Thousands Seek News of New Gold Strike

1920

Rich Ore Is Reported Found Near Alaskan Border

KETCHIKAN, Alaska, Jan. 1. — Thousands of persons in the United States and Canada, and even England have been sent here for reports regarding a supposed fabulous gold strike just across the Canadian line south of here, near Hyder, a town on the American side of the international boundary.

Hyder residents expect a "rush" next spring, according to word brought here.

Reports from Hyder rather discourage the coming of men who have not adequate financial backing. Prospectors described the place as "not a poor man's camp" and "not a second Klondike."

A body of what is reported to be extremely rich ore has been discovered.

Marvelous Find of Gold

1906

Rock So Rich in Ore That It is Guarded Day and Night by Sentries

Manhattan, Nev. — Gold bearing rock, so rich that it is guarded day and night by two sentries and is mined under the watchful eye of the owners, has been opened up at the 86-foot level in the main working shaft of the Jumping Jack claim.

Six inches of this marvelous find is so rich that no assay has been made, as it is more than half gold. From eight o'clock at night, when a row of shots revealed the richest of the many sensational discoveries of the new camp, until ten o'clock the next morning $10,000 worth of ore was sacked.

When the miners below hoisted samples of a six inch vein which was uncovered as it dipped into the shaft, the superintendent immediately ordered the men to the surface and suspended operations until the superintendent of the Jumping Jack could be notified. Upon his arrival two trusted men were put to work stoping out the ore and two others guarding the entrance to the workings.

The news fairly electrified the camp, despite the fact that sensational finds are becoming everyday occurrences. Several samples were exhibited by officers of the company, who were besieged by a crowd which gathered soon after the news of the strike became public property.

These samples for size and richness surpass anything that the ground at Manhattan has yielded up to date, and will rank among the largest specimens of gold ever mined in this country. One specimen weighing 23 ounces, six inches long, representing the width of the vein, is almost solid gold. The many seasoned miners and mining experts who examined this specimen today unite in saying that it is the handsomest and consequently the richest deposit from the mother lode they have ever seen. It is streaked with a fine grained marble-like quartz, which hugs close to the crevices of its irregular outlines. The entire specimen is a bright yellow mass, except where it is relieved by the impregnated quartz. One side is worn smooth, as if by the force of a slide in the contact, and the other side is molded just in the shape it was deposited by the molten mass.

Pity the Gold Miner!

1920

One might imagine that if he could discover a gold mine he would have a fortune. But time has brought changes. Among them has come a depreciation in the purchasing value of gold, due largely to the cheap American dollar and to the large flow of gold from abroad during the war.

When prospectors first rushed to Alaska, says the Cleveland Plain Dealer, little trouble or expense was entailed in procuring the yellow metal. Nuggets could be found on or near the surface, and the dust was easily washed out of sand taken from the beds of mountain streams. Now expensive machinery must be employed and "pay dirt" is usually found only after much labor. The results are indicated by the unprofitable business reported by one Alaska gold mining company for 1919.

During the year it cost this company $1,744,869 to produce $1,467,389 worth of gold, leaving a deficit of $277,480, as against a loss from operations the previous year of $96,945.

Those who find cause to complain because of their hard lot since the war, would do well to consider the unfortunate position of the gold miners. They comprise one group which cannot profiteer.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, March 20, 1920, p. 6.

Why Sixty Minutes Made an Hour

1910

The hour is divided into 60 minutes simply because in old Babylon there existed, by the side of the decimal system of notation, another system, the sexagesimal, which counted by sixties. There is no number which has so many divisors as 60. The Babylonians divided the sun's daily journey into 24 parasangs, each parasang, or hour, being divided into 60 minutes. The parasang is about equal to a German mile, and the Babylonians compared the progress made by the sun during one hour to the progress made by a good walker during the same time.


Discouraging

On arriving at San Bernardino after a five months' prospecting trip in the desert two California prospector found that one of their packmules had developed a limp. An examination of the mule's hoof revealed a gold nugget, worth probably $50. The prospectors have no idea in what part of the desert the nugget was picked up.


Olive Industry Safe

There is little prospect of the olive industry of this country being overdone, for there are only three localities in this country where the olives will thrive.


Caterpillars Ravage Trees

Washington. — Shade trees of Washington, famed for their number and beauty, are undergoing an attack from a horde of caterpillars. The trees are being stripped of their foliage rapidly. So numerous are the pests that they have baffled the caretakers' efforts to cope with them. Property owners have joined in the attempt to repel the invaders, but it seems that there is little chance to prevail against them. Some fear for the lives of the trees is expressed.

Old Anvil Discovered By Nevada Prospector

1939

An anvil, manufactured in England in the year 1798, was discovered by George Chubey, Nevada prospector, while examining old prospect holes along the strike of a vein on the Fallini property on Eden Creek, the Goldfield News reports.

Chubey was attracted to the anvil by its appearance and found the date stamped into the article. Nye county residents were reported wondering how the anvil came to its resting place in the lonely Nevada hills.

—Nevada State Journal, Reno, NV, April 24, 1939, page 4.

Prospector Digging Gold Finds Wife Instead

1907

FIND GIRL'S NOTE HIDDEN TWELVE YEARS; TO WED HER

Gold Seeker Discovers Missive That Was Buried In Fun and Speedily Answers It.

LEAD, S. D., Jan. 5.—A few weeks ago Benjamin Hurst, a young prospector, unearthed in the Black Hills, west of here, a rusty tin can containing a note scribbled in pencil by Miss Julia Demming and buried by her twelve years ago.

As a result of the finding of the note, Hurst and Miss Demming are soon to be married. The note, written and buried in a spirit of fun by Miss Demming, read:

"Whoever finds this note will please the writer of it by advising her that he has unearthed it. Her address in Portland, Ore. JULIA DEMMING."

Hurst promptly wrote the young lady that he had found the note. A week or two later he received an answer to his letter written at Seattle, the present home of Miss Demming.

He wrote her again, she replied, and thus was begun a correspondence which grew into friendship, resulting finally in love and an engagement. Hurst is a young gold seeker who has spent the greater part of his life in the Western mountains.