(The State of Pennsylvania is inserted to show comparative size.)]

One miner, who is a thoroughly experienced man, declares that he is absolutely amazed at the amount of gold that has already been produced.  He says that the work has only been commenced, and that this present find which is setting people crazy is nothing to the gold that will be discovered as soon as the miners really get to work.

He stated that, in addition to the rich pay-dirt we have already spoken of, there were veins of gold in the rocks underneath, which veins appeared to grow richer the farther they were probed.  In his opinion the gold deposits of the Yukon region form the mother vein of all the gold in North America.

Many people are hurrying to the Klondike district from all parts, and the excitement is intense.

San Francisco has caught the gold fever.  It reached the city through some miners from Klondike, who arrived by steamer, bringing with them piles of shining gold to prove the truth of their stories.

Not one member of this party went up to Alaska with anything more than his outfit and a few hundred dollars.  All have brought back stores of riches.

The smallest amount of gold owned by any of these men was valued at five thousand dollars, while several had as much as fifty thousand dollars’ worth.

The luckiest people in this little band were a Mr. and Mrs. Lippey, who left New York in April, 1896.

Mrs. Lippey was the first woman to go over the trail to Klondike.  She went because she did not wish her husband to undertake the journey alone, preferring to share his hardships with him.

They brought back sixty thousand dollars’ worth of gold.

Another party has just reached Seattle, Wash., having come direct by steamer from St. Michaels, Alaska.

In this party there were sixty-eight people, who brought back with them one and one-half tons of gold.  This is worth nearly a million dollars.

[Illustration:  Alaskan Child and Dogsled]

The gold is found in dust and nuggets ranging in size from a hazelnut to fine bird-shot.

It must not be supposed that this gold is lightly earned.  Those who have returned say that the hardships of the life are beyond description.  Many declare that no amount of gold could tempt them back, as beyond the hard, rough life, the severe cold, and the constant labor, there is an ever-present dread of starvation.  It is difficult for any man to take in sufficient food to last him through the long winter, and there is hardly any possibility of obtaining more when the supplies run out.

A company has been formed to send provisions up into the district, and if this is done the work will be rendered much easier.

The treasury of the United States has already begun to feel the benefit of the Klondike gold discovery.

The San Francisco mint has received half a million dollars’ worth of the gold, and expects another half-million by the next steamer.