. 
 
 Who will be made rich by it ? "Who will draw the 
 dividends from it ? Who will get the most tremendous treasure 
 ever unearthed? Those who go in early. The Yukon 
 Trading, Mining and Exploration Co., Ltd., was 
 Vv hom among the first in the field, its men are on the 
 
 Will It ground, have brains to explore with, experience 
 
 _ .IN to work with, money to buy with, and the com- 
 * pany's shareholders will have dividends to enjoy 
 
 with in the summer of 1898 as certainly as the summer comes. 
 To-day shares in this company — shares in the wealth of the 
 Golden Yukon — can be bought at 50 cents. 
 
 Never was there such an opportunity to get into a com- 
 pany already in operation in the greatest gold fields ever dis- 
 covered, in the land where they measure gold by the ton, where 
 the poor m.'on of to-day is the millionaire of to-morrow — and 
 where the $100 investment of to-day bids fair to pay $1,000 
 annual income for tv/enty years to come. 
 
 Would you share in this magnificent 
 
 Will It treasure ? Would you be made rich by it ? 
 
 Enrich You ? ^o^^^ you draw the dividends ? You can. 
 
 You may — but to do so you must decide 
 
 and get at it at once. 
 
 Up to and including December 15th shares in the Yukon 
 
Trading, Mining and Exploration Co., Ltd., may be secured 
 at 50 cents per share, par value $1.00, full-paid and 
 non-assessable. 
 
 Applications by mail for such a number of shares as may 
 be desired may be made on the following form, accompanied 
 by check or Post Office Money Order. 
 
 Send checks or Money Orders to 92 State St., Boston, 
 Mass., made payable either to the Company, or to 
 
 T. J. TRAFFORD HUTESON, 
 
 N. E. Representative. 
 
 FORM OF APPLICATION. 
 
 To THE Yukon Trading, Mining & Exploration Co., Ltd. 
 
 92 State Street, 
 
 Boston, Mass, 
 
 Gentlemen : — Enclosed please find check for $ 
 for shares of the Yukon Trading, Mining & 
 
 Exploration Co., Ltd. 
 Issue Certificate to 
 
 Name. 
 
 Address, 
 
We have given you facts only, matters that you already are 
 familiar v/ith through the news dispatches from the gold fields. 
 It is for you to weigh them, and to act as your judgment dictates. 
 
 The opportunity to do small things occurs every day ; but 
 the possibility cf accomplishing great ones is offered to but few 
 more than once. When it does come, the bright and daring 
 man is quick to see it, and just as quick to take advantage of 
 the situation, while the more timid, lost in a sea cf doubt, hesi- 
 tates, questions, consults friends, and finally, when his mind is 
 quite made up, awakens to the realization that it is too late, the 
 Chance is passed, the opportunity of his lifetime GONE.