On what date is Jason Hawthorn hawking papers, where is he, what is the big news and what does Jason want to have the opportunity to do?

On that morning, July 17, 1897, the headline of the New York Herald was "Gold in Alaska". People rush to Hawthorn to buy one of the papers to learn about the next great gold rush. Hawthorn has not had the opportunity to read the story yet and is anxious to sell his papers so he can steal away and read about the latest discovery.