RICHER THAN SINBAD'S VALLEY OF DIAMONDS.

Among the Portland's passengers was William Stanley, of Seattle, formerly a blacksmith, who went into the country two years ago last spring. He returned with $115,000 in gold nuggets and dust. His claim is on the Bonanza Creek, emptying into the Klondyke five miles above Dawson City, the headquarters of the camp. Clarence Berry, formerly a farmer of Fresno, Cal., brought back seven sacks, containing $135,000. Clarence Berry, of Los Angeles, went to the Yukon in 1894.

"My luck was bad for three years. Last fall I came out and married, and when I went back I heard of the Klondyke. I was early on the ground, locating, with other parties, three claims on Eldorado Creek. We struck it rich. That's all there is to tell.

"Last winter I took out $130,000 in thirty box lengths. Another time the second largest nugget ever found in the Yukon was taken out of my claim. It weighed thirteen ounces and was worth $213. I have known men to take out $1,000 a day from a drift claim. Of course the gold was found in pockets, and those finds, you can rest assured, were very scarce. I would not advise a man to take in an outfit that would cost less than $500.

"The country is wild, rough and full of hardships for those unused to the rigors of Arctic winter. If a man makes a fortune he is liable to earn it by severe hardships and sufferings, but then grit, perseverance and luck will probably reward hard work with a comfortable income for life."

Henry Anderson, a native of Sweden and well known on the Lound, sold a one-half interest in his claim on Eldorado Creek and has come back to Seattle with $45,000 spot cash, the proceeds of the sale. T. J. Kelly and son, of Tacoma, went in last year and made $10,000. The son is in charge of the claim and the father was among the Portland's passengers.

Frank Keller, of Los Angeles was one of the Portland's passengers. He went in last year, mined during the winter, and last year sold the claim for $35,000. William Sloat, formerly a dry-goods merchant, of Lanimo, B. C., sold his claim for $52,000, and, with the gold he took from the mine, came back on the Portland. Another man named Wilkenson, of the same city, sold his claim for $40,000. Frank Phiscater, of Baroda, Mich., returned with $96,000, the result of his labors in Miles. Capt. Strickland, of the Canadian mounted police, who is en route to Ottawa on official business, is among the arrivals. He says:

"When I left Dawson City about a month ago there were about 800 claims staked out and between 2,000 and 3,000 people. We can safely say that there was $1,500,000 in gold mined last winter. Wages in mines were $15 a day, and the sawmill paid laborers $10 a day with claims now staked, but will afford employment for about 5,000, I believe. If a man is strong and healthy and wants to work he can find employment at good wages. Several men worked on an interest, or what is termed a lay, and during the winter realized from $5,000 to $10,000. The mines are from 35 to 100 miles from Alaska boundary."

J. Kellar, who pronounced it the richest gold country in the world, said:

"It was 68 degrees below zero last winter, and the ground was frozen to the depth of forty feet. The snow doesn't fall to any great depth, three feet being the greatest, and that was light and fleecy frost. All the gold is taken out of gravel by thawing in the summer. There are nine months of winter. We left Dawson City on a river steamer on June 19, and were eight days reaching St. Michael's, 1,800 miles. The weather in Klondyke was warm and sultry, much warmer than it seemed, and mosquitos were in myriads. They are in the water one drinks. They give a man no rest day or night. I am satisfied to stay away from Klondyke, although I did well.

"It is a horrible country to live in, but it is extremely healthy. Every man is on his good behavior, and, for a mining country, has as good, orderly, law-abiding citizens as I ever saw. At present there is no prospecting going on, all men in the country being employed at $12 or $15 a day, or are working on their own claims. There is a big country open to prospectors."

Tom Cochrane, a grocery clerk, staked one of the Klondyke miners with $300 worth of supplies eighteen months ago. His dividend received on the Portland was $41,000.

Victor Lord, a western Washington logger, spent four years in the Yukon. He made $10,000 last winter in six weeks on the Klondyke, working a claim on shares. He will return after spending the summer here. Alexander Menzie, of Arizona, was a miner before he went into the Klondyke this spring. He located two claims on Indian Creek, and after three weeks' work brought out $7,000. "I have mined for thirty years in California, Arizona and Nevada," he said to-night. "The Klondyke country is richer than any placer district in the world. I own two claims on Indian Creek and will return in the spring in time to sled over the mountains into Klondyke from Dyea."

Harry Olson received $60,000 for his interest in a claim on Eldorado. His wealth is in sacks, like that of the others. He is a California farmer, and left for his old home, from which he departed three years ago.

The miners left Dawson City June 19 and were seven days on the trip by steamer down the Yukon to St. Michael's. After another week's rest they sailed on July 3 on the steamship Portland.

Inspector Strickland says that complete order is maintained in the camp by the Canadian mounted police. Little disorder prevails, but this may have changed since the departure of the Portland party, as the Alaska Commercial Company sent 10,000 gallons of whiskey into the camp on June 1.

There is a great scarcity of lumber and the single sawmill is kept busy day and night supplying the camp with lumber. The camp is a typical specimen of the frontier mining village, without regular streets. It straggles up the Klondyke for three miles, and then the houses are found at intervals of a quarter of a mile.