A CITY BUILT ON A GLACIER

Hokitika Guardian, 16 September 1929, Page 8

A CITY BUILT ON A GLACIER

A VISIT TO DAWSON. A city built on a glaqior covered by only three feet of soil, " where the houses move as the ice moves; where the gold dredges have to thaw all the ground they work although the temperature at noon is over 90 degrees and photographs can be taken at midnight; where flowers sprout two feet in a fortnight and muo.se and caribou abound in the surrounding country—that is Dawson City, tho famous gold mining town of northernmost Canada, as described by Mr Cecil Bonnington, who spent a, portion of a recent 'holiday tour there.

The glacier on which Dawson City stands is a “dead” one—that is. it docs not move along—only up and down slightly. A little sluicing and panning for gold still goes on—Mr Bonnington has two small nuggets which a miner panned for him—hut most of the gold is now won by dredges, one of which has left 36 miles of tailings in the. bed of the Klondike River. This dredge has won gold worth £I6OO in three days, and Mr Bonnington saw one nugget worth £SOO. Caribou and moose appear on. the hotel menus like beef and mutton here and are very nice eating, Mr Bonnington says. Some of the old original dance halls are still to be seen, such as that of the famous “Soapy” Smith at Skagway. The journey to Dawson from Vancouver, as described by Mr Bonnington' is first by boat through narrow passages among the • islands to Ska.gway, whence a railway follows the old Yukon trail of ’9B, traces of which are still visible. The rail ends at White Horse, where travellers embark on river boats down the Yukon to Dawson. Skagway, now a town of 300 people, had a population of 25,000 in the days of the Klondike stampede. It is surrounded 'by wonderful mountain. snow; and glacier scenery. Lack of transport’ is hampering tho development of the resources of this part of Canada. There is any amount of minerals, such as silver, copper and lead, but the river boats draw only, three feet of water and can carry hut little cargo for fear df striking the bottom of the river. ißecently a larger boat was built and it is hoped to move ore with tb is. Eventually, | Mr Bonnington thinks, the demand for minerals will lead to the construction of a railway to Dawson.