ROMANCE OF GOLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 228, 26 September 1929, Page 14

ROMANCE OF GOLD.

POVERTY TO AFFLUENCE. FINDING THE WHITE CHANNEL TRUE TALE OF KLONDIKE. ' ' ' (By DIOGENES.) ' • Those familiar with the two rich goldproducing. creeks of the 'Klondike will remember that Bonanza Creek ' and Eldorado Creek make a junction at a place called Grand Forks. •• Bonanza Creek, upon which the Discovery claim was staked, was formerly called Rabbit, Creek. This creek was comparatively narrow, the hills on either side enclosing it fairly closely. The pay dirt was found at about 15ft from the' surface, and taken from bedrock. Eldorado Creek traversed a fairly wide valley, until it joined Bonanza. It was so wide, and presented such an uninviting prospect to the prospector that it' was named the Moose Pasture, and when arriving at Grand Forks, having staked the whole of Bonanza up to. that point, it was at first neglected, and the miners staked on to Jfche upper reaches of Bonanza, until tho pay petered out. They then - returned to Eldorado, and staked it from the Forks on up to head waters. Some of the claims in Eldorado were among the richest in the Klondike; and an immense quantity of gold was taken out, and many miners became rich. The hills bordering these two creeks averaged 200 ft high, with rather an abrupt slope to the valley. One day a

solitary miner was noticed high up in the hill, and out of curiosity some of the men working in the creek bed below visited Mm to see what he was doing up there. They found he was sinking a shaft. After their curiosity was satisfied no one went near him, but they all pitied him. Tirelessly ho worked for' long hours, only coming into the Forks to get supplies, and returning to his task of shaftsinking. His method was to build a fire at the bottom of the shaft, in which he placed big stones. These thawed the ground,' which he removed to the surface. By these means he was enabled to sink about three feet every day. On he worked through the cold, dreary winter, cooking his own food and sleeping in a shack. Down ha went deeper into the hill.' Every foot down made the task of hoisting the spoil harder, but uncomplainingly he. toiled on. • At last, after he had sunk his shaft about 100 ft deep, he struck bedrock; and his task was finished.. To use his own words, he was "afraid to test the ground at once, but returned to his shack," cooked a meal and . rested. Having reached bedrock, he was either in pay dirt or all his labour of months had gone for naught. Returning to the shaft, he hoisted a bucket of dirt, taken from 2ft above bedrock, brought it to the surface, and took it into-his shack. • He then took his gold pan and some water and put a shovelful' of, the dirt into the pan and washed it. Although he had hoped and hoped, he was hardly prepared for what he paw—gold, gold, glittering gold, in quantity he had-never expected to see. He washed a number'of pans, carefully weighing the gold, and saw that the mine was exceedingly rich. Closing the top of the shaft, lie went to the gold commissioner's office and made out his papers, securing the mine he had staked. What he found was what he had anticipated, an old riverbed high up above the lower creek's run

of gold. Whereas the pay dirt of Bonanza and Eldorado was dark, the pay dirt on the hill was white, so he named it the White Channel, and the place was named Gold Hill on the White Channel. In a moment his condition changed from poverty to. riches, and he realised the truth of the saying, "One more fire in the face, one more foot in the shaft, and penury became affluence." Toil and privations were forgotten. He secured help and accumulated a big pay dump ready for washing out in the spring. The old miner took out a goodly sum, and then disposed of his holding for a substantial amount, an,d soon left the cold and discomforts of the Klondike for a more congenial climate, where he doubtless spent his days in comfort; and freedom from money worries. When the news became public, there was a rush to stake claims in the White Channel of Gold Hill. Within a few hours the claims on the hill were staked for a distance of ten miles, and some of them proved to be the richest in the whole mining district of Klondike.